FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kelly Hargraves, khargraves@calarts.edu, 213-237-2873 MEMBERS OF THE PRESS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND FRIDAY OCTOBER 16, 2015 8:30 PM FOR REVIEW CONSIDERATION RSVP TO khargraves@calarts.edu REDCAT presents Samita Sinha s Sonic Performance Cipher Friday, October to Saturday, October 17, 2015 Cipher stands among the most mesmerizing performances I ve ever seen delicately teasing her voice and the elements of the raga form through a vast range of musical territories: the avant-garde of Meredith Monk, Joan Le Barbara to the visceral blues of Nina Simone and Betty Lavette. Portland Monthly PRESS KIT ONE SHEET REVIEWS ARTIST WEBSITE AUDIO CLIP REDCAT WEBSITE LINK/PURCHASE TICKETS REDCAT, CalArts downtown center for contemporary arts, presents the beautifully
theatricalized sonic performance Cipher, composed and performed by the intoxicating vocalist Samita Sinha, Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17, 2015, at 8:30 p.m. Sinha deploys digital devices interwoven with her live singing, drawing on classical Indian forms like raga, thumri, and mantra, mixed with early blues from the American South, Bengali Baul songs and doses of pop and electronic music. This mix is closely bound to the languages Sinha speaks: Hindi, Urdu, Brajh, Bengali, Sanskrit, Mandarin Chinese, English, and Spanish. Sinha s vocabulary is Tarana a genre in Hindustani classical vocal music mixing Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit syllables said to encode mystical meanings. Cipher suggests finding one s self through finding one s voice. Ranging from tightly structured to freely improvisational, from melodic to atonal, the experimental score reflects how her sensibility as an artist closely bound to the sound qualities of language. Each sound is localized on stage through amplifiers and speakers, threaded together by Sinha s voice into a sonic, vibrational architecture. The Cipher ensemble features a pulsating, gritty-sounding tabla (rhythm) machine expertly altered by DJ/sound designer Dave Sharma; an ektaara (one-string instrument); microphones and looping devices; and bass frequencies, with a lighting design by Christopher Kuhl, a set design by visual artist Dani Leventhal, with costumes by Anna Telcs. At its core, Cipher touches on visibility and invisibility, in a visual terrain crafted with light and shadow to frame the narrative as it moves from a kind of underworld into fully embodied voice and sight. As a first-generation American in a South Asian immigrant family, Sinha s personal story flows from the loss of mooring to the ancestral home and language, as well as the creative potential embedded in that rupture. There is a need for roots. There is a need to uproot the petrifications of the past. There is a need to change everything. CIPHER addresses all these needs at once. - Samita Sinha Cipher is co-commissioned by REDCAT, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, and Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech and NPN, as a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund/Fourth Fund project. Biography: Samita Sinha is a New York-based composer, performance artist and singer who combines tradition with experiment to create new forms, drawing from a deep grounding in North Indian classical music, a contemporary vocabulary, folk and ritual music, and songs and texts in several languages. She has performed her solo work (Cipher) and ensemble work (Enkidu, Kaash, Marc Cary s Focus Trio, Anatomy, Sunny Jain Collective) internationally, and has collaborated with poets (Sekou Sundiata, Fiona Templeton), musicians (Marc Cary, Sunny Jain), choreographers (Daria Fain, Liz
Lerman, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar), and communities (through MAPP, and the Coleman Center) to create works that cross boundaries of genre and discipline, and expand ideas about modes of collaboration. Sinha has received awards and residencies from the Fulbright Foundation, NYSCA, Urban Artists Initiative, Queens Council on the Arts, Watermill Center, and Millay Colony. She received her MFA in Music/ Sound from Bard and studied post-colonial Literature at Yale. Samita Sinha: Cipher Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17, 2015 Tickets: $12-25 More info and tickets at http://www.redcat.org/event/samita-sinha-cipher +++++++++++++ ABOUT REDCAT THE ROY AND EDNA DISNEY/CALARTS THEATER REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, presents a dynamic and international mix of innovative visual, performing and media arts year round. Located inside the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles, REDCAT houses a theater, a gallery space and a lounge. Through performances, exhibitions, screenings, and literary events, REDCAT introduces diverse audiences, students and artists to the most influential developments in the arts from around the world, and gives artists in this region the creative support they need to achieve national and international stature. REDCAT continues the tradition of the California Institute of the Arts, its parent organization, by encouraging experimentation, discovery and lively civic discourse. GENERAL INFORMATION For current program and exhibition information call 213-237-2800 or visit www.redcat.org. LOCATION/PARKING Street Address: 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles CA 90012 REDCAT is located in downtown Los Angeles inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex with a separate entrance at the corner of West 2nd and Hope Streets. Parking is available in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking structure. $9 event rate or $5 for vehicles entering after 8:00 pm on weekdays. THE LOUNGE Open to the public six days a week, the Lounge is a great place to spend an afternoon or grab a drink pre- and post-performance.
Lounge Hours: Tuesdays Fridays from 9am until 8 pm or post-show; Saturdays from noon until 8 pm or post-show; Sundays from noon until 6pm or post-show THE GALLERY REDCAT's Gallery presents five major exhibitions each year, and publishes artist books and catalogues. Admission to the Gallery is FREE. Gallery Hours: Tuesdays Sundays from noon until 6 pm and through intermission THE THEATER Tickets for programs held in the theater are available through the REDCAT Box Office, by phone 213-237-2800 or online at www.redcat.org. Group, member, student and CalArts faculty/staff discounts available. Box Office Hours: Tuesdays Saturday from noon until 6 pm or two hours prior to curtain ### MEDIA CONTACT Kelly Hargraves Marketing & Media Manager 213 237-2873