John Kameel Farah profile picture

John Kameel Farah

About Me

UNFOLDING CD RELEASE: SUNDAY, JULY 12th at the ELMOCAMBO! OUT ON DROSS:TIK RECORDS SOON! Composer, pianist, electronic musician and visual artist John Kameel Farah fuses the music worlds of renaissance and baroque counterpoint, improvisation, Middle-Eastern texture, ambient minimalism, techno and electro-acoustics, to synthesize an entirely original sound.A virtuosic keyboardist simultaneously using piano, synthesizer sound sculpture, computer sequencing, and at times even harpsichord and organ, his creative efforts are fueled by exchanges of energies on a galactic and microscopic scale. In an effort to see the larger picture, his music draws upon an interest in history, mythology, painting and psychology to help deepen his understanding of life and the human condition.Classically trained in composition and piano performance at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory, John received the Glenn Gould Composition Award twice during his studies. The influences of the classical and modern composers whose works he performed can be felt in his music, mixing with forays into free improvisation, minimalism, jazz, electro-acoustics, eastern scales, ambient and genres of electronic dance music such as drum & bass, IDM.In 1999, after meeting minimalist composer/pianist Terry Riley in NYC, he had private lessons at his home in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California and on two occasions he studied Middle-Eastern classical music at the Arabic Music Retreat in Hartford. In 1998 he performed the complete solo piano works of Arnold Schoenberg in Toronto.He has been interviewed and broadcast by the CBC’s radio programs The Signal, Brave New Waves, Two New Hours and Metro Morning. Also a prolific visual artist, his drawings have been presented at solo and group exhibitions, recently being the Visual-Artist-In-Residence at the Trane Studio jazz club in Toronto.Farah performs regularly in Toronto, and has also given concerts in Paris, Boston, Vancouver, Montreal, Vermont, the Middle-East and Mexico, this year giving a concert atop the Aztec Great Pyramid of Cholula with galactic visuals created by astronomer John Dubinski. In 1999 and 2002 he visited the Edward Said National Conservatory in the West Bank, giving performances and masterclasses in Ramallah, East Jerusalem Toronto’s NOW Magazine named his as Best Pianist 2006.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 06/09/2006
Band Website: www.johnfarah.com
Band Members: John Kameel Farah, using piano, fender rhodes, harpsichord, organ, samples, computer progamming/sequencing, laptop, nord lead 3 synth, electronics
View John Farah's EPK
Influences: Schoenberg, Messiaen, Bach, Squarepusher, Terry Riley, Thelonius Monk, Xenakis, Aphex Twin, Jega, Beatles, Metallica, Fairouz, Um Khalsoum, Scriabin, William Byrd, Coil, Glenn Gould, renaissance & baroque keyboard music, Stockhausen, John Lennon, Ravel, Debussy, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Cryptic Slaughter, Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, virginal & clavichord early keyboard music, medieval organum, ancient & natural history, astronomy
Sounds Like: Performing at WAVELENGTH, Toronto, April 2007, visuals by Eamon MacMahon Performing GRAVITAS with Astronomer John Dubinski at the Great Pyramid of Cholula, at the National Conference of Astronomy, March 2007
Record Label: Dross:tik Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Hour Magazine: stunning sonic, compositional and manual dexterity

http://hour.ca/music/lallaland.aspx?iIDArticle=14537May 1st, 2008 Lalla Land Vienna-tronic Steve Lalla Baroquetechtician John Kameel Farah runnin' his harpsichord, piano, laptop and synth rig Whether...
Posted by on Tue, 06 May 2008 08:32:00 GMT

Exclaim! Magazine writes in depth about John Farah’s music

http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=11 7&csid2=874&fid1=28909David Dacks writes in depth about John Farah's instrumentation in the "WHAT I PLAY" section of EXCLAIM! Magazine "......
Posted by on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:23:00 GMT

Nov 2, 2007 Music Gallery concert posted on CBCs "Concerts on Demand"

Nov 2, 2007 Music Gallery concert now posted on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's website "Concerts on Demand" for your listening pleasure.The 50-minute performance of "UNFOLDING" (for piano, ha...
Posted by on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:20:00 GMT

Ottawa Citizen: Farah in Key

FARAH IN KEY - Fateema SayaniToronto piano guy John Kameel Farah counts himself lucky to have been reviewed by the Toronto Star's classical critic one day, played an avant-garde jazz fest the next, th...
Posted by on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:30:00 GMT

CREATION reviewed in WHOLENOTE classical music magazine

"Creation" John Kameel Farah http://www.thewholenote.com/wholenote/index.html[click on Discoveries (CD Reviews) then click on Modern & Contemporary]by Andrew Timar, Wholenote MagazineClassically trai...
Posted by on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:31:00 GMT

Montréal MIRROR: "The music of Torontos John Kameel Farah reaches far and wide..."

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/072607/music5.htmlScalar tailor:>>> The music of Toronto's John Kameel Farah reaches far and wideby RUPERT BOTTENBERG"After silence," the writer Aldous Huxley famous...
Posted by on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:47:00 GMT

Toronto Star review of "CREATION"

"Toronto composer/keyboardist John Kameel Farah crosses genres and breaks down traditional boundaries with this electronic-inspired invention. He plans and improvises in equal measure. He interweaves...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:54:00 GMT

NOW Magazine review of "CREATION" -NNNN

JOHN KAMEEL FARAH Creation (independent) Rating: NNNN"Ideally, all musicians' influences would be as diverse as the sonic world John Kameel Farah inhabits. It can be tough trying to combine your vario...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:52:00 GMT

Polymath: CBC Metro Morning, Jan 26, 2007

"If your word of the day calendar gave you polymath today, it might also include a photo, or even better, an mp3 file from John Kameel Farah. Like a musical super virus, the definition resistant Farah...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:47:00 GMT

NOW Best of Toronto 2006

NOW Magazine - Best of Toronto 2006Best Pianist - JOHN KAMEEL FARAH"Farah occupies a fairly idiosyncratic (and possibly lonely) place as a keyboard player. He's classically trained and technically pro...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:45:00 GMT