Carla Kihlstedt's 26 LIttle Deaths

Mandorla Music is pleased to be partnering with Input / Output Magazine to present a performance of new work by composer, violinist and vocalist Carla Kihstedt. The concert will be pre-recorded at Q Division Studios and will premiere on Saturday 3/20 at 8pm.

Carla Kihlstedt is a composer, improviser, songwriter, singer, violinist and educator. She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a degree in classical violin performance, but her musical life has taken a far more circuitous creative path since then.
She is a founding member of the bands Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Tin Hat, The Book of Knots, Minamo and 2 Foot Yard. She enjoys writing large-scale collaborative song cycles that pull from her various musical influences and use song form to explore a single idea from many angles. She has written for the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, the International Contemporary Ensemble and the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Her recent work, including Black Inscription (written with Matthias Bossi and Jeremy Flower), and her upcoming international treble chorus project, Long for This World, investigate our connection to the natural world. She is currently writing for the vocal sextet, Variant 6, and for the Dither Guitar Orchestra.

Carla is on the faculty of the Contemporary Improvisation Department of the New England Conservatory, the MFA in Composition program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and the Creative Gesture Lab for composers and choreographers at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She lives on Cape Cod, MA with her partner and their 2 kids. She is a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

This performance will feature the premier of 26 Little Deaths, a set of short improvised/composed solo pieces inspired by Edward Gorey\’s iconically dark children\’s alphabet book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Carla say, “In this disarmingly charming book, each of 26 children meet their untimely ends. Impending Doom is fast becoming a part of our collective psychology. Might as well shake hands with it and have a little fun.”

This free virtual offering has been made possible in part by a grant from the Somerville Arts Council as well as by the individuals who\’ve given financially to support Mandorla Music\’s mission and programming. THANK YOU! You can support future Mandorla Music productions at mandorlamusic.net.