Thurston Moore: Guitar Explorations of Cloud Formations

Thurston Moore, guitar
Alex WaDoulton, clarinet, guitar
Jennifer Chochinov, guitar
Jeremy Doulton, percussion

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Thurston Moore A Suite For Cloud Formations:
Cirrus
Stratus
Nimbus
CumulusLenticular
Mammatus
Fallstreak holes
Virga
Asperitas

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Join us for this one-off debut in which American composer Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth and Glenn Branca Ensemble) presents Guitar Explorations of Cloud Formations. This suite, heard here in its world-premiered performance, encompasses nine works in which Thurston Moore employs 12-string electric and six-string electric guitars, playing alongside guitarists Alex Ward and Jennifer Chochinov with percussion by Jeremy Doulton.
 
Guitar Explorations of Cloud Formations is inspired by Moore’s fascination with sky-scapes across the island of Ireland and off the coast of England and Wales. Moore acknowledges ‘that island life offers a constant shared consciousness, whether from a foggy morning with low visibility or in darkening moments preparing our villages for a menacing storm—we live and breathe in the shared “castles and clubhouses of the air”’ These many cloud formations sparked Moore’s imagination as he interpreted nine unique shapes that defy architecture into layers of exquisite riffing and rippling daydreams. The programme begins with cirrus clouds, stratus, nimbus and cumulus clouds, followed by hybrid types of clouds and less common and more mysterious formations including lenticular, mammatus, fallstreak holes, virga and asperitas.
 
Fans of Thurston Moore’s triple CD box set, Spirit Counsel will rejoice at these new meditations: hopeful new works that offer a shared, timeless and universal experience in a period when much of the world is distracted.
 
Thurston Moore’s Guitar Explorations Band includes Alex Ward, a clarinettist, guitarist and composer touring with Thurston Moore Group since 2023; Jennifer Chochinov, a guitarist and composer who recently released her debut full-length album Once Around with her band Schande; Jeremy Doulton, a percussionist touring and recording with the Thurston Moore Group for several years.