Library Recommendation: Katrina Krimsky – 1980

Released: 2023

Label: Unseen Worlds

Genre: New Classical

Katrina Krimsky unleashes a vibrant spectrum of colors from just a few looping melodies. The pianist’s compositions and improvisations build from small, repeated phrases, creating dreamy patterns in their interweaving. Her light, fluid music draws from her experiences performing in eclectic corners of the 20th century avant-garde—notably playing works by electronic trailblazers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luc Ferrari and minimalist pioneers Terry Riley and La Monte Young. When she turned to composition in the 1980s, her pieces naturally emerged as a hybrid of contemporary styles, finding a sublime depth within every pattern she dreamt up. 1980, an unearthed solo piano recording from a June 1980 concert in Woodstock, New York, introduces the effervescent oscillations that would become Krimsky’s signature, showcasing the artist as she began to solidify her compositional voice. Pitchfork