composer

Naima lives and works on stolen, unceded Wurundjeri land in Naarm (“Melbourne”) and in Bundjalung country (northern “NSW”). They’re a disruptive queer who explores composing, ecology and the spaces between. Since childhood, music and the environment have been their passions, and after doing them separately for too many years, Naima’s moulding a creative practice that deeply traverses both. They are moving beyond familiar compositional processes, and experimenting with cross-arts pieces, composition as performance and collaborations.

Influences include jazz chords; minimalism’s interweaving; gamelan’s rhythms and microtonality; tonal languages; fractal, harmonic and microscopic patterns; ecological datasets; anarchism; cultural traditions; intricate natural phenomena; smashing the gender binary; and all sorts of ruptures. They rarely practice.

Naima is currently composing a solo cello work. They’re also recording and mixing their data-sonification work, Leagues of Breaking Light, which they’re excited to release as a multi-media album. Watch this space!

As well as Leagues of Breaking Light, Naima has written music for short film; two full-length live circus shows (Women’s Circus, Melbourne); Orkeztra Glasso Bashalde (Melbourne community Klezmer/Balkan + band); and professional chamber ensembles including Homophonic! (Aus), The Committee (NZ) and Synchromy (US).

Naima reads queer and feminist sci-fi, rides a bicycle as often as possible, and plays music at protests with Riff Raff Radical Marching Band. They hope to create work that enables folk to access and interpret important ecological information, imagine radically different futures and have enriching creative experiences.