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Midnight In A Perfect World: Ya Tseen
photo by Merritt Johnson
Ya Tseen is an alias of Nicholas Galanin, a multi-disciplinary artist who s one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. Born in Sheet’ka (Sitka, Alaska), Galanin is of Tlingit and Unangax̂ heritage and he creates from his perspective as an Indigenous man. Spanning sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry, and music, his multimedia works call for an accounting of the damages done to land and life by unfettered capitalism while advocating for Indigenous sovereignty and racial, social, and environmental justice for present and future generations. Following releases under the names Silver Jackson and Indian Agent, among other pseudonyms, Nicolas debut album as Ya Tseen titled
Genre: New music
Key track: Oboe
There is no question that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is putting artists into a different frame of mind. But few artists are putting the experiences of being unable to play live, to get together with others to rehearse and create into unique musical statements.
In most cases, the music coming out of this period either laments the loss of such things or it aims to provide some sort of escape from the doldrums of life in a limited space.
Watching the endless stream of sad social media posts despairing loss of work, spirit and options coming from colleagues, Canadian composer Frank Horvat decided to woodshed and see what came out of applying his talents to creating a series of pieces that might capture the moment. After six weeks, he had composed 31 short solo and duo pieces for assorted instruments and voice that could be performed and shared online by his peers.