About | thirty minutes

ABOUT

Formed in 2019, THIRTYMINUTES is an interdisciplinary artist collective consisting of composer/violinist Aliayta Foon-Dancoes (Princeton, USA) visual artist Paul MacIntyre (Cambridge, UK) and composer/keyboardist Liam Ross Gibson (Tiohtià:ke/Montreal). Taking their name from an ongoing project of creating brief works based on an ever-changing theme, their practice runs the gamut from lo-fi digital statements to full-fledged multimedia performances. Despite each of its members’ association with western Canada, they often work across multiple time zones, with themes of distortion and emergence integral to their work. They are the recipients of multiple Canada Council for the Arts grants and have collaborated widely, including with artist Marla Hlady (Tkaronto/Toronto) and poet, librettist, and performer Luke Hathaway (K'jipuktuk/Halifax). Their work has been featured internationally, including at Espacio Gallery courtesy of Degrees of Freedom (London, UK), SUB TEI (Berlin, Germany), Make Art Not War Foundation (California, USA) and Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival (Halifax, Canada).

Aliayta Foon-Dancoes is an award-winning Canadian violinist, composer and interdisciplinary collaborator. Until Fall 2023, she was living in London, England, working with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC, and 12 Ensemble. She has performed at the Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie de Paris and the BBC Proms. Collaboration is central to Aliayta’s practice; she is a co-founder of the commissioning project Orbit Duo in addition to her work with THIRTYMINUTES. Through these projects, Aliayta has composed for new instruments designed by sound sculptor Marla Hlady, commissioned and performed pieces by Olivia Shott, Cris Derksen and Robyn Jacob, premiered work at the Canadian Opera Company, and exhibited experimental audiovisual pieces Sub Tei (Berlin) and Espacio Gallery (London). Recently, Aliayta recorded on Esmerine’s Juno award-winning album Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, and, with her sister, Rebecca Foon, co-wrote the soundtrack for One & One Other - a film commissioned by the Baryshnikov Arts Centre. Other work includes a collaboration with Patti Smith and Pathway to Paris, performances alongside Patrick Watson at Live At Lost River, and a tour of Phases, a live violin and multi-channel sound performance co-created with London based new media design studio Kai Lab. Aliayta holds a BA from the University of Victoria, a MA from the Royal Academy of Music and has held Chamber Music Fellowships at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music (London). In Fall 2023, she began a PhD in Composition at Princeton University.

Liam Ross Gibson is a composer, keyboardist, and educator from Vancouver Island, Canada. His music draws inspiration from processes found in the natural world, and seeks to make connections between diverse musical traditions, in particular Western notated music, jazz, rock, and contemporary electronic music. Liam's music has been performed by groups such as Ensemble Éclat, Tsilumos Ensemble, Continuum Contemporary Music, Quatuor Bozzini, and the Winnipeg Symphony. He has been the recipient of commissions, awards, and grants from the SOCAN Foundation, la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Active as a performer on piano and electronics, Liam 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), as well as performing extensively in a variety of rock, pop, and electronic music. Liam holds a MMus in composition from the University of Manitoba, a BMus in composition and theory from the University of Victoria, and a diploma in jazz piano from Vancouver Island University, and has studied with Chris Paul Harman, Denys Bouliane, Matthew Ricketts, Gordon Fitzell, Örjan Sandred, Christopher Butterfield, Dániel Péter Biró, and John Celona. He is currently pursuing a DMus in composition at McGill University.

Paul Deighton MacIntyre is a visual artist and musician born in northern Canada. The son of a nun and a priest, he was raised in a small logging community on Vancouver Island and currently lives and works in Cambridge, UK. Simply put, his art practice is about trying to understand what all of this means. Paul holds an MFA from the University of Guelph, a BFA from the University of Victoria, and a diploma in visual arts from Vancouver Island University. Alongside his work with THIRTYMINUTES, he has exhibited across Canada with recent exhibitions including Empty Gallery (Victoria, BC) and Wood Point Projects (Sackville, NB).