Alvin Curran is an American composer, performer, improviser, sound artist, and writer. A master of alchemising experimental electronics and environmental found sounds, his idiosyncratic compositions have spanned decades. From Curran’s humble musical beginnings in the 1960s as part of Rome’s avant-garde theatre scene, to his formation of collective Musica Elettronica Viva with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, to his canonical Canti Illuminati (1973–1977), up until the present, he has always stood as a singular force in the landscape of experimental music: whether working in contemporary classical, free improvisation, sound collage, or electronics, his work has remained uncompromising for over 50 years. A determined commitment to experimentation and the resistance of commercial co-option roughen Curran’s oeuvre with jagged counter-cultural corners – maybe not sonically so, but he’s punk by every other measure. His prolific work spans over 200 compositions, experimental radio works, and large-scale site-specific sound installations – among other forms – that utilise field recordings, nature sounds, piano, synthesisers, computers, violins, percussion, accordion, and even ships’ horns. His mixture of structure and indeterminacy, chaos and harmony, abstraction and clarity, leads to myriad morphing sounds suited for a world in flux. In this special solo performance by Curran, he will be using the shofar – an ancient horn instrument which has long held an important status in his practice – piano, and electronics.

This concert is part of a focus programme around Alvin Curran’s work hosted by Rewire.