Ladom Ensemble, pronounced “la” as in “last” and “dom” as in “dome.” Members (left to right): Pouya Hamidi, Beth Silver, Adam Campbell, and Michael Bridge.
While GGS audio engineer Pouya Hamidi is often recording our orchestra, operas, recitals, and Zoom master classes, it’s time for him to stride into the spotlight! Ladom Ensemble, the group he founded as a University of Toronto piano student in 2007, continues to garner great notices for their latest album The Walls Are Made of Song.
Pouya composes and arranges all the material for Ladom Ensemble and a few weeks ago, CBC Radio’s In Concert host Paulo Pietropaulo played multiple tracks from the album. He raved about the quartet’s breadth of sound worlds, its unique instrumentation, Pouya’s compositions, and the surprising arrangements of Bach, Chopin and Radiohead.
Together with cellist Beth Silver, Michael Bridge on accordion and Adam Campbell on hand percussion, Pouya draws from a heady mix of Persian classical and Serbian folk and dance sounds, tango, and Western classical, uniting them all in a very Canadian way.
Pouya’s composition Raha, a cut from Ladom’s self-titled first album, gives you a feel for how these instruments complement each other.
Then check out their Bandcamp account for the stimulating meeting ground of Radiohead, Bach and Piazzolla covers on their latest release.
Pouya took off his headphones to answer a few questions for Sounds Like GGS! about his creative life with Ladom and his years-long connection with The Royal Conservatory.
Piano lessons in Iran as a child continued after Pouya and his family arrived in Canada when he was 12. At 13, he enrolled in the RCM’s Young Artists Performance Academy (now The Taylor Academy). “Every Friday and Saturday, I would come here to classes and lessons. I don’t exactly recall but I believe Jim [Anagnoson] did coach me and Todd [Yaniw] in the piano duo classes. My teacher was Janet Lopinski.” Pouya followed up his UofT BMus with a Master’s in sound engineering at McGill.
Sounds Like GGS!: What was the original impetus for you all gathering back in 2007 at U of T, with these particular instruments? Was it exactly the mandate you have today, applying a Canadian fusion filter to myriad inspirations of classical and world sounds, dance/folk/prog rock, or has this mandate slowly been refined over the years?
Pouya: Back in 2007 I was pursuing a double major degree in piano performance and composition from University of Toronto. I was fascinated by the fusion or blend of the music of where I came from – Iran – and Western music. There were other students from all over the world at the university and they also shared the same sentiment.
I was sitting in the back of a classroom one day with another accordion student friend originally from Serbia and we started talking and said, why don't we put together a small chamber group which combines both of our backgrounds. He brought some of his Balkan-influenced compositions and arrangements and I brought my original Persian-inspired compositions. We searched for other musicians who were at the university and settled on making this a quartet. We were not thinking too much of the logistics and what category or genre one would put us into. It naturally grew into its own unique sound and instrumentation. Something that I think is quite Canadian. We make music that connects to us. The members of the group have changed over the years and I'm the only remaining musician.
Sounds Like GGS!: You use the words passionate, sophisticated, and wild to describe Ladom's music. Tell us how you achieve the wild.
Pouya: [Laughing] Wild, well ... we are a group that not only reads music from notation but like a jazz or world group we improvise and make musical decisions "in the moment." This is why it makes it quite exciting as a musician in the ensemble as no two performances have the same notes and we pleasantly surprise each other. Since we have performed so much together, we can read each other's cues and react dynamically to what the other person is doing in the moment.
Sounds Like GGS!: The 2019 album The Walls Are Made of Song pulls your arrangements of Bach, Chopin, Piazzolla and Radiohead together with your own compositions that connect to your Persian heritage. It feels like a window into your own musical brain. Does the rest of the ensemble suggest content as well?
Pouya: Yes, indeed. As a composer it is such a blessing to have my composition come to life with these exceptional musicians and have them performed multiple times. Yes, all of the music we perform has to be custom tailored for us as there are not many existing arrangements for this set of unique instruments. So, once I bring a composition to the group, we collaboratively refine it. Not only is each musician an expert in their instrument but they are also each excellent arrangers/composers in their own right. I'd say a composition is not really finished until we all work on it together and bring it to the stage.
Other members have brought arrangements to the group. Beth (cello) has recently arranged some Yiddish music for the group. Adam (percussion) is originally from PEI and has arranged a Medley of East Coast music, and Michael (accordion) has arranged Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5.
Back to Issue 11 of Sounds Like GGS!