RICH / CELLO
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GEORGE / CLARINETS
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WILL / PERCUSSION
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ALICE / VIOLIN
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Photography by Gerard Collett © 2015
A flavour of dizzy Balkan revelry
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph
Described as ‘one of the most exciting new music groups around at the moment’, iyatraQuartet are multi-instrumentalists who work collaboratively to create original, boundary-bending and joyful music. The London-based quartet of violin, cello, clarinets and percussion have enjoyed recent performances at WOMAD (2016), Songlines Encounters Festival, Cambridge Big Weekend and London International Arts Festivals, as well as multidisciplinary projects with contemporary dance and live poetry.
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph
Described as ‘one of the most exciting new music groups around at the moment’, iyatraQuartet are multi-instrumentalists who work collaboratively to create original, boundary-bending and joyful music. The London-based quartet of violin, cello, clarinets and percussion have enjoyed recent performances at WOMAD (2016), Songlines Encounters Festival, Cambridge Big Weekend and London International Arts Festivals, as well as multidisciplinary projects with contemporary dance and live poetry.
Surprising, inventive and beautiful... real heart and soul
Tom Wilson, composer
iyatraQuartet recorded a debut album, ‘This World Alone’, in November 2015, recorded in the Union Chapel, London, received as an album choice by fRoots magazine and with a 4-star review in Songlines Magazine. The inspiration for ‘This World Alone’ evolved through working and performing with musicians and artists in London’s rich cultural scene. 'iyatra' comes from the Hindi word for 'travel' and 'journey': a concept that is embraced in the music.
Tom Wilson, composer
iyatraQuartet recorded a debut album, ‘This World Alone’, in November 2015, recorded in the Union Chapel, London, received as an album choice by fRoots magazine and with a 4-star review in Songlines Magazine. The inspiration for ‘This World Alone’ evolved through working and performing with musicians and artists in London’s rich cultural scene. 'iyatra' comes from the Hindi word for 'travel' and 'journey': a concept that is embraced in the music.
An ideal marriage of contemporary classical, world and avant garde and one of the best gigs we've ever staged
Telegraph Hill Festival
Alongside working towards a second album, iyatraQuartet are pioneering experimental collaborations with musicians, artists, poets, film-makers and dancers. A recent project celebrating the lives of the women who rebuilt Waterloo Bridge, aka The Ladies Bridge, featured new music performed under the bridge by iyatraQuartet. When not working with iyatraQuartet, Rich, George, Will and Alice can be found performing with artists including Nigel Kennedy, Sam Lee, Hofesh Shechter Company, Heritage Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and the London Cello Quartet.
Telegraph Hill Festival
Alongside working towards a second album, iyatraQuartet are pioneering experimental collaborations with musicians, artists, poets, film-makers and dancers. A recent project celebrating the lives of the women who rebuilt Waterloo Bridge, aka The Ladies Bridge, featured new music performed under the bridge by iyatraQuartet. When not working with iyatraQuartet, Rich, George, Will and Alice can be found performing with artists including Nigel Kennedy, Sam Lee, Hofesh Shechter Company, Heritage Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and the London Cello Quartet.
**** 'This World Alone' full review, by Liam Izod
A far cry from your average chamber quartet
With a name derived from the Hindi for travel, iyatraQuartet – an ensemble of cello, clarinet, percussion and violin – journey from ragas to Steve Reich on a genre-spanning debut album. The London-based quartet’s chameleonic nature extends to their experimentations with timbre, which hear the serene lilt of Alice Barron’s violin on ‘Salutaris’ transform into a seagull squawk during a raucous solo on ‘Temple’. Similarly, George Sleightholme’s clarinet playing gives the listener a new appreciation for the instrument’s versatility, ranging from bustling Middle Eastern melodies to insistent minimalist pulses.
Less footloose in feel, Richard Phillips’ cello playing nevertheless stands out. On ‘Talenga’ he alights upon an instance of exquisite polyphony while in duet with the thumb piano of percussionist Will Roberts. It is a moment that must have caused hairs to stand on end during the improvisatory sessions in which the album’s compositions were forged. The magic is over too soon, however.
iyatraQuartet are laudably unafraid to challenge the listener with art-music excursions, but at times the record is a little too restless. While This World Alone feels like an album from a group in search of their sound, it is certainly a journey worth joining.
Liam Izod, Songlines Magazine
© iyatraQuartet 2016
