Simone Porter Album

This album is inspired by philosopher Simone Weil’s insight that “Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” I found this statement revelatory, because it resonates so deeply with a feeling that I seek out and cherish, in which an experience of total absorption offers a kind of deliverance. Weil’s words spoke to me both as a classical musician and a zillennial steeped in a culture where human attention is often fragmented and treated like a commodity. Her precept electrified my ideas about what the focus of practice and performance could offer: the opportunity to be engaged at length, to align every aspect of oneself in concert, became imbued with a sense of the sacred. As the title, ad tendo, suggests, the solo violin works on this album call upon one another to hear and understand how attention can yield the possibility for greater spiritual alignment. The Latin root of the word “attention,” ad tendo literally translated means “I stretch toward.” Each one of these pieces animates this stretching, exploring how at its root, to pay attention, to listen, is to kindle both creative expansion and empathetic connection. Attention is both the means and the offering by which one can move beyond oneself to connect with others at large. Interpolated with the music, spoken word interludes feature excerpts from Simone Weil and others to reflect on and enhance the album’s conversation.

Works to be included:
Andrew Norman Sabina

Reena Esmail Drishti द्रिष्ती

The album recording will take place in March of 2024 in Zipper Hall at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA. All contributions will go towards recording costs such as engineering, editing, and mastering,  as well as production costs for the album itself, which will be released digitally, on CD, and on vinyl. I want to express my deepest gratitude for the gifts offered in support of this project. The myriad forms of generosity that are helping me bring this dream to fruition warm and inspire me to my core! I'm beyond excited for the opportunity to share this music. Thank you.