JG Thirlwell’s ‘Dystonia’ string quartet album on Cantaloupe Music

JG Thirlwell‘s Dystonia album will be released by Cantaloupe Music on May 19, 2023, on CD and digitally. You can order the album on Bandcamp here.


‘Dystonia’ is an album of JG Thirlwell’s string quartet compositions performed by Mivos Quartet. Recording took place at Shiny Things Studio in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn with Mike Tierney recording and engineering.The sleeve notes were written by composer Michael Gordon.

There will be an concert of Mivos Quartet performing the album to celebrate the album’s release at National Sawdust in Brooklyn NY on May 16 2023. You can buy tickets to the concert here

JG Thirlwell records an album of string works with Mivos Quartet

JG Thirlwell has recorded an album of his string quartets with Mivos Quartet. They were initially scheduled to make the album in 2020 but it was delayed due to the pandemic. Recording took place at Shiny Things Studio in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with Mike Tierney recording and engineering. The album, entitled Dystonia, was made possible with funding from the Australia Council for the Arts. It should be released in late 2022.

Thirlwell commission premieres at Ditherfrest

JG Thirlwell has been commissioned to create a new composition for new music guitar quartet Dither. It will premiere at the 2019 edition of Dither’s Extravaganza, a ‘raucous festival of creative music and art’. The event will occur at 17 Frost Theater of the Arts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Sunday October 27 from 2pm – 9pm.

Along with the world premiere of JG Thirlwell’s new prepared guitar piece for Dither entitled ‘Feather Mask‘, the day long concert will feature Mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran, Mivos Quartet,Yva Las Vegass, Naeemah Z Maddox, Ryan Power, Tredici Bacci, Gyan Riley‘s Elixir featuring Taylor Levine, David Cossin & Greg Chudzik, Shelley Washington, an electronics/noise duo from Paula Matthusen & Philip White plus  Jim Fletcher (Wooster Group/Elevator Repair Service/New York City Players) joining music/theater duo James Moore & Andie Tanning

Zola Jesus / JG Thirlwell live dates

38The Zola Jesus album “Versions” will be released on Aug 20 on Sacred Bones. Produced by JG Thirlwell, it features Thirlwell’s string arrangements of Zola Jesus material, with the string parts performed by Mivos Quartet.

Zola Jesus and JG Thirlwell will be performing live dates around the album’s release, with different string players in each territory.

9/12   Philadelphia, PA:  International House
9/13   Boston, MA: ICA
9/14   Brooklyn, NY: Our Lady of Lebanon Church

9/26   San Francisco, CA: Palace of Fine Arts
9/27   Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Forever
9/28   Seattle, WA: Decibel Fest

10/3   London: Tabernacle
10/4   Paris: Cafe De La Danse
10/5   Berlin  HAU 1

10/24   Chicago, IL: Garfield Park Conservatory
10/25   Washington DC: Hirshhorn Museum
10/26   Asheville, NC: Mountain Oasis Festival – Diana Worthem Theatre

JG Thirlwell produces Zola Jesus album with his string arrangements

e2b698b9In 2012 Zola Jesus teamed with JG Thirlwell for a performance at the Guggenheim Museum. They performed new arrangements of Zola Jesus material rearranged  by JG Thirlwell for string quartet and electronics. Studio recordings of those arrangements, produced by Thirlwell with the string parts performed by Mivos Quartet, will be released in an album called Versions, which is out August 20 via Sacred Bones. The album was recorded at Gary’s Electric Studio in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint with Al Carlson engineering. Zola Jesus will tour with Thirlwell and string quartet later this year. You can hear the first single from the album, “Avalanche (slow)”, here.

JGT meets Zola Jesus at the Guggenheim

JG Thirlwell is working with Zola Jesus on a performance of her works at the Guggenheim Museum on May 10, 2012. The performance by Zola Jesus will feature string quartet and electronics as a departure from her regular instrumentation, and JG Thirlwell has composed the string arrangements for the concert and will act as musical director. The string players will be the Mivos Quartet, with Manorexia alumni Elena Moon Park guest substituting for Mivos’ Olivia DePrato. The performance will be part of Divine Ricochet, a Guggenheim Music Series.