There aren't many pieces one chooses to listen to twice within the hour. (In case of doubt, this is one of them.)

a primal tongue (2021) for voice & electronics

"Copia carbone" (2022, for ensemble)
Commissioned by Ensemble Proton Bern, in the frame of Protonwerk n.11. 
Instrumentation:  B.Fl, Lup, C.Cl, Bsn (+Cf), Midi ctrl, Hp, Vn, Vc
Live Recording:  15 March 2022 @ Dampfzentrale, Bern (CH), WP
Ensemble Proton Bern, Aaron Cassidy (cond.)
Score published by Ricordi, Milan.

Copia carbone (2022)

flow of the stream - part B

Begin quietly with this, as one of the Ravens will perch and call right in front of the microphones, before receding into the distance, again. While it's up close, listen for the quiet 'after-voicing' at the end of many of its calls.

Recorded on land of the Danggali and Meru peoples. Unprocessed recording (96/24 > 48/24).

2023.05.19 Australian Ravens (Corvus coronoides). Mallee Country. Morning. Late Autumn.

Night Listening means sitting, through the night, in a chosen location, as still and quiet as possible, often for many hours, absorbed in purely listening, while recording. This is an excerpt from a recent Night Listening. It involves three Brushtail Possums, and one Red Fox. The responses of the Possums to the barking of the Fox are very interesting. (Don't start with the volume raised to more than 50 to 60 per cent: some of the fox barks are quite close and loud.)

Recorded on the land of the Kaurna people.

2023.12.28 Night Listening. Night Forest. Red Fox and Brushtail Possums. Early Summer.

"white wide eyes" (2014) for 23 musicians (4 ensembles), electronics, projection
- Ensemblekollektiv Berlin (Ensemble Mosaik, Sonar Quartet, Ensemble Adapter, Ensemble Apparat)
- Manuel Nawri (conductor)
premiere January 22nd 2015, Festival Ultraschall Berlin, HAU2

live recording: dradio

"white wide eyes" 2014 - for 23 musicians, electronics, projection

Streichquartett No. 3

Performed by Hae Sun Kang and Aya Kono
Recorded live at Église de la Grave, Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije, on July 27th, 2017

A Chamber To Be Haunted

A chamber to be haunted (2017) for two violins

Ruggine (for string quartet + electronics, 2019 - Casa Ricordi)
co-commissioned by Fondazione I Teatri Reggio Emilia / De Sono Associazione per la Musica
written for / dedicated to / premiered by:  Quartetto Maurice
Live recording:  09.11.2019 @ Willem Twee Concert Hall, Den Bosch (NL) - 
November Music Festival

Ruggine

Ruggine (2019)

[Experiment] Trying the Shure MV88 mic on a iPhone for field recording (nature).   Not that I would want to do this very often, but it could be useful when better mics/recorders are not available in a given moment.   The photo shows the location where this recording was made (holding the iPhone, standing about 5 feet from the grass in lower middle of photo).

[Setup] Shure MV88 on an iPhone 10 with foam windscreen. Settings on app:  mid-side mode, max compression, flat EQ,   The quality is not bad for what it is.

The Shure MV88 is *not* a sensitive mic and certainly not great for nature field recording.  The manual even says it was designed to record in very loud environments like concerts, so it would not be good for recording a quiet soundscape.   However, for loud environments it seems OK.   These cricket frogs were so loud that I wore the headphones for ear protection even when not recording.  Without ear protection the frog calls were painfully loud (to give an idea of the ambient sound levels being recorded).

BTW, on an iPhone X I was not able to find a way to monitor audio while recording.  Gain was set by watching the meter on the app.  On phones that have plug-in headphones, apparently there is a way to monitor audio while recording.

iPhone field recording using Shure MV88 mic (frogs in forest)

Convex (2019-2020) 
for large ensemble of 13 players

Flute (Alto Flute, Piccolo)
Oboe (Cor Anglais)
Clarinet in Bb (Bass Clarinet)
Alto Saxophone (Baritone Saxophone) 
Horn in F
Harp
Percussion1
Percussion 2
Piano
Violin I 
Viol II 
Viola 
Violoncello

composed for Grossman Ensemble 

Program note:
The uncanny secret about the experience of falling apart is
 that one can—even if only for seconds—capture the image
 of the day just the way light is broken up into a hundred
 shattered shades and bended hues when it passes through
 a prism.

Grossman 20200312 vs 0501

Convex (2019-2020)

Please feel free to contact me via email: 
behzadi.ashkan@gmail.com
https://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/love-crystal-and-stone-2
Ashkan Behzadi (b. 1983) is an Iranian-Canadian composer residing in New York City. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in composition at Columbia University. Prior to this, he earned his bachelor's degree in composition and music theory from McGill University, and he holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from Tehran University.

The dialectical relationship between modernist lyric poetry and contemporary music constitutes the foundation of Ashkan's aesthetic exploration in recent composition projects. His works demonstrate a meticulous attention to detail, often incorporating musical allusions to create a miniaturist and gently lyrical landscape. Ashkan's musical endeavors aspire to evoke the collective memory of folklore lyrical singing or group dancing, avoiding the pitfalls of folklorist aesthetics.

Ashkan has collaborated with various ensembles, including TAK Ensemble, Ensemble Recherche, Oerknal Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Divertimento Ensemble, Ensemble Alternance, Ensemble UnitedBerlin, Ekmeles Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, Ekmeles, and Wet Ink Ensemble. His contributions to the field have garnered recognition through awards, artist residencies, and participation in prestigious festivals. Notable accolades include the Koussevitzky Composition Award, Fromm Foundation Award, MacDowell Fellowship, Civitella Ranieri Residency, Dialoge Festival at Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, Rondo 2017 in Milan, and Manifeste Festival at IRCAM.

Ashkan Behzadi holds a position as a composition faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and teaches as Lecturer at Columbia University.

Convex (2019-2020)

Ashkan Behzadi

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