About

"a singular compositional voice... chamber intimacy becomes consumed in clouds of baleful electronic static... introspection and celestial awe are locked in a similarly slow, compelling dance" **** MOJO

Stockholm-based Shida Shahabi is a pianist and composer whose stunning debut album 'Homes' (2018) drew widespread acclaim from the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs and Gilles Peterson. She will be performing from her newly released album 'Living Circle' (2023) on ACCA's beautiful Steinway grand piano.

"Fans of Stars Of The Lid, Sarah Davachi, Max Richter and Labradford will appreciate the album’s slow and expansive sonic realms." Ransom Note

Born in the Swedish capital in 1989 to Iranian parents who had fled the Iran-Iraq war, composer Shida Shahabi's home was filled with both 1970s Persian pop and long-established classical works, but, she insists, “it was the environment – my parents finding joy in listening and singing – that shaped my long-term relationship to music, not the genres or my family’s CD collection.”

In 2018, she released her debut album 'Homes' which was championed by BBC Radio’s Mary Anne Hobbs and Gilles Peterson, not to mention Mojo magazine, who praised it as “half-submerged music that rewards the attentive ear”. Over the following five years, she recorded a five track EP of her own, 'Shifts', as well as tracks for a split EP, 'The Sea at The End of Her String', with 130701 labelmates Resina and Emilie Levienaise- Farrouch, not to mention a reworking of Beethoven’s ‘Piano Sonata No. 26’ for Deezer’s ‘Beethoven Recomposed’ project.

Shahabi also scored the short films 'Lake on Fire' (2020) and 'Alvaret' (2021), as well as the feature films 'Lovely, Dark and Deep' (2023) and the award-winning 'Falcon Lake' (2022). In addition, she has taken part in carefully-selected live performances at prestigious events like Max Richter and Yulia Mahr’s Reflektor festival at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Film Four’s inaugural Summer Screen season at London’s Somerset House.

In June 2023, Shahabi released her second album 'Living Circle' on FatCat's pioneering 130701 imprint (previously home to Max Richter, Hauschka, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O'Halloran and Ian William Craig). 'Living Circle' is a carefully calibrated blend of classical and electronic elements. Combining ambient and drone techniques with traditional structures, its emotional resonance floats elusively within profoundly atmospheric, uncluttered compositions rich in textural detail and pervaded by a low-end warmth.

An unusually immersive style, this provides a refuge which invites a reaction as cerebral as it is sentimental. In fact, according to Shahabi, “I don’t see any necessity in making a distinction. We need both to experience art.”

About Eva Lunny

Eva Lunny is a harpist, composer and ambient music producer from Brighton. Inspired by sonic pioneers such as Aphex Twin, Tim Hecker and Brian Eno, as well as renowned harpists Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, Eva creates a mix of ambient soundscapes and neoclassical pieces for her live show, bringing audience members on a journey of sound and reflection.

Eva’s process includes hours of improvisation balanced with considered production and free-flowing experimentation, resulting in complex layers of sounds and distinctive distortion of a both uniquely classical and contemporary instrument.

Released in June 2023 via Bella Union's Private Pressings, Eva's debut LP Sonics & Meditations reflects on feelings of inertia, translating a year of uncertainty into cascading sonic rhythms and ambient contemplation.

STAGE TIMES

• 7pm: Venue doors & Cafe Bar opens
• 7.30pm: Auditorium doors open
• 8pm: Eva Lunny
• 9pm: Shida Shahabi

Please note that these timings are approximate and subject to change.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Seating is unreserved (you will not be allocated a specific seat). Please contact boxoffice@attenboroughcentre.com to discuss any specific requirements.

Age guidance: 14+ (under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)