Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm Cobalt Duo

• Egidija Medekšaitė (b. 1979):
• 1Textile 108:15
• James Black (1856 - 1938): Crow:
• 2Crow: I. Monument04:51
• 3Crow: II. Mantra Melody03:27
• Sarah Lianne Lewis (b. 1988): I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts):
• 4I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 1, S 2009 S100:11
• 5I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 12, Anthe00:22
• 6I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 19, Dione02:05
• 7I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 20, Helene01:22
• 8I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 22, Titan02:00
• 9I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 30, Albiorix01:07
• 10I Have Observed the Most Distant Planet to Have a Triple Form (Excerpts): No. 32, Bebhionn00:42
• Anton Lukoszevieze (b. 1965):
• 11Sutra08:08
• Michael Wolters (b. 1971):
• 12Gisela Doesn't Care04:52
• Fumiko Miyachi: Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm:
• 13Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm: I. Up02:58
• 14Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm: II. Down02:36
• 15Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm: III. Top05:09
• 16Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm: IV. Bottom07:42
• 17Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm: V. Strange02:46
• 18Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm: VI. Charm02:33
• Total Runtime01:01:06

Info for Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm

Cobalt Duo are pianists Kate Halsall and Fumiko Miyachi. Since their debut performance at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2014 they have championed new music by a diverse selection of composers from across the UK, including many pieces by Miyachi herself. They were featured artists on Catalogue d’Emojis, a multi-layered ‘concert event’ released by Birmingham Record Company in 2019 and broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show, and appear on Transitional Metal and Miniaturised Concertos (both on Metier).

“The ambition of the Miniaturised Concertos concert with Kate Halsall and Fumiko Miyachi accompanied by the University of York’s Chimera Ensemble, was inspirational; much character and vibrancy was on offer throughout the whole programme.” (Tempo)

This new collection of six pieces for two pianos and piano four hands displays Cobalt Duo’s continuing commitment to performing extraordinary music by living composers. All six pieces are highly varied yet share common themes, with an emphasis on the beauty found in scientific discovery, patterns, resonance and natural forms. Sarah Lianne Lewis’ seven movements are inspired by the orbit, mass and diameter of Saturn’s moons, whilst Egidija Medekšaitė’s Textile 1 induces a contemplative state as though the sounds of the piano are the play and sparkle of small crystals. The title track by Miyachi relates to quarks – minute subatomic particles that have never been directly observed. Dutch composer Louis Andriessen described Miyachi as “not only an amazing pianist, but also an amazing composer”. Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm shows that this is indeed the case.

Fumiko Miyachi, piano
Kate Halsall,piano

Fumiko Miyachi
is a composer and pianist. Her music is a colourful melting pot of driving rhythms, vibrant harmonies and multicultural influences of her European/Japanese background.

Her music has been performed and commissioned by musicians and performance groups worldwide, including the BBC Singers (Spitalfields Festival 2006), Opera North (National New Composers’ Forum, University of York 2005), MAE (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2007), Lontano (La Linea Latin Music Festival, Southbank Centre 2005), Orkest ‘de ereprijs’ (Gaudeamus Music Week 2004), Concorde (Galway Arts Festival 2005) and decibel (The Cutting Edge Series 2005 & 2007).

As a pianist, she specializes in performing contemporary repertoire and has premiered and performed many pieces by composers including Howard Skempton, Michael Finnissy, Laurence Crane, Diana Burrell, Michael Wolters, Joe Cutler, Donnacha Dennehy and Ed Bennett. Fumiko is one half of Cobalt Duo with Kate Halsall, who made their debut at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2014.

When Louis Andriessen visited Birmingham Conservatoire for his eponymous festival in cropped-img_0092.jpg2009, he described Fumiko as “Not only an amazing pianist, but also an amazing composer”.

Kate Halsall
is a pianist developing and commissioning new music for a variety of projects. As a performer and promoter of new music, she has commissioned, premiered, recorded and broadcast many new works, and is a frequent collaborator on interdisciplinary projects, often with technologies.

Kate has performed at international festivals and series, including Marte festival Malaga, ICT + Art NEM Summit Nantes, Timezones festival Italy, The Barbican Centre (John Cage Uncaged), ICMC Onassis Cultural Centre Athens, ICU Rome, Peak Performances New Jersey; Sound Source London, Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music Belfast, Nonclassical, Blackheather Club and London International Festival of Exploratory Music. Current ensembles include electro-acoustic Galvanize Ensemble, Bell Halsall duo, SoundKarD, Cobalt piano duo and In Place with Colin Riley (2017-18).

Kate has worked with a number of ensembles including Andrew Poppy’s Sustaining Ensemble, piano duo duoDorT and as pianist/director in Piano Circus. Other projects include as pianist/producer for Galvanize Hack The Barbican, Hear the City, a music app design residency with Stromatolite; Miniaturised Concertos | Maché, her album of new works for piano duo, electronics and ensemble, released May 2016, Happenstance with Galvanize Ensemble. Residencies include with Bowed Piano Ensemble at Colorado College US, Stromatolite, Aldeburgh Music, Banff Centre Canada and most recently, she was a Boom Artist for Oxford Contemporary Music. Other performances for solo and ensemble projects, have included Frontiers Festival, Acoustic Ecology Symposium, Dartington Hall, Oxford Contemporary Music, Multiple Piano Day BBC Proms, LIFEM, John Cage Uncaged (Musicircus, Barbican), Multiplier Series, Cutting Edge, iF Festival, Cheltenham Contemporary Concerts, sound festival, Sound Source (Plundering Žižek); The Piano- Glasgow City of Music, Ockham’s Razor (Not Until We Are Lost) with music by Graham Fitkin, hcmf//, Sonorities, Michael Clark Dance Company (OH MY GODDESS 2003), Tête à Tête Opera Festival, Colourscape Festival, Southbank Centre Imagine Children’s Festival, Multiple Piano Day BBC Proms, Ether Festival, Festival of Dimitria Thessaloniki, Festival de la Sainte Baume Provence.

Booklet for Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange, Charm