Biography
Hailed in the press as a "keyboard virtuoso and avant-garde muse" (Georgia Straight) with the “emotional intensity” to take a piece “from notes on a page to a stunning work of art” (Victoria Times Colonist), Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa is recognized among Canada’s foremost contemporary music pianists. Selected to close the ISCM World New Music Days 2017 in Vancouver, Rachel has performed in the Netherlands, Germany, US and across Canada, with engagements including Muziekweek Gaudeamus, Music TORONTO, Music on Main, Vancouver…
Known and Unknown: Solo piano music by Rodney Sharman
Vancouver-based Rodney Sharman (b. 1958) has been a primary force within the Canadian contemporary music landscape since the 1980's. None other than Louis Andriessen—one of his former teachers—characterized him as " the most distinguished Canadian composer of his generation," and his work has also been widely commissioned, performed, and choreographed to; he's even recorded by an extensive cast of distinguished artists.
Suffce to say that Vancouver pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa's forthcoming album of Sharman's music, Known and Unknown—his very frst portrait disc—is long overdue. The fact that she has been carefully preparing it since 2016 gives this assertion additional weight.
Not only is the vast, outlandish array of music that Known and Unknown so lovingly documents a compelling testament to Sharman's wit, skill and depth as composer, it's also a showcase for Iwaasa's prowess and sensitivity at the keyboard. —Nick Storring, Riparian Media
Cosmophony
Twelve composers share their inner reflections on outer space in Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa's debut solo album. Featuring George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume II, and sonic journey through our solar system and beyond with works by Denie Gougeon, Rodney Sharman, Marci Rabe, Alexander Pechenyuk, Jocelyn Morlock, Jordan Nobles, Christopher Kovarik, Jeffrey Ryan, Stefan Udell, Jennifer Butler and Emily Doolittle.
Brilliant... Unforgettable... A fascinating adventure about unimaginable largeness and gravity, unknowable states, an invitation to wonder. —Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun