John Popham & James Diaz - James Díaz: Espacio absoluto (2026) Hi-Res

Latin Grammy-nominated composer and current National Arts Club Artist Fellow James Díaz and cellist John Popham present the release concert for Espacio absoluto, a program centered on fictional spaces, unstable sonic environments, and perceptual transformation. Díaz’s music blends digital techniques, experimental practices, and collaborative exploration, while Popham’s work as a performer, researcher, and teacher draws on classical, historical, and experimental practices to explore and expand string performance and pedagogy.

The program brings together works for cello, violin, and piano that explore dense granular textures, subtle shifts of friction and resonance, repetition, and unstable harmonic colors. Drawing on fictional, psychological, and horror-inflected interior spaces, the music treats the room as a site of distortion and tension, evoking environments suspended between the familiar and the uncanny. The concert concludes with a solo cello work from Espacio absoluto, unfolding as a fictional sonic geography within the album’s interconnected cycle of soundscapes.

Guest artists include Pala Garcia, NAC Artist Fellow alumna and violinist, and Magpie Duo, whose collaboration with Díaz is supported by the Copland House Residency Award.