Pathos Trio – Polarity [Imaginary Animals]

Pathos Trio is a contemporary classical music project structured with two percussionists, Felix Reyes and Marcelina Suchocka, and a pianist, currently Will Healy, formerly Alan Hankers. The trio debuted in May 2022 with When Dark Sounds Collide, and this time they presented their first series of commissions for two percussionists and piano, with works by Evan Chapman, Alison Yun-Fei Jiang, Alyssa Weinberg, Finola Merivale and Alan Hankers.

Pathos Trio combines the aesthetics of contemporary classical music with very different influences ranging from electronic music to experimental music to minimalism. Their commitment to bringing their love of dark, dense and heavy sounds into a contemporary classical framework is strengthened with the release of Polarity, their second release in which they perform new works by composers Ian Chang, Phong Tran, Andrew M. Rodriguez, Vicente Hansen Atria, Paul Mortilla and Clara Warnaar.

Polarity pushes the boundaries of the group through the use of electronic elements. Throughout the recording, electronic instruments are heard, live and pre-recorded, and in combination with acoustic sounds. From Ian Chang’s buggy, pulsating Mega Cicada to Paul Mortilla’s more oceanic exploration of breathing 21600, the album takes listeners on quite a ride. Clara Warnaar’s piece Home/Gone is inspired by her phone’s auto-correct changing the word “home” to “gone.”

What makes this album different aesthetically from their first album, is the inclusion of electronic components to each piece on this album. Whether that be through usage of electronic instruments in combination with acoustic sounds, doing live electronics in real time, or using pre-recorded/pre-made tracks that accompany the ensemble, their goal was to create truly unique pieces of music that will engage, challenge, and appeal to audiences in both mainstream and classical/new music worlds.

Release date: September 15th, 2023.