Experimental, improvised music concert in Birmingham at Centrala, Tuesday 22nd July 2025
Gloria Yehilevsky’s G M?R is a trio+ whose identity expands beyond its London-based core of Yehilevsky on vibraphone/percussion, Aram Bahmaie on basses, and Sam Norris on alto sax/flute. Navigating an electroacoustic setup as multi-instrumentalists, the project plays unprescribed + composed improvised music which is both experimental + accessible. G M?R frequently morphs by incorporating guest performers.
Gloria Yehilevsky is a composer and improviser whose music integrates backgrounds in classical percussion and cognitive and contemplative sciences into a fluid cluster of activity. She is a PhD candidate in composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and part of Serious’ Take Five XX cohort. She co-directed and performed in ‘Dreamerfly, and other stories’ which was praised as ‘ethereal’ by The Guardian. She won the PAS/Armand Zildjian Award and the Italy PAS Vibraphone competition, and has performed with the San Diego Symphony, the World Percussion Group and the Bang on a Can All-Stars.
Her compositions are collaborative and transdisciplinary, breaking the fourth wall and transforming traditional artistic hierarchies. She is a polyglot, was raised in a Soviet Ukrainian immigrant home, and has experienced trauma, bliss, and all the colours in between.
Sam Norris is a London-based saxophonist and composer with a forward-thinking outlook. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Julian Siegel and Kit Downes, graduating with first-class honours and the Craig Ball prize for jazz saxophone.
Moved from an early age by agentic performers and composers, Sam’s main inspirations included John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Warne Marsh and György Ligeti. He explores their influences with his quartet, whose album ‘Small Things Evolved Slowly’ was recently released to critical acclaim. Sam performs with the UK’s and EU’s finest improvising musicians including Ronan Guilfoyle, Darren Beckett, Tom Challenger and PHEMO Quartet.
He was a finalist in the 2022 Musician’s Company Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition.
Aram Bahmaie is a bassist, originally from Guildford, currently living in London. Having studied Jazz at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire he has since gone on to perform in venues around the UK, playing with artists such as the Olivia Murphy Jazz Orchestra, the Matt Hurley Group, and Stablefolk.
Steve Saunders is a composer, improviser and guitarist working in the fields of contemporary music, improvised music, and the space in-between. This has led to the creation and organisation of large-scale projects, regular collaboration, mentorship, performances throughout the UK and a wealth of experience as an educator. He regularly plays with Paul Dunmall, Xhosa Cole and Percy Pursglove, has been commissioned by UK- and US-based artists and institutions, and was funded by Arts Council England.
Andrew Woodhead is a musician, composer, producer and artist working across a variety of contexts taking in jazz, free improvisation, electronica, folk and new music, as well as creating installation and digital work. He has established himself as a key figure on the UK’s creative music scene, winning the 2014 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition and being named ‘One To Watch’ in Jazzwise magazine. Projects he is involved with include electro-acoustic duo ELDA with Aaron Diaz, collaborative arts practice Ideas of Noise with Sarah Farmer, and Mark Sanders’ CollapseUncollapse.
Line-up:
Gloria Yehilevsky – Xylosynth
Sam Norris – Alto Sax/Flute
Aram Bahmaie – Bass
feat.
Steve Saunders – Guitar
Andrew Woodhead – Keyboards/Electronics
Photo: Andrea Artz