Performers:
Sofia Vaisman-Maturana – cello
George Garford – saxophone
Douglas Benford – tenor recorder/objects
Visual artists: Livia Garcia / Calum Storrie / Meg Shirayama
Doors 3.30 | performance 4pm | £10 cash on the door
Sofia Vaisman-Maturana
Is a Chilean music composer, poet, and improviser. She first arrived to London in 2018 to do her MA in Music Composition at King’s College London. Upon her arrival, she approached the world of free improvisation, performing with the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) (2018-2021). In 2022, together with Caroline Kraabel she will cofound ONe Orchestra New made up exclusively of women and trans people. During the pandemic, she was invited to collaborate with the Lonely Impulse Collective (LIC) (2020-2022), from where she regularly published more than fifty miniatures and soundscapes. Some of which have been broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 and Resonance FM. She has improvised with several international artists in sessions at 100 Years Gallery, Cafe OTO, IKLEKTIK, El Internado de Valparaíso, and Festival Acéfalo. She has also produced music for several plays, and her compositions have been premiered at Sala Nezahualcóyotl (Mexico City), Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral (Santiago, Chile), the LMTA Balkono theater (Vilnius, Lithuania), and the Midtown Arts & Theatre Center Houston (USA), among others. As in literature, in 2015 she published her first collection of poems, ‘Pasillos de tiempos precoces’ (Editorial Planeta de papel, Valparaíso, Chile). In 2018 she published her second collection of poems: ‘No le pongamos nombre a lo nuestro’, (Ediciones Puntos suspensivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina). And in 2019 she was awarded with the second place at Victorina Press Poetry Awards, (London). She writes in Spanish but has translated several of her poems into English. And has performed her work in remarkable events such as FLAWA (2022) and the Tate Late (2022). She is currently completing her PhD in Music Composition at King’s College London. She writes regular chronicles for SalvoConducta (Santiago-Buenos Aires) and is working in the publication of her third collection of poems, together with writing her first novel.
https://sofiavaisman.com/
George Garford
George is a saxophonist, composer and improviser active in the UK’s intersecting contemporary jazz, new music and free improvisation scenes. George’s primary compositional outlet is the contemporary jazz group ideasthesia which he leads and he is currently writing music for the band dreamscapes who will tour in 2024. Currently, George runs the contemporary jazz residency series ‘FUTUREPROOF’ at Ryan’s N16, Stoke Newington. He also co-curates cult improvised music club ~ the pool ~ with John Bisset. Hailing from Cambridgeshire and based in London since 2017, George has established himself as a prolific collaborator and sideman. Known for his distinct voice as an altoist, George’s unique sensibility and personal sound compliments a variety of ensembles and projects. He can regularly be heard playing a diversity of music(s) around the UK, at venues including The Vortex, Cafe OTO, The Jazz Cafe Camden, Oliver’s Jazz Bar, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. Frequent collaborators include: Julien Durand, Dan Kemshell, Tara Cunningham, Olivia Murphy (OMJO), Torin Davies, Josh Walker-Martin, Sam Eastmond, John Bisset, Cameron Scott (CSJO), Myra Brownbridge, London Improvisers Orchestra etc.
https://georgegarford.com/
Douglas Benford
Douglas Benford, composer and sound artist, has been involved in various audio genres and monikers since the late 1980s, performing at institutions in the UK (Bristol’s Arnolfini, London’s Science Museum, Tate Modern, The Roundhouse, ICA and Glasgow’s CCA), festivals worldwide (Mutek, Synch, Transmediale) and has had installation work in numerous UK galleries (London, Swansea, Stroud and Essex). His pieces and performances have been aired on the radio internationally, and regularly on BBC Radio 3’s Freeness programme and the Ambrosia Rasputin show on Resonance FM. After numerous electronica releases and activity in the 90s and 2000s, he now plays using acoustic sources (eg harmonium, toys, objects) with the London Improvisers Orchestra and Confront Recordings / Mark Wastell’s The Seen collective. His collaborators include Alan Wilkinson, Iris Colomb, Dominic Lash, Mirei Ya, Georgina Brett, Steve Beresford, Sue Lynch, Blanca Regina, poet Tamar Yoseloff, Angharad Davies, sculptor Rob Olins, Matt Atkins, Lina Lapelyte, Marjolaine Charbin, Sylvia Hallett, Steve Beresford, Hannah Marshall, Adam Bohman, John Edwards, Jennifer Allum, Clive Bell, Emily Shapiro, Verity Lane and many others.
http://dbenford.bandcamp.com/music
Calum Storrie
Calum Storrie is an artist, writer and designer. He has designed exhibitions for, among others, the Royal Academy, Wellcome Collection and the Museum of London (most recently ‘London Calling’). His book the Delirious Museum is published by Bloomsbury. His art practice takes a number of forms from drawings of imaginary architecture to collage and single line, spontaneous drawings of live performances.
A documentary – ‘Drawing etc’ – on Calum, and his work was made in 2022.
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/calumstorriedrawingetc
Livia Garcia
Livia Garcia is a visual artist and a railway civil engineer. She received a full scholarship in 2008 to pursue her MA(Fine Art) at The University of Leeds, UK. Garcia is also the founder and director of the platform and micro art space Project DIVFUSE in London to support the development of experimental, multi-media and sound art. Her recent art practice involves working with various musicians, such as Steve Beresford, Caroline Kraabel, Cath Roberts, Sylvia Hallett, Sue Lynch, Adrian Northover, Dave Tucker, Catherine Pluygers, the London Improvisers Orchestra, ONe_Orchestra New etc with her film graphic scores.
https://www.liviagarcia.co.uk/
Meg Shirayama
Geometry, form, and colour are the cornerstones of Meg Shirayama’s artistic practice. Born in Japan and raised in the UK, she explores the universal language of geometry to create works that engage diverse perceptual experiences. Drawing inspiration from elemental shapes found in everyday objects, Shirayama emphasises basic forms, minimalist design, and the potential for repurposing through shifting perspectives. Often rendered in wood and partially painted with luminous hues, her works contrast painted and unpainted surfaces, highlighting the flexibility of form. Through Minimal Abstraction, she blurs the boundary between art and functional objects, questioning their purpose through appearance and presentation Shirayama completed an MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2007, after which she exhibited in the UK and internationally. Her works were acquired by DaimlerChrysler Contemporary in Berlin in 2007 and Museum Ritter in Baden-Württemberg in 2008. In 2020, she won the Sculpture Award at the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize.
https://www.megshirayama.com/
