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
- four quartets 2021
- flute, oboe, violin, ‘cello
- written for Britten Sinfonia Opus 1
I worked on four quartets with the Britten Sinfonia in the summer of 2021 on their Opus 1 scheme. With mentorship from Joe Cutler and Dobrinka Tabakova, I made four one-page pieces for a quartet of players from the orchestra. Each quartet is a short snapshot which presents a different kind of ‘quartet-ness’.
It was recorded in West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge by Myles Eastwood, who also mixed the recording.
No relation to the Eliot poems.
Recording
18-09-2021: Sarah O’Flynn/Peter Facer/Marcus Barcham-Stevens/Juliet Welchman, West Road Concert Hall (UK)