Bryan Senti: Strings, Migration, and Finding Home
Bryan Senti explores the tension between classical's elite associations and his Hispanic upbringing, finding resolution by channeling his family's migration experiences into 'La Marea,' a work that bridges Andean minimalism and experimental composition.
Today we're putting The Tonearm's needle on violinist and composer Bryan Senti.
Bryan Senti won a BAFTA for scoring the BBC series Mood. He's composed for films since 2015 and worked with artists like Regina Spektor and Mark Ronson. But his new album La Marea tells a different story—his father's story.
La Marea takes Cuban migration and turns it into sound. His previous album, Manu, honored his Colombian mother through short violin pieces. This time, Bryan recorded with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. The result mixes classical precision with Latin American folk traditions and ambient textures. He recorded it specifically for Dolby Atmos. 800 tracks of strings, all acoustic, creating what he calls the feeling of being adrift at sea.
In this conversation, I talk with Bryan about rediscovering the violin as an adult, how techno influenced a string orchestra album, and what it means to honor family stories through music.
(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Bryan Senti's album La Marea)
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Dig Deeper
- Visit Bryan Senti at bryansenti.com
- Follow Bryan Senti on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube
- Purchase Bryan Senti's La Marea from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice
- Bryan Senti's previous album Manu
- Dustin O'Halloran - composer and collaborator
- Francesco Donadello - mixer, Synecdoche Music Research
- Justin Moshkevich - co-producer, Igloo Music
- Spencer Zahn - bassist, 'Quiet in a World Full of Noise'
- Noah Hoffeld - cellist
- Rrose - techno artist
- Czech National Symphony Orchestra
- Andrea Franco - video director
- Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com
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