Simon Thacker Presents the World Premiere of Pashyanti on Guitar

SUMMERHALL, Courtyard Pavilion (venue 26) 11 and 25 August at 20.00, 15, 20, 22, 29 August at 15:00 (1 hour) and digital on demand on Fringe Player platform 6-29 August

Part of the 2021 Made in Scotland Showcase.

Pashyanti [Sanskrit]: the junction point between the ordinary waking state and pure consciousness.

Simon Thacker premieres a live music experience for the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thacker is a Scottish composer, classical guitarist, improviser and ensemble leader whose ever expanding musical world draws on a deep immersion in diverse cultures. Having led some of today’s most prescient intercultural ensembles, Simon brings his pioneering experiences to the art of solo guitar in Pashyanti.

Exploring the instrument with passion and startling originality, Scotland’s “musical alchemist” (World Music Report) offers a revelatory new vision for the art of solo guitar.

Simon’s highly individual, iconoclastic music explores every facet of the instrument, from beguiling digital delay driven soundscapes to muscular improvisations utilising his many inspirations. His instinctive rhythmic gift is as ferocious as it is layered and gives his music an unmistakable intensity. A recent Scottish New Music Award winner and Ivor Novello Awards nominee, Pashyanti, is the latest stage in Simon’s journey. Pashyanti will represent the country as part of Made in Scotland 2021 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Omanjanafrom Pashyanti has been nominated for the 2021 Scottish Awards for New Music for “best solo work”.

Simon’s music has been played on radio in over 50 countries. He has been guitar tutor at Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College for fifteen years. As well as touring as a soloist, Simon has also developed some of today’s most prescient ensembles, all of which exclusively perform his original compositions and reimaginings.

Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti is an Indo-Western community expanding on Hindustani, Carnatic, Punjabi folk and Baul spiritual influences. This has seen him tour and collaborate at major festivals in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, including for an audience of 60 000 in Dhaka, and The Sacred Pushkar, one of the region’s biggest sacred music festival, while Simon Thacker’s Ritmata is a musical laboratory with three leading improvisers and Karmana is a chamber duo with Polish cellist Justyna Jablonska. All of these groups have been selected for the prestigious Made in Scotland showcase.

This is the fourth year Simon has been selected to represent his country as part of madeinscotlandshowcase.com.

Should you still need more convincing, we suggest you take a listen to a couple of examples of what Simon can do by following these links: