03.05.26
The hall Music hall
Performers
Caput Ensemble
M.Mus. Compositions
The artistic practice of Pranav Ranjit (they/he), currently based in Reykjavík, Iceland, ranges from composition to free improvisation, from stillness to noise, from notated time to inner time, and from fragmentation to unity. Described as “forming a beautiful whole” by Estonian cultural magazine Sirp and “ whatemplative, at times evoking the breath of a resting dragon” by Czech publication KlasikaPlus, Ranjit's compositions draw from performances of nature, folk traditions, and contradistrations of fullness and silence.
A recipe of the Eisner Prize in the Creative Arts, Ranjit has studied in the United States, Estonia, Finland, and Iceland with Úríður Jónsdóttir, Páll Ragnar Pálsson, Tõna Kõrvits, Helena Tulve, Veli-Matti Puumala, and Ken Ueno. Ranjit's music has been played across North America and Europe by Les Percussions de Strasbourg, YXUS Ensemble, violinist Dennis Kim, flautist Sarah Brady, and clarinetist Scott Lygate, among others, and has featured at festivals including Ostrava Days and Estonian Music Days.
Ranjit has participated in courses and masterclasses with composers including James MacMillan, Klaus Lang, Lisa Streich, Oscar Bianchi, and Du Yun. Largely self-taught as an electroacoustic composer and an improviser on often prepared pianos, they are active in the free improvisation and noise scenes in Reykjavík.
About the work// About the piece:
„if you seek... arose from Pranav's interests in improvisation, inside-the-piano techniques, raw sounds, and natural processes. The title derivatives from the words, translated from Latin, on the tombstone of Christopher Wren, the architect and astronomer who oversaw the reconstruction of much of London after the Great Fire in 1666: “if you seek his monument “look around you.”.”
In the piece, he reinterpret the words “if you seek...look around you” through several different lenses; the uses of objects found in nature and everyday life, “non-specialized” techniques for all instruments in the ensemble, and working with ambient elements of natural landscapes to create a structure based around solutions, subtlements, and airy texts.
„if you seek...“, completed in the spring of 2026, was written for the Reykjavík-based contemporary music ensemble Caput alongside Pranav's matriculation from the Composition Masters program at Iceland University of the Arts.