[Cover photo credit to Brandon Bowen]
New York-based composer and producer Kelly Moran challenges the piano’s traditional, classically-imposed school of thought with a more experimental approach. Moran has collaborated with artists the likes of Oneohtrix Point Never as part of his touring ensemble for 2018 album Age Of, as well as singer and composer FKA Twigs‘ live ensemble. Moran has also composed for classical musician Margaret Leng Tan and worked with other contemporaries like Kelsey Lu and Yves Tumor.
As a solo artist, Moran’s albums, Bloodroot and Ultraviolet, have explored a variety of extended piano techniques. Moran has announced the upcoming album Moves in the Field, due for release March 29th, 2024 on Warp Records. The announcement has been accompanied by the single “Butterfly Phase” with an album trailer, along with the news of upcoming tour dates.
Kelly Moran Shares:
In early 2020, Yamaha loaned me a Disklavier player piano – a special instrument that allows you to record your performance for the piano to play back on its own. I was initially working on a duet for myself and another pianist, but when the pandemic hit, the player piano became my duet partner. I began writing a series of duets for myself and the Disklavier, exploring all the different ways I could utilize this instrument to merge its inhuman capabilities with my own playing.
The Disklavier allowed me to record multiple layers of my playing so I could create music on the piano that would require more fingers or greater endurance than I physically have – like chords that had more than 10 notes in them, or chords that were spaced out farther than my hands could stretch. Sometimes I’d record a pattern and then speed it up to play back faster than I could ever physically play. My imagination exploded at all the possibilities this instrument allowed me to create, and these explorations culminated in my new record Moves in the Field.
Moves in the Field moves away from prepared piano techniques and uses the natural sound of an acoustic piano. Referring to a series of skating rudiments, the title Moves in the Field reflects the intense practice Moran put in when paired with “an impossibly perfect technical partner: the Disklavier.”
Moves in the Field is a series of duets for Moran and her Yamaha Disklavier. The Disklaviers used on Moves in the Field act as a foil to Moran’s “own striving for a balance of technical perfection and emotional expression in her performances and compositions.”
Kelly Moran – Confirmed Tour Dates
Apr 18 – Silent Green, Berlin, Germany
Apr 20 – Lantern, Bristol Beacons, UK
Apr 21 – Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds, UK
Apr 23 – Hallé St Peter’s, Manchester, UK
Apr 24 – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
Apr 28 – Pavilion Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
May 25- 26 – Approximation Festival, Düsseldorf, Germany
Jun 14 – Sonar, Barcelona, Spain
Jun 21 – 22 – TNMK, Katowice, Poland
