September 17, 2020 at 6pm CT

Pioneer Works presents Amirtha Kidambi

Pioneer Works presents a night of performances as part of Experimental Sound Studio’s Quarantine Concerts featuring past, present, and future Music Residents and performers from the Pioneer Works creative community.

This iteration of the Quarantine Concerts will feature August Music Resident, Amirtha Kidambi in collaboration with Luke Stewart and Lea Bertucci and her band Elder Ones (Matt Nelson, Max Jaffe, and Eva Lawitts). We will hear a blend of solos, duos, and ensemble performances all performed live in the Pioneer Works garden.

Amirtha Kidambi is invested in the creation and performance of subversive music, from free improvisation and avant-jazz, to experimental bands and new music. She is an educator, activist and organizer, informed by anti-racism, decolonization and anti-capitalism. As a bandleader, she is the creative force behind Elder Ones, featuring rising New York artists Matt Nelson, Nick Dunston and Max Jaffe. Elder Ones’ Holy Science and From Untruth released on Northern Spy, have received critical praise from the New York Times, Pitchfork, Downbeat and WIRE magazine. Kidambi topped the categories of "Rising Star Vocalist", "Rising Star Composer" and "Rising Star Jazz Group" in the Downbeat Critics Poll for 2019. She is active in an improvising duo with electronic musician Lea Bertucci, in a kinetic interaction with reel-to-reel tape machine, with the forthcoming album Phase Eclipse on Astral Spirits. Kidambi is a key collaborator in Mary Halvorson's latest sextet Code Girl, the duo Angels & Demons with Darius Jones (setting Sun Ra poetry) and in various collaborations with William Parker. As an improviser, she has played with New York luminaries including Matana Roberts, Tyshawn Sorey, Maria Grand, Ingrid Laubrock, Ava Mendoza, Fay Victor, Trevor Dunn, Ben Vida, Tyondai Braxton and Shahzad Ismaily. Kidambi worked closely with composer Robert Ashley until the end of his life, premiering his final opera CRASH and had the honor of working with the late composer/pianist Muhal Richard Abrams for the premiere of Dialogue Social. She has performed and presented her music in the U.S. and internationally at Carnegie Hall, The Kitchen, Whitney Museum, EMPAC, Berlin Jazzfest and various DIY/punk spaces. Kidambi has received grants from the Jerome Foundation, Asian Cultural Council and artist residencies at EMPAC, Roulette, Pioneer Works and Bucareli 69 in Mexico City.