Kirin McElwain / Kimia Hesabi & Erin Murphy Snedecor / Heather Stebbins
$10-$20 sliding scale
- Kirin McElwain, cello & voice
- Kimia Hesabi, viola
- Erin Murphy Snedecor, cello
- Heather Stebbins, electronics
Violist Kimia Hesabi and cellist Erin Murphy Snedecor present a varied program of Americana, Iranian contemporary and classical, and electro acoustic music. This performance represents various genres and a collection of pieces they advocate for actively and explore within their performing careers.
About Kirin McElwain, cello & voice
Kirin McElwain is a cellist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer working in the realms of experimental, improvised, contemporary classical, and popular music. In her own sound and compositional practice, she uses cello, modular synthesizer, and voice to explore the tension between formal structure and chaos, western classical harmony and noise, and ideas of "goodness" and "correctness." Her self-released debut EP Viriditas received praise from Foxy Digitalis and A Closer Listen, and received play on Electric Rabbit Radio Hour.
https://kirinmcelwain.com/About Kimia Hesabi, viola
Dr. Kimia Hesabi is a violist, educator, and administrator currently residing in the D.C area. Hesabi is the the Co-Director of Education and Engagement at the National Philharmonic, where she co-creates programs, opportunities, and community initiatives that are centered around artistic, educational, and social impact.
Kimia is an active performer in the USA and has performed in various prestigious concert halls across the country as well as her home country Iran. An active chamber musician, Ms. Hesabi is the founder of Yasna Ensemble. This ensemble performs contemporary compositions and arrangements that are inspired by Middle Eastern classical and folk music. Hesabi has performed with several orchestras and ensembles in the Middle East such as the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, Iranian National Orchestra, and the Tehran Philharmonic, and is an active performer in the USA as both a concert violist, and chamber musician. In her DMA dissertation project, "Viola from Iran: Continuing and Expanding the Trajectory of a Rich Cultural History," Ms. Hesabi has performed, researched, and recorded an album of several commissioned and premiered works for viola by composers from the Iranian diaspora.
https://www.kimiahesabi.com/About Erin Murphy Snedecor, cello
Erin Murphy Snedecor is a collaborative cellist who strives to forge new paths for interdisciplinary and multi genre art. Her work spans the realms of classical, contemporary, pop, rock, electroacoustic, and folk, and she would be hard pressed to pick a favorite.
Erin is a founding member, cellist, and music director of Balance Campaign, a contemporary sextet dedicated to the collaboration, commissioning, performance of works by new and lesser heard voices of modern music. She is also the cellist and Co-Director of earspace, a North Carolina-based ensemble that curates multisensory programs in unexpected venues.
In addition to her work in classical composed music, Erin is known for her ability to perform with any ensemble of rock, folk, pop, bluegrass, and whatever-you-can-think-of in between. In 2009, Erin joined forces with Annapolis indie rock band Pompeii Graffiti, appearing on 3 studio albums and performing in local and touring performances. She is also half of the indie/folk duo Black Rhinoceros, and a writer and performer of classical electronica quartet DoubleSpeak. In 2019, Erin collaborated with Glade Dance Collective as part of Capital Fringe Festival under her solo moniker, Zooxanthellae, to compose and perform the music for their work, Oizys in the Waiting Room. Her first eponymous EP was released in May 2021 with Off Latch Press.
Erin is a 2023 Strathmore Artist in Residence, as well as a proud graduate of Ithaca College and University of Maryland, College Park. She lives in a little blue house in Brentwood, Maryland with her husband, Matt, their dogs Arthur and Crosby, and far too many house plants.
https://www.erinmurphysnedecor.com/About Heather Stebbins, electronics
Heather Stebbins is a sound artist and educator based in Washington, DC, where she is Assistant Professor of Electronic and Computer Music at George Washington University. She works with sounds created by instruments, found objects, nature, and voltage to generate musical experiences ranging from notated works for chamber ensembles to improvised performances on modular synthesizers. Really wonderful people and ensembles have performed her music in a lot of neat places, and she is grateful for that. Her recent album, At the End of the Sky (Superpang, 2023), is available on Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Other recordings are available on New Focus Recordings, Not Art Records, SEAMUS, and Coviello labels.
http://heatherstebbins.com/