Sasha Siem to Play Joe's Pub, 7/22

Following her debut EP So Polite, released this spring, Sasha Siem will play a show at Joe's Pub in New York on July 22. Siem has recently been honored with a Jerwood Fellowship to develop a new dramatic stage work and received a Futurum Award from Prince Albert of Monaco, as well as receiving a commission from the International Contemporary Ensemble for a composition set to premiere December 3 at Roulette NYC. Siem recently performed a fully choreographed song cycle at the Royal Opera House in London and is currently collaborating with Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee.

Siem has finished recording her debut album, Most Of The Boys, at Green House Studios in Iceland with production by Valgeir Sigurðsson (Bjork, Feist, Sigur Rós) which is set for 2014 release. With production credits spanning many genres and musical perspectives, Siem felt Valgeir was the best match to work with her producing the album. Most Of The Boys was recorded acoustically with all the instruments tracked live replicating chamber music style. Siem's band is composed of a string quintet and percussion. The band includes violinists Isla Mundel-Perkins and Daniel Pioro, violist Stephen Upshaw, cellist Andrew Power, double bassist Bognar Magnason (Nico Muhly, Ben Frost, Sam Amidon) and percussionist Samuli Kosminen (Kronos Quartet, Bjork). Of recording, Siem says, "Part of the joy of songwriting is constructing contained soundscapes-each song is a miniature world with its own sonic vocabulary, resources, rules and ways to break them."

Siem grew up in London and began playing the cello and writing songs at an early age. She went on to study at both Cambridge and Harvard. She draws musical influences that range from classical and contemporary classical composers to pioneering modern singer-songwriters. She has composed music for the London Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Opera House, Rambert Dance Company, Opera North, The Aldeburgh Festival, The London Sinfonietta and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2010, she became one of the youngest people to win the prestigious British Composer of the Year award. Of her live performances, The Times (UK) noted, "Sasha is clearly a gifted musician; the ear was beguiled by her music."