Music is a time-based medium and I invite you to an unusual listening experience - over a year. Chinese energetics point us to observe nature, to access the essence of being. listen to the rain results from the study of natural cycles from atom to cosmos, breath to eons, and how they inform our experience of the connection between earth & heaven. Giving you time to listen in a holistic way will illustrate my point. listen to the rain’s 8 movements will be released seasonally. Drops will drop every 45 days, as follows:

W A T E R
December 21st, 2024 (solstice)
M O  U N T  A I N
February 4th, 2025
T H U N D E R
March 20, 2025 (equinox)
W I N D
May 4th, 2025
F I R E
June 21st, 2025 (solstice)
E A R T H
August 4th, 202
R A I N
September 20, 2025 (equinox)
S K Y
November 3rd, 2025  

That is the timeline for the initiation, based on what Taoists call the earthly order of the 8 forces --  after which, listen to the rain will be available as a whole, in the heavenly order.

W H E R E  T H I S  M U S I C  C O M E S  F R O M
I now unequivocally call myself a composer, although improvisation is essential to my music, which is about holding space for a transformative experience that is unique to every listener. Composition is a conduit for relational study. Over years of apprenticeship with Daria Faïn, I got to explore ways to embody principles of Asian energetics through martial arts, prosody and meditation. The fusion of the 5 elements, a Taoist meditation originally taught by chi kung master Mantak Chia, is what prompted me to write listen to the rain. In this practice, the cyclical equilibrium between our organs, our senses, colors, emotions, elements of nature, seasons and the planetary movements are all expressed through the 8 forces or 8 trigrams, which are variations of yin & yang combinations -- the powerful paradox of polarity transcending itself as its dynamic agents constantly change. Once all movements are released, the entire piece will reveal the original order in which they are meant to be heard, when listened to back to back. In the fusion of the 5 elements meditation, the 8 forces are called upon in their heavenly order: Water, Fire, Thunder, Rain, Earth, Mountain, Wind & Sky. I invite you to slow down the ways that you listen to and integrate sensory information as it relates to everything else, your inner landscape, your experience of your environment in the earthly order, and their cosmic resonances in the heavenly order, a year from now. If you wish to enter study mode, I recommend The Book of Changes - or I Ching (English translation Hua-Ching Ni) - as a companion to this journey. I will also be sharing commentaries, reflections and process documentation on social media (see you @anaismaviel) although I will make sure to share essential & detailed information here.


LISTEN TO WATER PLAYLIST

T H E  P L A Y E R S
The 8 forces fuse into 5 elements, embodied by Marina Kifferstein - violin, voice, Carrie Frey - viola, voice, Leah Asher - violin, voice, Meaghan Burke - cello, voice, +1 Anaïs Maviel - n’goni, voice, singing bowl, lyra, bells. As an ensemble of four composer-performers, The Rhythm Method strives to reimagine the string quartet in a contemporary, feminist context. I was blessed to find belonging with these 4 women with unique, distinct voices. I also confronted myself with the string quartet canon, while holding tight onto my n’goni (West African harp), lyra (Norwegian ancient string instrument) & singing bowl (sacred wavelengths made of 7 metals, in Nepal). The conversation between The Rhythm Method and I has been rich and complex: a true cross-cultural experience that got me healing my relationship to the Western cultural hegemony, and to own my multi-cultural, creolizing expressive truth. Writing for and developing a common improvisation language with these brilliant musicians, in conversation with multiple cultural layers, has tied listen to the rain to this specific combination of people.


A  B A R N  R E C O R D I N G
…not a studio recording. Shortly after a live premiere in 2021, I received the invitation from  Looking Glass Arts to record the piece in an old, unrestored barn, upstate New York. The room is gigantic, the wood, both thick and spongy, brings the string quartet’s sound closer to the ngoni’s muted tones. The holes in the walls let you hear traces of our surroundings: birds, people, motors…so called nature and culture. Recording engineer and bassist Rashaan Carter had a site-specific vision for documenting our process, and this is what we are now presenting to you: a place & time in the ongoing collaboration between The Rhythm Method and I, as this piece unfolds. The music weaving improvisation with structural constraints for the players, this is inherently a work-in-progress.


I C O N O G R A P H Y
Sean Webley, film maker, visual artist and creative director of primitive collective, heard the premiere performance of listen to the rain and has been percolating a moving image response to this music since. A still work-in-progress of this longer term collaborative multi-media project will accompany each movement over the year of releases.