Latest Colaboration
Atefeh Einali's composition process
2021
Dive into creative process of composer Atefeh Einali
Portrayed within the online edition of Audiograft - Oxford's annual festival of experimental music and sound Art: This project was presented by Toward sounds by Dr. Ruth Wiesenfeld which was an online exhibition in Berlin, Germany. You can also listen to Atefeh's piece "I am from nowhere" released by Deutchlandfunk radio Germany after that exhibition.
Image: composition sketches by Atefeh Einali
Atefeh Einali participated in composing for Sitar scheme in Psappha
2020
Atefeh got commission to write a solo piece for Sitar. The piece called Invisible and it is exploring possibilities of combination Iranian and Indian music genre.
Atefeh Einali has been collaborating with ARC project
2020
Atefeh has been collaborating with the ARC project as a composer and Santoor player. Until now she has composed a solo piece for voice called "I am lonely" and she has performed in the flickering by James McIlwrath. Currently she is composing a piece for Flute and Harp.
Atefeh Einali's Article
2019
The Voice, for solo violin, was premiered by Jae-Won Lee on April 29, 2018, in Zutphen, the Netherlands. I have composed The Voice to raise the voices of all women like me in order to say that you are not alone.
This piece is published by women and music: A Journal of Gender and Culture, University of Nebraska Press. The piece was performed for the second time in Hime online festival by Saba Yousefi.
July, 2018
From Atefeh: We want to make a journey for our audiences step by step from the first piece to feel kindness, love, humanism, fear, sometimes anger, sadness, and all of our emotions, as we felt when we were composing these pieces. In our music, you see the merging of east and west. The Iranian part shows the new concept in making intervals, for example in Segah Dastgah we focus on one note that has an unusual tune in Iranian music (this is a quarter note). Also, in Chahargah Dastgah we have "Mojanab intervals" (135-145 cents), this is the third interval that is made with a quarter note. So, we want to merge these new intervals with the tonal ones in western music and arrange them with electronic processes, with noises, breathing sound, and singing that show our feelings in an innovative atmosphere. Finally, we want our words as music to connect with people around the world because music is a language that everybody understands.
From Melanie: For many months we sent messages to each other. Many with audio, even more in the Telegram app’s face ‘circle'. The first message that Atefeh sent was the video of the santoor with an explanation about tuning and the way it can be struck with different hammers. And then she played it and I was amazed and drawn in by its timbre and harmonies.
Circle Messages came together out of a need to hear our melodies, and to pair distinct harmonies with time-travelled noisy electrotextures. Often playful, with sections that occasionally jar, our sounds went from Tehran to Melbourne; from Melbourne to Tehran, to give form to our compositions. Sometimes this geographical space is audible in the music as surface noise, or in mixing and panning choices. In our messages to each other, we gave feedback about music, shared thoughts and feelings, frustrations, and joy. When I was remixing the final piece, Rast-panjgah, there were protests in Iran and the Iranian government shut down Telegram, an application that the population relies on to message each other like SMS. I mixed the rest of Rast-panjgah with a keen sense of Atefeh’s absence, and concern for Iran.
credits
released July 12, 2018
Composition 1
Flute improvisation and remix – Melanie Chilianis
Santoor performed and improvised in Segah Dastgah by Atefeh Einali
Dastgah drift
Composition by Atefeh Einali
Some sonic material generated by Melanie Chilianis
Flute – Melanie Chilianis | Santoor – Atefeh Einali
Chahargah
Flutes improvisation and composition – Melanie Chilianis
Santoor performed and improvised in Chahargah Dastgah by Atefeh Einali
Rast-panjgah
Santoor performed and improvised in Rast-Panjgah Dastgah by Atefeh Einali
Remix/production by Melanie Chilianis
Artwork by Gail Chilianis
Design by snoutling
Mastered by Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA
Avazad fusion ensemble
September, 2018
Between two worlds
How we came together:
Atefeh and Eliorah Goodman met eachother during thier masters at the University of Manchester. Both composers they soon found they had a lot in common, and decided to do some experimentation with their instruments in the basement practice rooms. It was with a combination of curiosity and fascination that their creative collaboration began, and they soon began to improvise together on a regular basis. As an Iranian music graduate from the University of Art in Tehran, Atefeh introduced Eliorah to a sound world which was totally new to her. Eliorah herself coming from an orthodox Jewish background found the cultural exchange refreshing and inspiring. As they began to develop their repertoire and perform for various occasions, a deep musical connection a strong friendship developed. Their music aims to create something new out of their past, embracing difference and revealing hidden connections, but above all they aim to perform music that will speak to everyone, no matter what cultural or educational background.
The Name:
The name for their ensemble was for a long time the cause of much distress! For weeks they searched for the perfect word to summarise their work. Eventually they came up with a name that combines two words,; 'avaz' meaning 'sound' and 'azadi' meaning 'freedom'. Together they combine to illustrate what their music means to them. It expresses the liberating power of music, which is not something to be taken for granted as a female musician from Iran, a statement which is explicit in all the music that they create and perform.
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