Concert: ATOWA + Amir Bey’s “Comets & Magic Mirrors”

CRS Presents an evening of improvisational music and visual art by the multi-instrumentalist duo ATOWA and visual artist Amir Bey. ATOWA combines the celestial sounds of pianist/vocalist/crystal-singing bowl player Naoe Moriya with the earthy instincts of singer-songwriter/pianist/percussionist Saco Yasuma. With Amir Bey’s “Comets and Magic Mirrors” mobiles twisting in the air above them, the duo evokes a marriage of earth and sky.

The performance will take place on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 7 pm. Tickets are $35 at the door and $30 in advance and are available online, by phone (212-677-8621), and at CRS. Direct ticket link:  https://bit.ly/2vO7I6Z

The piano duo ATOWA was formed in May 2016 in NYC. This is the second collaboration with Amir Bey’s “Comets and Magic Mirrors“ installation and poetry, following their performance in Kyoto, Japan on July 1 of this year. This will be their first attempt using two keyboards. Playfully playing off one another, Moriya and Yasuma offer their ever changing vibrations to the Universe.

Amir Bey’s “Comets and Magic Mirrors”

This installation is Amir’s unique conceptual world that is a metaphor for the encounters with other people and things in our daily lives. “Comets” represent enormous impactful energy that crash into “Magic Mirrors.” The copper and amalgamated metal mobiles organically flow with air currents, creating correspondences between people and music. The installation takes you to a magical and joyful world.

ARTIST PROFILES

Amir Bey is a New York City-based artist whose work spans many disciplines. A mixed-media sculptor who works in a variety of media, from carvings, installations, metal work including bronze and copper, silkscreen on fabric for costumes and set designs, as well as mask-making for performance. He is a published writer, with articles appearing in numerous publications including art and astrology magazines, and newspapers. His self-published work appears in his website, http://thenewtimesholler.com

Internationally Amir has exhibited in Japan, Turkey, Martinique, Germany, and Spain. The Precession of Folk #3, a series of 12 faceted glass windows, is a permanent installation commissioned by New York City’s MTA for the Mount Eden Station. In New York, he has co-led with JD Parran, the ongoing collaborative project “Elevated Moon” which involves art installation, music, dance and image-projection since 2014.

Amir has also been active as an astrologer since 1971 and it figures enormously in his art. His original tarot “The Equinox Celebration Tarot” was published in 1993, and republished in 2016. http://equinoxcelebration.com

Naoe Moriya was accredited as a certified International Dalcroze Eurhythmics Teacher by the Juilliard School in New York, after graduating from the Kunitachi College of Music in Japan. She is an artist of many talents and plays the piano, sings, composes, improvises and teaches music. She has been teaching piano and Dalcroze Eurhythmics for about 30 years. She is also a crystal singing bowl player. The crystal singing bowl is an instrument made of crystal and is often used in healing sessions. Using her experience as a musician, Naoe established her own performance style as she now plays the crystal singing bowl and the piano at the same time. She has performed all throughout her home country of Japan and numerous times in New York, Hawaii, San Francisco, Shasta and Sedona. https://crystal-nao.com/

Saco Yasuma has performed as a keyboard player and saxophonist in rock, Reggae, Funk, Salsa and jazz bands in Tokyo and in New York. Along with many kinds of collaborations, she started severalAvant-Guard Jazz Ensembles, presenting original compositions during 2000. One day, she was singing one phrase of lyrics with a melody. It was a beginning of her journey into singing and songwriting. Now she keeps traveling on that road to share those moments with others.  http://www.sacoyasuma.com