ABOUT
THIRTYMINUTES is an interdisciplinary collaboration between violinist Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, visual artist Paul MacIntyre (both London, UK) and composer/performer Liam Ross Gibson (Nanaimo, Canada).
Every week, we each make an artwork over a period of thirty minutes in response to one another's submissions. We try to work in a variety of media, especially that which challenges us step outside of our habitual methods.
We also make longer pieces, with recent projects shown with Espacio Gallery courtesy of Degrees of Freedom (London), SUB TEI (Berlin), and Make Art Not War Foundation (California).
Aliayta Foon-Dancoes
Born in Vancouver, Canada, Aliayta Foon-Dancoes has performed with ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Sidney Classical Orchestra and the Galliano Ensemble. She is the first violinist of Echéa Quartet, the 2019/20 String Quartet Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music. The Echéa Quartet have an active performance schedule in the UK and across Europe, as well as having toured North America, and most recenty South America. She was a Fellow at the 2017 Aspen Summer Music Festival where she performed as concertmaster. She has received scholarships to attend NYU Steinhardt, Orford, Tafelmusik, Switzerland’s Astona Music Academy and Morningside Music Bridge. Aliayta was a prize winner in the Vancouver Women’s Music Society’s competition, won first prize in both UVic’s Bach Competition and Concerto Competition. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of György Pauk. In Vancouver, she studied with Andrew Dawes (Orford and Tokyo Quartets) and then at the University of Victoria with Ann Elliott-Goldschmid (Lafayette
Quartet).
Liam Ross Gibson
Possessed of an uncommonly eclectic palette, composer Liam Ross Gibson is emerging as a forward-looking voice in the Canadian music scene. Recent performance highlights include collaborations with Quatuor Bozzini, and the world premiere of Monstera Deliciosa by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as part of their New Music Festival. His piece Passacaglia was performed in cities across the country by bassist/composer Dave Riedstra as part of his Topography solo bass tour. Gibson's music draws heavily on traditions of electronic music outside of the classical sphere, as well as incorporating elements of jazz and rock. He has participated in numerous workshops and reading sessions with Schola Heidelberg, Quasar Quatuor de saxophones, the Victoria Symphony, Talea Ensemble, and others. Also active as a performer on both piano and electronics, Gibson has made appearances at SALT New Music Festival, Oak Bay New Music Festival (Victoria BC), the Winnipeg New Music Festival, and Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival (Winnipeg MB). In addition to his life as a classically trained composer, he is a member of the electronic dance group Top Men, and is the touring keyboardist for indie-pop group Flawed Hearts and the Waiting Room. Gibson has previously toured Canadian cities and festivals with progressive metal luminaries The Body Politic and Victoria-based art-pop ensemble Bridal Party. Raised on Vancouver island, he received a MMus in composition from the University of Manitoba, studying under Gordon Fitzell and Örjan Sandred; a BMus in composition and theory from the University of Victoria – composition studies with Christopher Butterfield, Dániel Péter Biró, and John Celona, piano with Eva Solar-Kinderman; and a diploma in jazz piano from Vancouver Island University, studying under Bill Costin and Teresa Marusarz-Borek. He is currently a music educator and freelance composer/performer based in Nanaimo BC.
Paul MacIntyre
Born in Whitehorse, Canada, Paul MacIntyre is a studio-based conceptual artist currently working in London, UK. Using historical precedence as a filter for interpreting the contemporary, he culls images, motifs, and sensibilities from the past and responds mostly through collage and drawing. His recent work addresses the reproducibility and ubiquity of canonical Western art, from traditional relief printing to the virtually identical “Art” section found in used bookstores from Canada to the UK and beyond. He considers the psychology of “filling in” a conceptual starting point with the narratives surrounding art-making of constant concern. MacIntyre holds an MFA from the University of Guelph (2016), a BFA from the University of Victoria (2012), and a diploma in visual arts from Vancouver Island University (2010). He has exhibited across Canada with recent exhibitions including Empty Gallery (Victoria, BC) and Wood Point Projects (Sackville, NB).
