Sound Series: Rafiq Bhatia: Breaking English with special guest WILLS

We welcome composer, producer, and guitarist, Rafiq Bhatia (member of Son Lux) on a tour supporting his latest album Breaking English on Anti Records. Breaking English is an evening-length live performance, featuring Bhatia’s latest work for his electroacoustic trio transformed into an immersive multimedia experience by visual artist Michael Cina and video artist Hal Lovemelt. The electroacoustic trio includes Ian Chang (Son Lux, Joan As Policewoman) on electronic and acoustic drums and Jackson Hill (Xenia Rubinos) on bass and synthesizers. Following up on Bhatia’s two previous Sound Series performances, as guitarist with Son Lux, Breaking English pushes further at the boundaries of sound art and improvisation, while blending elements of both organic and mechanical, intimate and distant. As Bhatia explains, “At times I use electronic processing to destabilize, e.g. twisting stereotypes of Indian music into noise beyond recognition.” WILLS opens the evening. 

Breaking English was co-commissioned by The Jazz Gallery, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series, Newfields: A Place for Nature & the Arts, and the Toledo Museum of Art.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Sound Series

Sound Series is an ongoing concert series featuring internationally touring contemporary artists and bands from around the world. Learn more about our Sound Series.