Silent/listen is a new series of duos written for the same instrument. As the title suggests, with each silent/listen piece I intend to explore attentive listening in relation to silence and within a musical context delineated by the idiosyncrasy of a specific instrument. The focus of all the silent/listen pieces is very much related to the Japanese perception of 'ma', that is silence as the source of sound, rather than absence of sound. Starting from 'ma' as the inner space of listening, the idiosyncratic techniques of an instrument will be revisited by two performers.
Silent/listen 1 was written for two shakuhachis and explores the diversity of specific techniques such as vibrati and trill production according to Japanese honkyoku tradition. The performance should resemble a Zen meditation.