Del Mar is about to get a cello performance with fewer dusty-instrument vibes and a lot more circuitry. Composer and performer Shannon Hayden will bring her genre-blurring sound to town this week for a conversation and immersive musical presentation.
Hayden is set to headline the Del Mar Foundation’s DMF Talk this Thursday, where she will discuss the creative path that took her from neoclassical training into electro-ambient soundscapes, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The program is expected to combine an intimate conversation with an immersive concert, and attendees are asked to RSVP through the Foundation’s website.
The event, titled From Migration to Connection, is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at Del Mar Town Hall, according to the Del Mar Foundation’s event listing. The Foundation is presenting the talk in collaboration with the Del Mar International Composers Symposium.
From classical training to electronic soundscapes
Hayden performs on a 19th-century cello outfitted with pickups, amplification and electronic modifications, turning a traditionally orchestral instrument into the center of a layered, modern sound. Her official artist bio says she has toured globally for more than a decade and studied with cellists János Starker at Indiana University and Aldo Parisot at Yale.
That combination of conservatory technique and studio experimentation has made Hayden something of a one-person band, building music through live looping, vocals, strings and digital processing. The Union-Tribune reports that the Del Mar program will trace that evolution while offering an account of what a life in the arts can look like when tradition and technology stop arguing and start collaborating.
A musical connection to marine life
Hayden’s creative work also extends beyond the concert stage. One project highlighted by the San Diego Union-Tribune is Concert for the Whales, a water-based musical event created with sailor and events producer Alejandra Castañeda that links live art with marine life, scientific research and the shared environment.
The DMFtalks series describes itself as the Foundation’s local version of TED Talks, featuring creative, intellectual and scientific leaders in free presentations designed to inform and inspire. The series, which launched in 2012, typically presents three to five talks each year, making Thursday’s event a distinctly Del Mar blend of arts conversation, experimental music and coastal perspective.
