Image by Sam White
Darius Paymai is an Iranian-American composer and performer based in London. His work is characterised by a clarity of approach and economy of material: often fragile, static, cyclical, found and reused in new contexts.
He is undertaking an Artist Master’s at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, learning with Laurence Crane, where he also studied at an undergraduate level with Paul Newland and Paul Whitmarsh.
As a composer he has worked with ensembles such as the London Chamber Orchestra, Plus-Minus Ensemble, Britten Sinfonia, EXAUDI, Quatuor Bozzini, and cellist Francesco Dillon, and his music performed at St. John’s Smith Square, The Place, Milton Court Concert Hall, and Hundred Years Gallery.
As a performer he is interested in approaching experimental repertoire, drone, and free improvisation, often with harmonium, percussion, or live electronics, as well as making and presenting independent radio shows.
His studies have been supported by the Guildhall School Trust.
He enjoys two-word piece titles and crossword puzzles.
link to recent interview
- for three (Williams) 2020/2021
- three performers
Each time it rings
I think it is for
me but it is
not for me nor for
anyone it merely
rings and we
serve it bitterly
together, they and I
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams’ The Thing influenced the placement of the few sounds within this piece. His poems often appreciate and examine the minute and mundane things which surrounded him. The Thing treats one quotidian noise with the attention all sounds deserve.
Performances
17-12-2021: Cara Doyle (b.cl.)/Maddy Hamilton (’cello)/Darius Paymai (objects), Hundred Years Gallery (UK)