Shifting Ground
Shifting Ground is a solo program and album created by violinist Alexi Kenney. In 2024, Xuan and Alexi collaborated to create a multimedia version which premiered at the Baryshnikov Art Center and featured at the 2024 Ojai Music Festival. The program includes works by Rafiq Bhatia, Matthew Burtner, Mario Davidovsky, Nicola Matteis, Kaija Saariaho, Paul Wiancko, Salina Fisher and Angélica Negrón.
“Shifting Ground weaves together pieces for solo violin and violin/electronics by J.S. Bach and composers of other eras to form a program with dramatic arc, flow, and scope. Bach’s music is a perfect fusion of technical mastery and innovation, but it’s his ability to transcend technique and access the spiritual and mystical realm that has inspired this program, which is played in five acts.”
The visuals echo the shifting nature in the music. Drawing from natural phenomena like the fracturing of glass and the melting of ice and their respective ability to re-form through extreme heat and extreme cold, the visuals suggest that the state of being broken or fractured is not the end, but a necessary ‘shifting’ towards transformation.
Design and Photos by Xuan