JOLT!: Michiyo Yagi, BOLT ENSEMBLE, Lisa MacKinney, James Hullick + Keiko Higuchi, Akiko Nakayama

Featuring:
Michiyo Yagi (electric 21-string koto, 17-string bass koto, electronics, voice)
BOLT ENSEMBLE (Miranda Hill - bass; Caerwen Martin - cello)
Lisa MacKinney (guitar/feedback)
James Hullick (voice/electronics) + Keiko Higuichi (voice/electronics)
Akiko Nakayama (Alive Painting)
DJ Evil Penguin

Artist Information:

Michiyo Yagi (electric 21-string koto, 17-string bass koto, electronics, voice)

Michiyo Yagi studied koto under Tadao Sawai, Kazue Sawai and Satomi Kurauchi, and graduated from the NHK Professional Training School for Traditional Musicians. Between 1989 and 1990, during her tenure as Visiting Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, U.S.A., she premiered numerous modern compositions for koto and came under the influence of maverick American composers such as John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow, and John Zorn. Her solo koto CD Shizuku was produced by Zorn and released on the Tzadik label in 1999. In 2001 she recorded "Yural" with her koto ensemble Paulownia Crush for the East Works label. Under the auspices of the Japan Foundation, Yagi toured Russia with this ensemble in the fall of 2004. Yagi is one of the few improvising koto players on the international stage. She has performed with Mark Dresser, John Zorn, Peter Brötzmann, Elliott Sharp, Han Bennink, Akira Sakata, Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Altered States), Natsuki Kido (Bondage Fruit), Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Otomo Yoshihide, Saadet Turkoz, Ned Rothenberg, Hoppy Kamiyama, Samm Bennett, Yuji Katsui (Rovo), Lauren Newton, Hans Reichel, Sabu Toyozumi, Mino Cinelu, Satoko Fujii, Joëlle Léandre, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), Bill Laswell, Kazutoki Umezu, Carl Stone, Kang Tae Hwan, Christian Marclay, Koichi Makigami, Zeena Parkins, Masahiko Satoh, Billy Bang, Keiji Haino, Jason Roebke, Sachiko M, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love, MZN3 (Kjetil Møster, Per Zanussi, Kjell Nordeson), Chris Mosdell, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), WHO Trio, Mani Neumeier and many others.
michiyo-yagi.cocolog-nifty.com

BOLT ENSEMBLE
(Miranda Hill - bass; Caerwen Martin - cello)
The BOLT Ensemble is emerging as one of Australia’s leading cutting edge chamber ensembles. Led by Dr Belinda Woods, BOLT has toured to Japan and Switzerland in recent years, presenting new works created through the BOLT members and the JOLT Arts production team. In 2014 the ensemble was highly acclaimed for performances in These Compulsive Behaviours for the Melbourne Festival “…all commendable but the Melbourne Festival concert of James Hullick’s compositions from the BOLT Orchestra and Arcko Symphonic Ensemble stood out as an original, memorable, creative experience” The Age (reviewing 2014) 2015 saw BOLT collaborate with musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music at the Melbourne Recital Centre and broadcast on ABC Classic FM, as well as premiering the work Slow Riven Whirl for Ballarat’s Festival of Slow Music. These projects have extended BOLT’s dynamic exploration of music technology and socially engaged projects.
joltarts.org/all-artists

MIRANDA HILL (bass)

Miranda Hill is a double bassist, producer, composer and educator. After studying at the VCA, University of Michigan and the Hartt school, she is now based in Melbourne. Miranda plays regularly with Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, many new music ensembles, and is a core member of BOLT ensemble and the Scottish baroque quartet: Evergreen Ensemble. In addition, Miranda is artistic director of 3 Shades Black, who perform regularly at the Melbourne Fringe and Midsumma festivals, as well as a nationwide education project in partnership with Musica Viva and ACMI. She is also one half of the collaboration “Fine Fine Small Mountain” who spent most of 2015 living and working at Lijiang Studio in China; and the theatre-music duo “the flying tapirs” with Leah Scholes; who have sold out seasons in Melbourne and Ballarat, and are heading to Perth Fringe soon!
finefinesmallmountain.wordpress.com/miranda-hill

CAERWEN MARTIN (cello)

Martin has been trained as a cellist both locally and abroad, and performs in a wide variety of groups from experimental to pop, jazz, contemporary and classical. She has written music for film, art films Artesian and Reception and a feature Lost and Found (Apra Nominated). Martin has written string arrangements for bands like Dan Brodie, Kram, Millionaire Souls, Lou Bennett and the Sweet Cheeks, Naked Raven, 67Special, Creech and Germany's Colourblind. She has toured extensively through Europe, the Balkans, Australia, South Africa and America with the David Chesworth ensemble, Geminiani Orchestra, Naked Raven, Skin String Quartet and Aphids. Currently Martin runs the Silo String Quartet - a contemporary/jazz string quartet that does a lot of new works by established and emerging composers.
www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/martin-caerwen

Lisa MacKinney (guitar/feedback)

Lisa MacKinney has been a leading noise guitarist and historian in Australian sound culture. MacKinney is one third of noise/electronic band Taipan Tiger Girls with Ollie Olsen (synths) and Mat Watson (drums). They released their debut album, 1, in February 2015 on It Records, an improvised live recording. The release was a limited edition of 100 vinyl LPs which sold out in a week, and was also released on CD and download. TheMusic rated it highly, saying "Their highly recommended sound is a monster kosmische grind that writhes and hypnotises". Bob Fish of Cyclic Defrost Magazine described their track, "Motion" and how they "make long and beautiful walls of noise, intricate and psychedelic; delicate and tough." The follow-up Taipan Tiger Girls album "2", was released in August 2016, also on It Records. "2" was recorded and mixed by Kalju Tonuma and received No. 1 Feature Record at PBS FM. Lisa’s solo guitar/organ noise project is Mystic Eyes, which was the became the subject of the film Mystic Eyes (2009) by Adam Spellicy, and which continues as a conduit for Lisa exploration of ‘constructive use of monotony’. As a historian Lisa wrote a PhD on the Shangri-Las. Her academic background is situated in late medieval history, and has focussed on the relationship between devotional art, religious practice, and mysticism in England and Western Europe from 1300-1500.
joltarts.org/all-artists/40-artists/402-lisa-mackinney

James Hullick (voice/electronics)

James Hullick is a composer, community arts worker, sound artist and producer who exists at the forefront of international sonic arts creation and presentation. James’ work is characterised by an unusual ability to use sound to engage in social issues. His projects have been presented internationally for a variety of ensembles and electronic formats. Innovative sonic terrains that James continues to work through include: recursive compositional techniques, perceptual music making, real time scores, sound making machines and community arts projects. James founded JOLT (2008) and has artistically directed many projects since that time. JOLT projects and festivals have taken place internationally in the US, Japan, China, Europe and the UK. In 2011 James founded The Click Clack Project, a community sonic artists organisation. James recently completed a three-year Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Melbourne. He was awarded an Australia Council Fellowship (2015) and received the Michael Kieran Harvey Piano Scholarship (2015-16).
www.hullickmedia.com

Keiko Higuchi (voice/electronics)

Keiko Higuchi is a voice performer working with and thru her voice and body. From the original position voice/body performance Keiko’s practice has expanded into further creative fields including photography, dance and writing (under the name of cleo k.). Recently Keiko has been focusing on performance projects various musicians and dancers.
www.geocities.jp/cleokkk

Akiko Nakayama (Alive Painting)

Visual artist Akiko Nakayama creates installations, live performance and photographic works dealing with energy cycles, movement and colors. Employing a wide range of techniques, her unique approach to live painting results in melting landscapes, kaleidoscopic patterns and surreal and saturated vistas. Working in collaboration with some of Japan’s most distinctive improvising artists, including Keiji Haino, Akira Sakata and Hiromichi Sakamoto, she pursues what she titles ‘alive painting’, in which she aims to find the ‘existence of life’ in the act of creating out of nothingness.
www.akiko.co.jp/akikoweb/top.html