Whim Trees Cover

Trees

New album on Parma Recordings - April 7th 2023

Whim Ensemble

 

Ofer Pelz prepared piano
Preston Beebe percussion
Stéphane Diamantakioudouble bass

Release Date: April 7, 2023
Catalog # ( Parma Recordings) : RR8089
Format: Digital

In this project, we embark on a musical exploration inspired by the visionary Dutch painter Piet Mondrian and his tree abstractions. Our aim is to translate his unique creative process into captivating sound world. Mondrian’s method involved visually distilling the essence of naturally harmonious forms through a recursive approach. By progressively reducing the visual components of a tree with each iteration, he revealed the underlying beauty within its intricate structure. Drawing inspiration from his approach, we too seek to extract elements from musical gestures to uncover the hidden structures within.

Throughout our creative journey, we delved deeply into the world of trees themselves, finding inspiration in their behavior, growth, diverse varieties, and habitats. These discoveries led us to explore metaphorical concepts that now form the foundation of our mesmerizing musical compositions. On occasion, we drew from a series of graphic scores generated from tree photographs, using them as gestural inspiration and shaping the structural form of our works.

The album is released by Parma recordings and is available in their Ravello site.

The launch concert took place at La Sala Rossa in Montreal on April 10, 2023. This event was co-produced by Innovation en Concert.

Whim trees-collage

Whim Ensemble – Trees

Ofer Pelz – prepared piano | Preston Beebe – percussion | Stéphane Diamantakiou – double bass

  1. Radicle
  2. Cambium
  3. Xylem
  4. Meristem
  5. Catalpa (percussion solo)
  6. Gryllus
  7. Mycorrhizal Networks 
  8. Fitzroya (double bass solo) 
  9. Hevea
  10. Inga (piano solo) 
  11. Pinene






Recorded October 25-27, 2021 at Les Studios Opus, L’Assomption in Quebec, Canada
Engineer Sylvaine Arnaud
Recording Assistant Steeve St-Pierre
Mixing Preston Beebe

Mastering Melanie Montgomery

Cover Art Preston Beebe

Executive Producer Bob Lord

A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Chris Robinson

VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland

 

Whim Ensemble

 

Ofer Pelz prepared piano
Preston Beebe percussion
Stéphane Diamantakioudouble bass

Release Date: April 7, 2023
Catalog # ( Parma Recordings) : RR8089
Format: Digital