Titilayo Ayangade began taking part in cello at age 5, however her ardour didn’t ignite till she found chamber music in her teenagers. She liked the intimate artwork of conversing with associates utilizing devices as an alternative of phrases, and she or he wished to hone her expertise in order that extra individuals would wish to play together with her. The onerous work paid off: Ayangade earned music levels from College of Cincinnati-CCM and the College of Texas at Austin; has toured all around the world, turned a Strathmore Artist-in-Residence; and served a five-year tenure as cellist of the acclaimed Thalea String Quartet, with whom she received high prizes on the Fischoff and Chamber Music Yellow Spring worldwide competitions.
As of late, Ayangade is channeling her ardour for chamber music into duo kayo, which she shaped together with her fiancé, violist Edwin Kaplan (of the Tesla Quartet). Cello and viola make for an uncommon combo, however Ayangade delights within the darker string tones; the duo, identified for his or her “joyous musical expression,” likes to problem conventional norms anyway. Take their newest undertaking, for instance, funded by a Sphinx Artist MPower Grant: a recording of their newly-commissioned work by Curtis Stewart, impressed by the music of Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”
Images is a relatively later addition to Ayangade’s inventive portfolio, however she’s already discovered great success with it. Thus far, she has photographed a whole bunch of musicians (shoppers embrace the Colburn Faculty, New York Youth Symphony, and members of the San Francisco Symphony), and in 2023, Ayangade was chosen to attend the celebrated Eddie Adams Workshop for rising photographers. On the workshop’s podcast, “The Lengthy Roll”, Ayangade defined how her sense of music informs the best way she shoots: “Music emits sound, and images emit gentle,” she mentioned. [When I’m photographing subjects], I attempt to present what sort of internal gentle an individual has, or not directly, to indicate what they sound like.”
Ayangade’s inventive power is infectious, and I used to be desirous to ask her extra about her images, rehearsal course of, and inspirations.
Duo Kayo — Picture by Titilayo Ayangade
As a former member of the Thalea String Quartet and now one half of duo kayo, you’ve gotten to channel your chamber music power into two very totally different sorts of teams. What are the variations and similarities between working in your duo versus the quartet?
The transition from performing within the Thalea String Quartet to duo kayo and past has given me a bone-deep understanding of how various chamber ensembles work; how the communication unfolds and the way the inventive product takes form.
Working within the quartet, the combos of the 4 personalities and musical identities have been in fixed flux, subsequently the dynamic was at all times altering. This required a really complicated ecosystem wherein decision-making was finished by committee, with a lot of negotiation and compromise. In a quartet, every individual brings their voice to a shared imaginative and prescient, and the wrestle lies in balancing all these totally different factors of view with out sacrificing the energy of that imaginative and prescient.
Not like the quartet, duo kayo feels rather more intimate and private, like an extension of a dialog between two shut associates. All the things within the duo facilities round that relationship between me and my musical accomplice, Edwin. There’s directness in how we talk– with solely two devices, there’s room for every of us to harness our voice, however now we have to be inside one another’s pocket on the identical time. It’s one other type of problem, but it surely takes deep belief and understanding. The immediacy and spontaneity of those interactions enable us to take better dangers and go deeper in new concepts proper on the spot with much less deliberation.
Duo Kayo within the recording studio — Picture by Titilayo Ayangade
Talking of which, your duo appears to be flourishing in a number of instructions directly — it’s fairly spectacular! Along with performances and residencies, you simply completed recording your Gil Scott Heron-inspired fee and just lately launched Dawn, a dawn/early morning meditation and live performance collection. What fires you up about these initiatives?
We had a very nice summer time! It was an important blessing to have the ability to return to each Caramoor and Newport Classical. Final summer time, Edwin and I have been the Pageant Artists at Newport, which was a enjoyable expertise taking part in collectively in a quartet/quintet formation. We premiered a piece by Curtis Stewart entitled The Gilded Cage, which was what actually spurred us to contemplate commissioning him. We simply liked his language and writing. His new work for us, titled Menace, explores the best way ephemeral issues, like historical past and tradition, grow to be erased with time.
We made Curtis a hodgepodge of a playlist once we have been first dreaming up what the piece may very well be. He did a very masterful job of melding all the inspiration and his signature fashion collectively. Menace requires the performer to shout, stomp, sing and in any other case vocalize; declamatory actions not usually discovered in your typical classical stage. We had the nice pleasure of premiering it this previous July at Newport Classical in a gallery filled with Black artwork by the famed Jamaican American photographer Renee Cox.
We noticed the commissioning undertaking, which was funded by Chamber Music America and Sphinx, as an opportunity to flip custom on its head and borrow influences from different genres that match inside our private inventive imaginative and prescient, comparable to hip hop, spoken phrase, and soul. This undertaking is critical to me as a result of it was an concept stemming from shared heritage and group conversations in regards to the ongoing gentrification and identification of Harlem. Scott-Heron was adept at melding music and social commentary, usually utilizing his artwork as a name to motion towards injustices and inequalities. We wished to pay homage to that legacy whereas additionally discovering possession in a brand new message: the so-called “menace” is ongoing.
Dawn is a brand new brainchild of ours that grew out of the concept that music deserves to be made anytime and wherever. Sometimes hosted simply after dawn, up till midday, we’re providing a protected house to ease into the day. The collection explores how music can have a relaxing affect on our totally different states of thoughts and our each day life. The mixture of pre-composed music alongside improvisation and meditation creates an area the place individuals can disconnect from the stresses of on a regular basis life and reconnect with themselves earlier than embarking on their normal day-to-day. The occasions are about reaching past the music and creating moments of reflection, therapeutic, and connection.
Dawn at Avaloch Farm Music Institute — Picture by Titilayo Ayangade
As a cellist, you’ve lengthy nurtured your classical chops whereas creating a novel fashion and actively looking for new repertoire. How do you prime your self – by way of apply, media consumption, or different habits – to function on the musical stage that you just do?
I’ve been taking part in cello for a complete lifetime – 27 years to be precise. The reply to this query has morphed over time, however most necessary to me is to maintain constant each day contact with my instrument. On any given day I might need a recording session, orchestra rehearsal with totally different ensembles, composer studying, photoshoot, chamber music teaching, duo rehearsal, a efficiency, and so forth.
Which means I’ve to take care of my flexibility, which I do by creating little ear coaching workout routines as warm-ups. It’s grow to be nice enjoyable to cue up a tune and improvise to it, which is the proper problem for my ears and fingers. It additionally will get me out of my head and into the current – a “one-shot” mentality may be helpful once you solely have a handful of occasions to take a seat with the music earlier than you must ship your absolute best.
Over time, I’ve discovered to provide myself grace and do not forget that I’m right here to attach with my cello, not dominate it. However after all, aside from the psychological work, I discover it crucial to soak up numerous several types of tradition. I really like studying all types of literature, and I’m at the moment recommending the guide Relaxation is Resistance by Tricia Hersey to everybody. I discover it to be significantly regenerative to permit myself the time to easily sit and assume. At this level in my life and profession, I discover myself on an introspective journey of unlearning and rediscovering what my genuine musical voice truly is, which requires endurance. I additionally love attending my fellow musicians’ live shows, the place I’m regularly delighted and impressed by their very own journeys to the stage.
How has creating your craft as a photographer impacted your musicianship?
Whereas images and music are almost certainly considered as two fully totally different disciplines, I’ve discovered that they strongly and surprisingly complement one another. Each pursuits are methods of telling a narrative that require consideration to element and the curiosity to marvel what may come subsequent. This anticipation has taught me to have endurance for what can solely be noticed, not managed. Photographers check with it because the “decisive second” – a time period coined by photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson to characterize the synchronous alignment of occasions. This liminal house exists whereas performing as effectively, and may solely be noticed whereas being as current as potential.
Similar to in images, it not solely issues what one presents in music, however how one presents it. Even probably the most profound piece of music will echo with vacancy in a dimly lit corridor with out the repartee of a sympathetic reside viewers. Simply as a slight shift in assault or angle can fully remodel the expertise of a chunk of music, an adjustment in angle or hue saturation can remodel the that means of a picture. Images has helped me to grow to be extra conscious of those nuances in my taking part in: extra considerate about how I wish to “body” every second in a efficiency, and the way to attract the viewers’s consideration to what issues most.
Kebra-Seyoun Charles — Picture by Titilayo Ayangade
You’re at the moment engaged on a undertaking honoring and celebrating BIPOC musicians by means of images. What was the inspiration for that, and the way is it going up to now?
This undertaking is deeply private for me and co-exists alongside my different commissioned picture work. As a Black girl in classical music, I’ve usually felt othered or like a misplaced voice in an area that traditionally hasn’t been very inclusive. All through my profession, I’ve encountered many unimaginable BIPOC musicians — artists who are usually not solely good of their craft, but additionally personally invested in present as themselves on this realm that continues to be largely homogeneous. Their tales are usually not at all times advised, their contributions not at all times acknowledged. This undertaking is my method of adjusting that by myself phrases.
The inspiration for this undertaking stems from my very own experiences with self portraiture starting 10 years in the past. It additionally comes from the rampant tokenism the place revered establishments, having lower than a 25% BIPOC demographic (2.4% Black to be exact), place us on the entrance web page; a advantage sign of variety. Lots of the conversations I’ve had with fellow musicians heart across the concept of poor self picture or a concern of being perceived as an excessive amount of. Nonetheless, there’s a shared understanding locally that our tales are necessary, that our contributions to classical music should be celebrated and documented.
This dichotomy is a name to motion. As my different inventive outlet, equal to cello, images felt just like the pure medium to precise my look after this group as a result of it’s such a robust instrument for visibility. Trying to the close to future, I’m excited about incorporating quick musical vignettes to provide my colleagues a platform to share their tales in their very own vernacular. I’m within the technique of making use of for grant funding to have the ability to showcase this as an artwork exhibit. Finally, I need this undertaking to be as multifaceted because the musicians it celebrates. We’re not a monolith.
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