Photo: Scarlet Page
WINGS Wendi Kirby’s second studio album OUT NOW!
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Kirby’s debut album, BLOOM marked her as an original artist, creating solo vignettes inspired by her relationships with loved ones represented by their favourite flowers.
WINGS expands further on this - both thematically and musically. Each piece on the album is based on a species of butterfly as Kirby takes the listener on a journey of catharsis, metamorphosis, and freedom. Recorded in London’s iconic Eastcote Studios (Adele, Cat Stevens, Mumford and Sons), Kirby joined forces with leading musicians on the European scene.
Acclaimed UK guitarist Chris Montague adds dynamic layers of iridescent swells and electric guitar flourishes – alongside the heart-pulse of vibes, percussion, and drums by French-based composer Jim Hart. Upright bass is played by the renowned Tom Farmer (Anoushka Shankar). The album is produced by critically acclaimed singer songwriter and producer, Sarah Gillespie and recorded and mixed by Emmy Award winning, platinum selling mix engineer George Murphy. WINGS showcases a bespoke combination of contemporary classical motifs with jazz undertones and Kirby’s unique melodic power. There is a fluttering of wings erupting in the sonic texture of this music, a “taking off” in the euphoric windswept melodies and – at its heart - a sense of becoming.
California-based composer Wendi Kirby is no stranger to the metamorphosis she evokes in her debut album of classical vignettes, Bloom (Pastiche Records, 2023).
In January 2020 Wendi transformed her life as she knew it and within the surreal chrysalis of a global lockdown Wendi started to compose her own music.
Already a classically trained pianist and educator, Wendi is a consummate performer of other people’s music. But for the first time in her life, she experienced a surge of creativity, with unleashed emotions and melodies flowing through her and her piano.
An outdoor neighbourhood concert in June 2020 changed everything. Performing her original pieces on piano to an audience who brought wine, love, lawn chairs and support, Wendi experienced an irreversible internal shift. She was ignited.
She set off to the sun-dappled valley of Carmel California. Her mission became her life as a composer, her burning desire to create art, her new-born freedom and her expression through her music.
Bloom was launched in April 2023 on Pastiche Records.
“Every day before I would compose, I would do yoga and meditate. With each meditation, I saw my heart as a blooming flower. I decided to name the album, Bloom. Initially, the pieces were composed specifically for people in my life that have been there for me - my daughters, my family and a few close friends. I asked each person to tell me their favourite flower and that became the title of the piece. Inevitably, as I researched the “meaning of flowers”, their flower invariably fit their personality and their soul essence. This is shared on the score instead of a tempo marking: She is loving kindness, he is hope, she is light.”