In Emi Maeda’s first U.S. performance, the Tokyo-born, Helsinki-based artist presents a concert for solo harp, live electronics and computer, mixing angelic glissandos with feedback and electronic noise.

Using her harp as interface, she attaches one contact microphone to the instrument’s soundboard, while she holds another mike in her hand and plays the harp’s strings. The two signals route through her electronics set-up, a computer and then a mixer, which she controls in real time.

Maeda says she is best characterized by the “irreconcilable conflict between a classical and a maverick musician.” We’d expect nothing less from the composer of Batgirl in Vienna.

Emi Maeda (b.1973, Tokyo) has studied harp playing in Tokyo and London. She currently divides her time between live performances and post-graduate studies in Finland. She is a frequent collaborator with varied musicians, dancers and media artists, including Maja Ratkje, Lotta Melin, HC Gilje and Lia, and she is a member of the Helsinki Computer Orchestra. Recent festival appearances include Avanto Media Art Festival (Helsinki, 2003) and All Ears Festival (Oslo, 2004).