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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > March > 13 > Entry
Prokofiev to play SXSW
Yes, you read that headline right.
Gabriel Prokoviev — grandson of famed Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev — a 34-year-old London-based composer and producer, is hosting a showcase for his Nonclassical record label March 21 at the Tap Room.
With the Elysian Quartet laptop, violin- and-laptap duo John Matthias and Nick Ryan along with a lineup of Austin’s best indie classical musicians, Prokoviev will present a version of his monthly classical club nights that mixes live classically-based music with DJ’d electronica.
Have a listen here.
Prokofiev has been presenting his ‘Nonclassical’ club nights for 16 months in London to ever-increasing buzz.
Prokofiev, you see, is breaking musical boundaries, much like his grandfather. (Gabriel is at peace with the inevitable references. (“It is who I am,” says Gabriel. “But everyone wants to be judged on their own merits and not be the subject to unnecessary comparisons.”)
His own two releases on his Nonclassical label — String Quartet No. 1 and String Quartet No. 2, both played by the Elysian Quartet — bust far past any expected hybrid or crossover style. Ethereal and intelligent, the captivating quartets are followed by remixes of each of the four movements. And in an appropriate spirit of collaboration, Prokoviev shares the remix possibilities with other DJs.
Though he studied composition, electro-acoustic music and ethno-musicology at university, Prokofiev at first shunned the classical musical world, instead following the popular instincts he had since, well, see he was a wee young thing.
“I feel like contemporary classical music has gotten overly academic and overly analytical and it’s totally forgotten how much it should try and interact with everyday contemporary cultural,” said Prokofiev by phone Thursday from his London home. “Before, composers used to readily draw on folk music or popular music. And they appropriated that music because it was great and it had a good energy and it was fresh.”
This isn’t his first visit to SXSW. He and his electro-punk band Spektrum played in 2007.
“It feels like the timing is just right,” says Prokofiev of the SXSW showcase. “Austin has the right vibe and (our gig) will feel like any other live band showcase.”
Image: The Elysian Quartet with Gabriel Prokofiev (center). Photo by Maja Flink.
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