ACO Up Close: Suzanne Ciani

 

A performer at heart, Ciani has always believed that analogue modular electronic instruments could have the immediacy, virtuosity and emotional resonance of any acoustic instrument. She relates to her instruments as often brilliant, occasionally unreliable bandmates – the machine as muse. She played an original Buchla for decades.

Classically trained but drawn to electronics, Ciani found the world wasn’t ready for the music she made. So she took her talents into commercials, brazenly marching into the studios of Coca-Cola and demanding to be heard. “I make sounds”, she told them, and make sounds she did, creating their iconic pop, pour, fizz sound. Ciani went on to score countless video games and commercials – her sounds were everywhere. When the world caught up, she played the biggest stages. 

That was 50 years ago, and in her 7th decade, Ciani is still lighting up festival stages and symphony halls. If you think of electronic music as a pounding, penetrative beat, Ciani will make you think again. Her music is sensuous, warm, and unequivocally musical. It demands you listen to it, completely, and give yourself up to the mood she creates.

Embark on an immersive, unexpected journey in The Neilson’s temple of sound, led by a true maverick of music, a legend in her field.