Rhythm Cycles by Susie Ibarra

A rare solo set from composer, percussionist and sound artist Susie Ibarra. Using the full breadth of a
unique set up, Ibarra takes a meditative journey across her kit, taking time to find familiar rhythms and
knots and allowing them to offer up new space and sound. Delicate, dynamic and extremely focused, Ibarra
finds expressive harmonics in gongs and brushes alike, with refreshingly melodic, even pastoral, results.
"Rhythm Cycles is a drum solo that I consider as a performance meditation. I love to perform this piece as it
is possible to always arrive at new places while returning to familiar cycles that make so much sense to me.
This piece is constructed to weave through certain tempos and hit points during a solo performance that
arrive at melodies and textures and phrases grounded in specific rhythms and polyrhythms. The piece cycles
through each of these sections and allows me to improvise through a flexible structure, sometimes returning
to a section at moments and other times moving forward to create a new rhythmic environment.” - Susie
Ibarra.
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Recorded live at Cafe OTO on Thursday 7th November 2019 by Shaun Crook. Mixed and mastered by James
Dunn.
“Rhythm Cycles” by Susie Ibarra is a commissioned solo performance by the Bagri Foundation for their
series " At the Cutting Edge" performed at Cafe OTO. Many thanks to the Bagri Foundation for the support
of this release.

About Bagri Foundation
The Bagri Foundation is a UK registered charity, inspired by unique and unexpected ideas that
weave the traditional and the contemporary of Asian culture. The Foundation, with its roots in
education, is driven by curiosity and a desire to learn, and aims for each project to challenge,
engage and inspire. Through a diverse programme of film, visual arts, music, dance, literature and
talks, the Bagri Foundation gives artists and experts from across Asia and the diaspora, wider
visibility on the global stage.Recent projects include At Home in the World, a series of digital
commissions; Tantra: enlightenment to revolution at the British Museum; Object, Story, Wonder:
Museum Collections Revealed; and From Here to Eternity: Sunil Gupta, A Retrospective at The
Photographer’s Gallery, London.www.bagrifoundation.org

Susie Ibarra is a Filipina-American composer, percussionist, and sound artist. Her sound has been described as “a sound like no other’s, incorporating the unique percussion and musical approach of her Filipino heritage with her flowing jazz drumset style” (Modern Drummer Magazine) and her compositions are sometimes described as “calling up the movements of the human body".

susieibarra.com