Anaís Azul: Brief Lights- Berkeley High School Commission

Friday, May 26, 2017

Brief Lights- Berkeley High School Commission

"Brief Lights" was commissioned by Berkeley High Orchestra alum William Cayanan. It was written to commemorate a number of BHS alums who died recently, and seeks to explore the lights and memories that are left behind when young people pass before their time" -Itai Bojdak-Yates
Premiered in Berkeley California Community Theater by the Berkeley High School Band and Orchestra, conducted by Karen Wells on May 26th, 2017

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Bio

Peruvian born and California grown composer Anaís Azul has been writing music since 2011 when she was a singer-songwriter and collaborator at BUMP Records in Oakland. In 2012 she became a part of the John Adams Young Composers Program in Berkeley, where she delved into electroacoustic composition as well as chamber writing. Azul now has a B.M in Music Composition and Theory from Boston University and spent a semester abroad studying at the Royal College of Music in London. While at BU, she received the undergraduate departmental award, has been commissioned by the Chamber Orchestra of Boston and as an arranger for singer-songwriter Meklit Hadero's "Waiting for Earthquakes" in collaboration with the San Francisco Awesome Orchestra. Azul has also been selected in 2015 and 2016 for the New England Score call by the Women Composers Festival of Hartford. For her senior recital she curated and composed a collaborative performance art piece Mundane Delirium where she collaborated with poets, rappers, and improvisers. This past May, the Berkeley High School Band and Orchestra premiered her work Brief Lights to commemorate classmates of hers that died tragic deaths at a young age. Currently, Azul is working on the Boston Trombone Project’s first ever commission. Currently, she is arranging STL GLD’s rap album Torch Song for string quartet in conjunction with a multimedia performance at the Club Oberon in Cambridge. She also sings in Boston based social justice choir Voices21c. Azul can be found performing her original songs in Spanish, English and a mix of the two throughout the Greater Boston Area solo and with her band Cathartic Conundrum. She can also be found playing the melodica at police stations, on the street, at free-improv jams, and at open mics. Azul seeks to build bridges between all forms of music making through improvisation, poetry, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Anaís Azul believes music to be a tool for communication, empowerment, and for finding common ground in a time plagued by war and hate.