Satellite Mapping Amir Farid

• Stuart Greenbaum (1989 - 2014):
• 1 Portrait and Blues Hymn 01:51
• 2 Ice Man: Lost (The Moon) Don't leave me here 09:15
• 3 Ice Man: Picture of an anorexic / Dignity / The dream 12:21
• 4 Ice Man: They must have seen me / Faint voices / Affinity 09:57
• 5 Innocence (in Stillness) 01:58
• 6 Looking to the Future 01:35
• 7 But I want the Harmonica 08:40
• 8 New Roads, Old Destinations 06:56
• 9 First Light 06:24
• 10 Fragments of Gratification 02:50
• 11 Equator Loops 07:03
• 12 Three Optical Allusions: Solar eclipse 02:32
• 13 Three Optical Allusions: Time-lapse photograph 03:13
• 14 Three Optical Allusions: Mobiles strip 01:08
• 15 Four Thoughts: The end of winter 03:04
• 16 Four Thoughts: For Oliver 01:42
• 17 Four: Spirals 02:26
• 18 Four Thoughts: Bagatelle for Aksel 02:30
• 19 Matilda Deconstructions: Energised, elated 01:55
• 20 Matilda Deconstructions: Freely 02:49
• 21 The 4th Saturday in April 02:21
• 22 Evocation 09:14
• 23 Lavender for Hanna 02:16
• 24 Allusion, Introspection and Ascension: Baracole allusion 02:05
• 25 Allusion, Introspection and Ascension: Schubert: 1828, an introspection 05:18
• 26 Schubert: 1828, an introspection: The Petrarch Ascension 05:54
• 27 Satellite Mapping 04:35
• 28 Fanfare for Elizabeth 02:08
• 29 Homage (1989) 03:03
• Total Runtime 02:07:03

Info for Satellite Mapping

Amir Farid performs the complete piano pieces of Stuart Greenbaum composed between 1989 and 2014.

This double album release features over two hours of Greenbaum’s output for solo piano spanning a quarter of a century (1989–2014). This comprehensive achievement presents the works chronologically, recorded by a single artist on the same piano in the same room – a unique undertaking. Farid’s reading of the music is masterful, the performances beautiful, profound.

Greenbaum says: “the pure feel and sound of the piano is like a second language to me. Some of the music is occasional (written for births, deaths, weddings and birthdays); some works were written in response to works of art or established repertoire (communing with the canon of Western Art Music); others were deliberately blank canvasses inviting more abstract development of musical language. Throughout this, the influence of minimalism, contemporary jazz, blues and rock can be found interwoven with the chromatic, tonal language of the classical repertoire. The piano is not only a beautiful instrument; for me it has been an important tool for musical thinking and for the development of my compositional language.

“I often conceive of music in terms of journeys, but I also believe that music should be appreciable as pure, abstract sound in time. Either way, my music aims to evoke an atmosphere apart from the routine of modern life. I believe in the need to cultivate space in a world increasingly filled with commercialism, light and noise pollution and 24/7 thinking. At times, I think we lose a sense of wonderment at our earthly surrounds. Therefore, when I write, I seek an experience in sound to take me beyond mundane imperatives.”

Amir Farid, piano

Amir Farid
Pianist Amir Farid has been described as "a highly creative musician - a pianist of great intelligence and integrity. He brings strong musical substance to all that he does, imbuing it with his own particular experience and understanding", and who "in a well populated field...distinguishes himself for all the right reasons". Winner of the 2006 Australian National Piano Award.

In 2004 Mr. Farid completed his B.Mus (Hon) at the University of Melbourne under the guidance of Ronald Farren-Price, and later attended the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) studying with Rita Reichman, the late Geoffrey Tozer and Timothy Young. In 2009, he graduated with distinction as a Scholar supported by the Gordon Calway Stone Memorial Award at the Royal College of Music London, studying with Andrew Ball.

He has performed concerti with the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Youth and ANAM Orchestras, including Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with the Melbourne Symphony in front of a capacity 13,000 strong crowd. Collaborations with conductors include Graham Abbott, Peter Bandy, Alexander Briger, Oleg Caetani, Brett Dean, Marko Letonja and Benjamin Northey.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Farid is pianist of the acclaimed Benaud Trio (www.benaudtrio.com), winning the Piano Trio prize at the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition, and with whom he undertook a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.

As an associate artist, he was winner of the prize for best pianist at the 2006 Mietta Song Recital award, and the 2007 Geoffrey Parsons Award. Collaborations include cellists Alexander Baillie, Mats Lidstrom and Martin Loveday, saxophonist Claude Delangle, clarinetist Dong Jun-Mo, contralto Liane Keegan, pianist Max Olding, soprano Merlyn Quaife, the Tin Alley String Quartet and mezzo-soprano Pamela Turner.

Throughout his studies, Mr. Farid has participated in lessons and masterclasses with Michele Campanella, Aquiles Delle Vigne, Nikolai Demidenko, Christopher Elton, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Cord Garben, Mark Gasser, Angela Hewitt, Ian Holtham, Leslie Howard, Julian Jacobson, Geoffrey Lancaster, Stephen McIntyre, Malcolm Martineau, Dominique Merlet, Hamish Milne, Lisa Moore, Ian Munro, Ruth Nye, Adrian Oetiker, Max Olding, Bart van Oort, Christina Ortiz, John Perry, Geoffrey Saba, Natasha Vlassenko, Frank Wibaut, Gerard Willems, Oxana Yablonskaya and John York.

Mr. Farid would like to acknowledge the support and generosity of the following organizations and individuals: Mr. Neville Arthur, the Australia Business Arts Foundation, the Australian Music Foundation, the Australian National Academy of Music, Mr. John Garran, Mrs. Lois Goodin, Mrs. Heather de Haes, the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the Royal College of Music, The Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, the Tait Memorial Foundation, the Turnbull Family and the University of Melbourne.

Booklet for Satellite Mapping