ASIA shows that her vision of classical music is anything but classic on the latest SonarMix. Educated at the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (after starting her career at the age of four in the Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona) the Catalan artist is the definition of a prodigy. Recognised around the world for her work as a chamber musician and soloist, she’s also a key cog in Barcelona’s experimental scene, having worked with the likes of Aire, Mans O and the Rally 5G collective.

Opening with two of her own solo compositions, SonarMix 055 is a “a compilation of pieces that have marked my musical development”. It’s named ‘The Lamb’, after John Tavener’s choral interpretation of William Blake’s poem of the same name, which is featured here, reimagined by string orchestra 12 Ensemble. 

As you listen, you’ll progressively discard any preconceived notions you have about classical music. Wild screams punctuate Maxwell Davies’ ‘Eight Songs for a Mad King’, interpreted here by Kelvin Thomas, while what sound like motors interrupt the staccato syllables of Unsuk Chin’s ‘Cantatrix Sopranica’. And even at more traditional moments, emotion seeps out of the speakers: from Evelyn Berezovsky’s raw recital of Messiaen’s ‘Le baiser de l’Enfant Jésus’ to famed French violinist Christian Ferras’ passionate performance of Sibelius’ violin concerto Op. 47. She also finds room for contemporary names, with a soaring aria from Caroline Polachek (recorded for Oliver Leith’s opera Last Days, based on Gus Van Sant’s fictional film about Kurt Cobain’s final days) and Arca’s unnerving ‘Urchin’ bookended by two movements two movements of Messiaen’s solemn, melancholy work for organ ‘L’Ascension’.

It’s a view into the parallel - and overlapping - worlds that ASIA inhabits, and a perfect appetiser for ‘ASIA X’, the ‘strange opera’ that she’ll premiere at Sónar by Day 2025.

Tracklist:
ASIA - Adagio Lamento for Two Violins 
ASIA - Pensiero for Three Violins 
Tavener - The Lamb - 12 Ensemble 
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No.2, Mvt. II  
Messiaen - Le baiser de l’Enfant Jésus - Evelyn Berezovsky 
Maxwell Davies - Eight Songs for a Mad King - Kelvin Thomas / Messiaen - L’Enfant Jésus
Respighi - Il Tramonto 
Messiaen - L’Ascension, Mvt. IV 
Oliver Leith, Caroline Polachek, 12 Ensemble, Matt Copson - Last Days, Non Voglio Mai Vedere Il Sole Tramontare 
Arca - Urchin
Messiaen - L’Ascension, Mvt. I
Chin - Cantatrix sopranica / Bergerac ballada orgue
Sviridov - Pushkin’s Garland
Allegri - Miserere Mei - King’s College Cambridge Choir
Sibelius - Violin concerto Op.47, Mvt. II - Christian Ferras 
Aho Ssan / ASIA - unreleased Mvt. I, II
Mahler - Symphonie No. 2 ‘Resurrection’, Mvt. V
Bach - Goldberg Variations, Aria - Glenn Gould