Videos
KLAVIERKLANG: a cinematic tone poem
KLAVIERKLANG, is an experimental music video that follows a young girl in post-war Germany who grows up loving the piano. She takes piano lessons—but instead of freeing the girl to play, the lessons make her frightened of making mistakes. The girl’s ears shut down, making music an uninspiring chore. Later as a young woman, she travels to central British Columbia, to a ghost town and an abandoned house. There she spots a piano—perfectly ruined, a piano on which no note could be a mistake. She learns to listen again—and the girl and her music are free. Celebrated composer/activist Hildegard Westerkamp and renowned pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa combine their personal encounters with the piano to create the story of the girl in KLAVIERKLANG. Interweaving the challenges and wonders of mastering the piano, the girl's journey allows Westerkamp and Iwaasa to explore the liminal space between music and sound. In a celebration of the piano as an extraordinary instrument, Iwaasa plays both its keys and plucks its strings, as if exploring a sound sculpture. Her non-linear spoken narrative interacts with intricate soundscapes evoking Westerkamp’s childhood in Germany. These are layered and digitally manipulated with Iwaasa’s recorded reflections on the piano, “this creature, this instrument, that you think you know.” Filmmakers and installation artists Nettie Wild (director) and Michael Brockington (editor) capture this performance, interpreting the composition’s drama with lyrical imagery coloured and shaped by the music itself.
Phobos And Deimos Circling (2012)
In this celestial performance piece, inspired by the orbits of the moons of Mars, pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa performs Jocelyn Morlock's "Phobos And Deimos Circling" in the Telus Studio Theatre at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, Canada. Producer / Director: John Bolton. Director Of Photography: Vince Arvidson. Editor: Sam Trounce. Original recording courtesy of Redshift Records. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government Of Canada through the Department Of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters. © 2012 Opus 59 Films Inc.
Musical Moment with Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa - Rodney Sharman's Opera Transcriptions | Music on Main
Musical Moments: Insights from our favourite artists. Performer/Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa talks about Rodney Sharman's 'Opera Transcriptions'. Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa is recognized among Canada’s foremost contemporary music pianists. Get to know her at our Listening. Together. free online festival May 14-18, 2021 at musiconmain.ca: https://www.musiconmain.ca/event/listening-together-festival/ Rachel will be performing music by Rodney Sharman at the opening concert May 14, 2021 | 7:30PM: https://www.musiconmain.ca/event/listening-together-festival-may14-730-concert/ Performed by Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa. Filmed by Collide Entertainment Director: Mike Southworth Camera Operators: Mike Southworth, Adam PW Smith, Scot Proudfoot Editors: Joanna Dundas, Micaela Perragallo, Mike Southworth
Alexina Louie: Music for Piano
I. The Enchanted Bells II. Changes III. Distant Memories IV. Once Upon A Time Video made for the Canadian Music Centre's "Unaccompanied" series
Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa performs music by Rodney Sharman | Music on Main
Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa performs piano works 'Voyageur', 'Watchful' and 'Notes on Beautiful' by Canadian composer Rodney Sharman. http://www.iwaasa.com/ http://rodney-sharman.squarespace.com/ Programme Notes: 'Voyageur' Voyageurs paddled freight canoes along the 5000 kilometre river road used by Canada's fur trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. The repeated figure in the pianist's left hand suggests the rhythm of movement through water. Undulating patterns at different speeds are layered to create the restrained rhythmic and harmonic surface of 'Watchful'. Stillness and motion together. 'Notes on Beautiful' is a re-imagining of Stephen Sondheim's duet "Beautiful", between a mother and her adult child about the transience of all things. Filmed Thursday, December 12, 2019 at Heritage Hall | Vancouver BC. Music on Main gratefully acknowledges that all of our events take place on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Filmed and edited by Cameron Anderson, Cascade Film & Media https://cascadefam.com/ Audio engineer - Andrew Smith, Vancouver Live Sound http://www.vancouverlivesound.com/