Adrian Wagner began exploring composition and improvisation on the piano at the age of 5. He grew up surrounded by both classical choral music and southern gospel jazz. Living in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the US, he simultaneously sang in a choir and was pianist for a dominantly Black gospel choir and jazz orchestra.
At the age of 17, he moved to New York City to study classical composition, jazz piano and improvisation. He later furthered his studies of jazz and audio production at the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, MA. In 1999, he travelled to Zimbabwe, where he spent 6 months writing a thesis on improvisation in traditional Shona music.
This project seeks to explore the influence of the environment on performance. What is the inner creative dialogue that forms between artists and the space they inhabit? How far can this relationship be taken, so that the work itself is prominently influenced and given life to by the environment?
The medium of music and improvisation using battery powered electronic audio production and looping allows for the entire work to be created in the moment, existing as a reflection of the time and more importantly the space in which it was created.
