SELLING GREENLAND [for semi-open instrumentation]

Written for the 2019 South Asian Music Residency Program
Premiered August 30th, 2019 at KM Music Conservatory Auditorium
Second performance August 31st, 2019 at the Goethe Institute, Chennai

This recording features the talents of: Tritha Sinha, Harini Iyer, Sk Sabrin Zahan Kriti, Hari Gurung, Milan Ghimre, Nishad Pandey, Julia Brussel, Shayek Mohammed Arif, Benham Masoumi, Vinayak Netke, Ramesh Shotam, Calvin Lennig, Puranjoy Guha, and Roger Hanschel.   

Selling Greenland is a kind of unusual piece for me - less obviously "contemporary classical music" oriented. The beauty of SAMUR is that we bring one another out of our typical comfort zones, musically, collaborating to create music that is difficult to categorize. There are elements of theatricality and satire coming from musical heroes of mine [Jennifer Walshe, Morgan Powell, Salvatore Martirano, etc.], elements of rock and jazz [a luxury of having the opportunity to work with people like Roger, Ramesh, Tritha, Harini, Nishad, Calvin and Julia], elements of Nepalese, Indian, and Iranian music [thanks to Benham, Vinayak, Joy, Hari, and Milan], and the contributions of Kriti and Shayekh [two musicians really coming out of their ordinary way of working with this piece].

I'm enjoying seeing the boundaries of my taste and practice being stretched, and reshaped by the place I live in, and the people I get to interact with. 

And yes, the piece is a satirical reference to T****'s tweet-fart-turned-international-idiot-scandal about buying Greenland [a country where a bunch of people live, who should presumably have some say in the matter].

I'll be putting a performance score up shortly.