Anatomy of a Cue #6: Nicholas Thayer - In:Finite
In the dance performance in:finite, dance, sound design and visual art merge into a multi-layered, enveloping performance art experience. Composer Nicholas Thayer discusses his role as an interdisciplinary maker in the team that created In:finite and then dives into the details of one of the cues, the piece On Variegating.
Nicholas Thayer - Composer, producer and inter-disciplinary maker
Connection is at the centre of Nicholas Thayer’s work. Connecting people with places, with stories, with themselves. Nicholas is a London-born, Netherlands-based composer, producer and inter-disciplinary maker. The fundamental thread that draws together all of his projects, whether for soloists, for ensembles, inter-disciplinary works for dance, for installations, for film or theatre is ‘creating a meeting place where together we can experience what it is to be’.
Studying violin and piano since age four, discovering rock and roll at age twelve, and then electronic music in the mid-nineties, Thayer has had a multifaceted career. From signing with Skrillex’s label OWSLA in 2012 to sound design for Mötley Crüe shows in 2015, his early path was characterised by loud noises and bright lights. Following a commission for Sydney Dance Company in 2015 Nicholas then completed a masters degree in composition for New Audiences and Innovative Practice at Prins Claus Conservatorium (NL) focussing on interdisciplinary and contextual art making, where he now also teaches. He has composed original scores for ballet and contemporary dance pieces performed by companies such as Het Nationale Ballet (Netherlands), Skånes Dansteater (Sweden), Ballet Zurich Junior (Switzerland), SND (Slovakia), Queensland Ballet (Australia), and New English Ballet Theatre (UK). He composed for the augmented reality VR film Narcissus and Echo, and the immersive music theatre experience The Circle of Truth. In collaboration with light artist Frouke ten Velden and director Peter Leung he created Studio Resonance, where together they explore site specific AV performances and research. He has made sound installations for exhibitions at Rijksmuseum (Japanese Lacquer, Amsterdam, 2022) and Stedlijk Museum Kampen (Sprekend Verleden, 2019). His album Tetramer (2022) received rave reviews, he composed From The Sun’s Perspective which premiered at Grachtenfestival (with Setareh Nafisi, 2021), and his piece a thousand cuts (for string quartet and live electronics, 2019) premiered at The Grand Theatre in Groningen (NL). He has composed for award winning short films of silence (2018) and Coming Up For Air (2019).
This broad approach is reflected in all his work which is characterised by the drawing together of disparate ideas: lightness and darkness, harmony and dissonance, sound and silence.
Composing media music is about making things. In the Anatomy of a Cue series, composers show how they do it. Focusing on just one piece (the cue) these in-depth videos dissect the music in detail: what's in there? Where did it come from? What was the creative process like - and what's that weird sound in the background?
in:finite (dance)
choreography: Wubkje Kuindersma
Original music by Nicholas Thayer
Anatomy of a Cue
Created by:Nicholas Thayer
Editing: Sebastiaan Donders
Producer: Ivo Witteveen
