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With the release of the album Bach UnCaged through the label Sono Luminus, pianist Mina Gajić and violinist Zachary Carrettin perform the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and John Cage in new and inventive ways. Through a combination of technically sound performances and creative reinterpretations of Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor BWV 1001 and Cage’s Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano, Gajić and Carrettin show listeners what is possible with just a grand piano, a box of nuts and bolts, and an electric violin with an effects pedal.

In the Bach UnCaged project, Gajić and Carrettin often perform live across a variety of acoustic settings and collaborate with contemporary dancers, ensuring that every performance is a unique entity, separate from all other previous performances and interpretations of this music. The interplay between the music and dancers allows the musicians to improvise and play with timing and phrasing, turning every measure into a collaboration. This is the spirit Gajić and Carrettin bring to this meditative, reflective, and sometimes playful album.

Gajić and Carrettin’s expressive performances lend themselves well to the pieces chosen for the record. In the avant-garde tradition of John Cage, Gajić has followed the composer’s charts for “preparing” the piano with screws, nuts and bolts wedged between the piano strings, creating a percussive sound and captivating resonances that immediately leave an impression on listeners. In a similar vein, Carrettin uses an “electric baroque” violin with a delay effect to ebb and flow with Bach’s harmonies and cadences. The album retains a calm atmosphere, showing how music from two different centuries and cultures can find common ground.

Mina Gajić and Zachary Carrettin

From her early career in Serbia to her concerts spanning throughout Europe and across four continents, Gajić has established herself as a versatile performer capable of playing on historical instruments such as the harpsichord and fortepiano in addition to Romantic Era pianos and contemporary pianos, in addition to electric instruments. Her previous Sono Luminus recordings include the Balkan folk dance and Tango Nuevo album Confluence, and Sonic Alchemy, her collaboration with violinist YuEun Kim and cellist Coleman Itzkoff, featuring music from Estonia and Latvia. She also recorded Schubert on historical period instruments and is featured as harpsichord soloist on Boulder Bach Festival’s 2023 album. Gajić and Carrettin recently recorded an album of new music from Iceland, which is set for release in February 2025.

Carrettin is both a violinist and a conductor who has led orchestras in the United States, Europe, and South America. He has performed as soloist, toured, and recorded with diverse ensembles and musical groups such as Project Bandaloop, American Bach Soloists, Yanni, and Chanticleer. In addition to  Bach UnCaged, Carrettin has recorded the Bach Cello Suites on baroque period viola, and plans to record the complete solo violin and cello works of Bach on various acoustic and electric instruments.

With a penchant for improvisation not unlike the masters whose works they reinterpret in Bach UnCaged, Gajić and Carrettin have crafted an album that invites listeners to experience the works of renowned classical composers in an entirely new way. Classical purists will take note of their technical skill and creative re-imagining of these works, while free-spirited music aficionados will enjoy the unique soundscapes they create, a resonant dream world.