Her intimate compositions take existing melodies that she refracts, rethinks and expands into compelling new pieces. Ahead of the premiere of a new work for guitarist Sean Shibe, Cassandra Millers talks about process, pleasures and sleep chanting
4“I steal people’s souls”, says Cassandra Miller. The 47-year old Canadian composer sits in her light-filled living room at the top of a London block of flats, looking tranquil and as unlike a master of the dark arts as it is possible to imagine.
Miller’s intimate and engaging compositions take as their starting point existing melodies, which she variously deconstructs, loops, magnifies and utterly transforms. The act of transcription is an inherently creative process in her hands, and the physicality of a performance – ornaments, notes, pauses, breaths and even sighs – is a vital part of what she transcribes.
