THEODORATUS, MIA & MICHAEL EVANS - Electric Silver

"A funky collection of original tunes written for Electric and Silver strung harps (with the exception of Da Day Dawn). The record was recorded straight to 1/4 tape at Plastikville NYC by the legendary Lary Seven(the Swans, Larry Mullins and jimi tenor)."

"Mia Theodoratus is a composer, improviser and harpist. Her goal is to express life through the harp using classical technique infused with the dynamics of free bop and the rhythm/feel of rock.

When Mia moved to NYC she joined formed Vardo with singer Dawn McCarthy and began playing in clubs like CBGB’s, Coney Island High, the Cooler and the Mercury Lounge with radio shows on WFMU and WKCR. Mia has composed music for the Flight of the Conchords on HBO, Rubicon on AMC and Million Dollar Listing on Bravo.

Her arrangements of rock songs for harp are driving, rhythmic and use a full sound scape of electronics. Current groups performing in NYC and around the world are Adam & Mia, NYC Harp Orchestra and as an Electric Avant Celtic duo with Michael Evans on percussion.

She is featured talent in events like LifeBall 2010 in Vienna, Austria (Club Sandwich Stage), Dueling Harps at the Abron Art Center, NYC and Walt Disney Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles, and The National Shakespeare Oedipus Cycle presented in Athens, Greece, Irish Arts Center and numerous club performances all over the world.

David O’Leary and Mia were invited to play for the Irish Prime Minister and President Obama by the House Speaker in March 2011.

As a musician she has worked with Charlie Hayden, Roscoe Mitchell, Leona Naess, Ray Chew, Antony & the Johnsons, Susan Allen, the Citizen’s Band, Baikida Caroll, Brandee Younger and Avery Brooks."

"Michael Evans was an improvising drummer/percussionist/ thereminist/composer whose work investigated and embraced the collision of sound and theatrics. While his primary instrument was an unconventionally altered drumset, his work with unusual sound sources included found objects, homemade instruments, the theremin and various digital and homemade analog electronics.

He toured internationally with God is my Co-Pilot in the 90’s, performed solo percussion at Het Apollohuis in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with Gordon Monahan in Munich, Germany, and in an impromptu series entitled “Purgatory”, presented by Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten) in Berlin, Germany. He toured Japan with percussionist Samm Bennett in 2005, went to Sweden with Anders Nilsson and “Fulminate Trio” in 2006, and performed with Fast Forward in “Music a la Mode” at Sophiensaele in Berlin in 2010.

He collaborated with: Bed of Daddle (with Gordon Beeferman and James Ilgenfritz), Fulminate Trio (with Anders Nilsson & Ken Filiano), Peter Zummo’s Noisy Meditation Band, Ghosts of the Holy Ghost Spermic Brotherhood (with David Grollman and Andy Haas.)

He studied movement/sparring/drumming with Professor Milford Graves, drum technique with Joe Morello, tabla with Misha Masud, kanjira with Ganesh Kumar, Haitian/Afro-Cuban hand drumming with John Amira and frame drumming with Shane Shanahan. He studied musicianship with Helen Hobbs Jordan, composition with Richard Cameron Wolf, Blue Gene Tyranny and the theremin with Pamelia Kurstin."

Mia Theodoratus is an American harpist and arranger based in Brooklyn, New York. She plays Rock,^[1] Jazz^[2][3] and Celtic harp.^[4]

Theodoratus graduated from the California Institute of the Arts with a master's degree in harp performance.^[5]

After graduation she moved to New York City and took up residence in Brooklyn. She began to incorporate a wide variety of influences into her music including free jazz and North Indian classical music.^[6] During this period she worked with performance groups and played with jazz artists including Daniel Carter, Baikida Carroll and Roscoe Mitchell. In 1999, Theodoratus released a CD called 1 Swirl with Tabla artist Nick Smith under the name Jah-La. In 2004 Theodoratus recorded Confusing the Devil with the avant-jazz Hanuman Sextet.^[7]

She is affiliated with the Irish Arts Center where she teaches Celtic Harp and performs Celtic Music.^[8] She performed with the Shakespeare Theatre Company production of Oedipus with Avery Brooks at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens, Greece. She has recorded and performed with TV on the Radio, Leona Naess,^[9] Ann Magnuson^[5] and Citizens Band.^[10]

In 2008 Theodoratus performed in Dueling Harps with Magnuson, Alex Rami and Adam Dugas. Her current touring project is Ravens and Roses (with Dugas) which fuses together Irish tunes, rock songs and Purcell.^[11]