Alumnus honoured by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
03 February 2012
Trinity Laban alumnus Rhodri Davies has been awarded a grant from
the prestigious Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA) to write a
number of harp compositions. The FCA established its Grants to
Artists award in 1993 to further its mission of promoting
innovative work in the arts.
Rhodri said of the award: "I am honoured to be the recipient of a
Grants to Artists Award, not least because the FCA was founded by
Jasper Johns and John Cage, two artists that I have long admired.
Cage's compositions, philosophy, writings, art and humour have been
hugely influential for me, and I have performed many of his
compositions over the years, including lesser known works such as
Postcard from Heaven.
"I will use the year to develop two solo projects that I
have been keen to develop for a long time, which build on my
previous solo harp releases, Trem and Over Shadows.
"In my work, I have sought to avoid the harp's 'beautiful'
sounds in order to explore noise, silence, timbre and texture by
working with live electronics, preparations and duration.
"The first project will be a solo harp LP that will work
with noise, rhythm and pitches in a way that is open to distortion,
random occurrence and chance.
"The second project is where I have used the elements to
sound the harp, and will form a document of my extended
installation and sound-art work, including Room Harp, Wind Harp,
Fire Harp, Water Harp, Dry Ice Harp and Electric Wind
Harp."
Both works are expected to be available in LP format next
year.
Photo courtesy of Viola Kiefner
Trem (2001) and Over Shadows (2007).are available on Confront
Recordings.
Since its inception in 1963, the mission of the Foundation for
Contemporary Arts has been to encourage, sponsor, and promote
innovative work in the arts created and presented by individuals,
groups, and organizations.
Through a nomination process, individual artists and organizations
working in dance, music/sound, theatre/performance art, poetry, and
the visual arts are awarded unrestricted grants for projects of
their own choosing.
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