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
- string quartet 2019/2020
- written for Quatuor Bozzini
This string quartet was written for a workshop I was very fortunate to have with the wonderful Quatuor Bozzini in late 2019.
I was exploring the physicality of left hand finger pressure, focusing closely on the sound of the strings and the tones which emerge, nudging some of those tones into a gentle discourse.
Workshop
03-12-2019: Quatuor Bozzini, Milton Court Concert Hall (UK)