DETAILS

“Stream of the Unconscious” is a 15 minute work for percussion quartet and electric guitar, exploring the Blurred Realities of the dream world, memory and personal identity. This co-composed work by members of ICOT delves into the mind of a displaced person, the constant identity battle of a refugee, the constant daydreaming of an immigrant and their collective efforts to negotiate new meaning in the intersectionality of their lives. This piece was composed collectively by members of ICOT, Maziar Heidari, Saman Shahi and Keyan Emami in close collaboration with their creative partners, Richard Burrows, Jamie Drake, Yang Chen (Percussionists) and Andrew Noseworthy (Electric Guitar). The piece makes several references to music that was once heard by the composers in various stages of their lives. Some of this music may have been used by the Iranian State media as propaganda, while others may have been lullabies on the radio, or forbidden and underground revolutionary anthems. The aim of the work was not directly referencing these melodies, but as a commentary about how they live and breath as fragmented remains of memory and distant history in an immigrant's conscious or subconscious psyche. The piece also makes some use of free improvisation, rendering each performance of it somewhat different. In the spirit of this feature, the evening will include two full performances of the work spaced by a brief discussion among the creative partners and Soundstreams artistic team digging deeper in the meaning, approach, and inspirations behind the work. ICOT is a non-profit art organization founded by five Toronto-based composers and musicians in 2011 with the mission of creating new works that bridge Canadian and Iranian culture through music and art. ICOT has produced over 60 new works since its inception, and has curated or has been involved as featured artists over 35 concerts.