Photo courtesy of Wayward Music Series. (L-R): Lori Goldston, Paul Kikuchi, Afroditi Psarra, and Michaud Savage
BY JONATHAN SHIPLEY
There are silver linings in everything, even global pandemics.
“I’d been thinking for a while about ways to be more inclusive and to operate in a more participatory way, changing my role to become more of a mentor and facilitator.” That, from Steve Peters, co-founder of the non-profit Nonsequitur, an organization dedicated to the presentation of adventurous and experimental music and sound art.
He continued, “The pandemic gave me the space to reimagine how that might work.”
The silver lining showed Peters a path to give curatorial control of the NonSeq concert series to local artists. Last year was the organization’s first effort in that regard. Marina Albero, Omar Willey, Carlos Snaider, and Leanna Keith were the curators.
The experiment proved successful, thus Peters is doing it again in 2023.
The new cohort of curators for the 2023 NonSeq concert series are Lori Goldston, Paul Kikuchi, Afroditi Psarra, and Michaud Savage. Each will be responsible for curating three events over the year, for a total of twelve shows featuring local and visiting artists.
“Aside from being wonderful artists in their own right,” Peters said, “I’m excited about their vast pool of knowledge and experiences and interests; the different circles they each travel in; the artists they know.”
Lori Goldston is a 59-year-old cellist, curator, band leader, producer, and teacher living in Seattle. Having attended and performed in many Nonsequitur shows at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center, she finds Seattle’s music community a place of openness and genre fluidity. “A persistently smart, fun curiosity drives a lot of the music that is made here,” Goldston said.
“I’m thrilled to have a chance to offer wonderful musicians very beautiful framing and a budget,” she said. She has, thus far, locked in two shows. One, on March 3, will have performances by cellist Judith Hamann, from Germany, and violinist Swil Kanim, each playing a set. Goldston said, “I think it will be a knockout of a show.”
On April 15, there will be performances, thanks to Goldston’s curation, by New York percussionist/composer Sean Meehan, and tondiue, a project of local Cameron Kelley. “It should be a trippy, fun, very memorable time,” Goldston said.
Paul Kikuchi is a music faculty member at South Seattle College. A percussionist and composer, his work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and others. “I’m excited,” he said. He’ll be presenting Nic Masangkay, a culture worker in music and poetry; Tatsuya Nakatani’s gong orchestra, featuring students from South Seattle College; and an electronic music show with Noel Brass Jr. and Alex Vittum.
Afroditi Psarra, an Athenian, is a multi-disciplinary artist and associate professor of digital arts and experimental media at the University of Washington where she runs the DXARTS SoftLab. Her artistic statement reads, in part, “My research focuses on the interweaving of art and science through the creation of artifacts with a critical lens.”
Composer, guitarist, and vocalist Michaud Savage is a working musician that is based both in Seattle and Berlin, Germany. Having played with such local luminaries as Wayne Horvitz, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Evan Flory-Barnes, Adra Boo, and others, Savage plays a variety of genres, from folk to blues, tango to pop.
“There is so much more to our local music scene than what is typically covered in the local press or heard on the radio,” Peters said. “And these concerts are a great way to dig into it and expand our musical awareness.”
The silver lining is shining brighter still in the coming year. Nonsequitur aglow.
