2020 Greetings & Upcoming Shows
Marley Kirton
A belated Happy New Year to everyone.
In an auspicious start to the new decade, my first few concerts are lead or curated or in collaboration with some mighty, mighty Asian woman. My first show is on 1/17 and is part of drumXdrum: a polyrhythm festival, curated by the masterful percussionist and composer Susie Ibarra. The following week, I’ll be performing with the multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu and the piri player, Gamin at the Greene Space in NYC, and from there will head up to Dartmouth College for a concert the following day with pipa virtuoso Wu Man.
Starting the very next morning, I’ll spend a week in residency at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA working with an all percussion (and fue) version of Silkroad, and soon after I’ll travel to Paris for a few concerts with flamenco maestra Eva Yerbabuena, her company, and singer Anna Sato.
I’ve been practicing a lot these days— about 4 hours a day on average— and developing new (for me) techniques and approaches to playing music. After twenty years of playing music professionally, I feel like an absolute beginner, often extremely frustrated with the gap between how I want to play and how I'm able to play. I have no choice at this point but to keep pushing ahead— I have rent to pay and mouths to feed for one— and ultimately I feel inspired and excited for all the music I'll be making in 2020.
Best,
Kaoru
