Photo by Bob Krasner
Tilted Axes: Music for Mobile Electric Guitars is an orchestra of guitarists and percussionists led by composer and performer Patrick Grant since its premiere on the winter solstice 2011. Flexible in number, the musicians perform original music untethered via portable mini-amps strapped over their shoulders. The project takes on aspects of spectacle informed by urban street band tradition, avant-garde theater, and ancient music. It takes music out into the world and seeks transformative situations meant to change the community conversation. Since its inception, the project has performed at music, film, and theater festivals in the USA, Europe, and Brazil.
Patrick Grant is a composer, performer, and producer living in New York City and creates audio for a wide range media and live performance. A native of Detroit, MI, he moved to NYC where he studied at the Juilliard School, worked on the production team for composer John Cage, and produced his first recordings in the studios of Philip Glass. For the stage he has created scores for theatrical visionaries The Living Theatre, Robert Wilson, and produced opening night spectacles for Obama portraitist Kehinde Wiley. Interest in world music brought him to Bali three times to study the gamelan which manifested itself in his work through the use of alternative tunings, ensembles with multiple keyboards, as Composer-in-Residence at Cornell University, and in his work with Robert Fripp & The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists. He is the creator of International Strange Music Day (August 24) since 1998 and the mobile electric guitar procession (Tilted Axes) since 2011. He is a 2021 and 2023 recipient of a Composer Commissions Award from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), a two-time recipient (2020 & 2021) of a Creative Engagement Award from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and a multiple nominee of the Detroit Music Awards (2017-2019). He is a Post Production professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Film & TV and helps produce the “How To Be A Better Human” podcast for TED & PRX.
Tilted Axes will be presented in Partnership with BXP at The Hugh Plaza, a BXP Property. Corporate Support for Make Music New York is provided by BXP (NYSE: BXP), the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States.
