Musician’s Notes
“I was drawn to this work because of its beautiful combination of tightly repetitive pattern playing against elegant, sweeping gesture. My wish was to convey both the broad swirl of the dancer and the feeling of perpetual activity and motion. A juxtaposition of quick musical patterns of uneven lengths creates the effect of energetic spinning, while long notes can float like the dancer’s skirt.”
About the Artwork
Tanoura
Date: 2015
Artist: Ibrahim Said, Egyptian, 1976-
Medium: Porcelain
Credit Line: Elisabeth Claire Lahti Fund purchase
Object Number: 2016.38
Collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts – Visit website
About the Musician
Helen Yee is a violinist and composer with experience in a broad range of genres. Often incorporating violin with live looping and electronics, she creates evocative solo and collaborative work.
With her work for the plays Miss Julia and Pillowtalk she has toured New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, Europe, and South America. In 2020, she composed and performed music for the New York premier of Lovesong (Imperfect), written and directed by José Rivera. Her work creating music for dance companies includes collaborations with Mark Lamb Dance, Chris Ferris and Dancers, and Kinesis Project Dance Theatre.
Helen was a founding member of Invert, a string quartet that released three CDs of original music with roots in rock, jazz and world music, and she later joined the eclectic Trio Tritticali. Her musical studies began with Western classical and traditional Chinese training and, after earning her BA at Yale University, she played in rock bands and studied privately with jazz and improvisation teachers in New York City. Helen has been honored to be a fellow at Music Omi International Musicians Residency.
Now residing in Kalamazoo, she has presented her solo work locally and has also been performing jazz manouche with The Birdseed Salesmen.