Sawtooth is an exciting new chamber music duo exploring connections between folk music, classical music and contemporary repertoire.
With a passion for experimental textures, interdisciplinary collaboration and deep connection to narrative, Sawtooth seeks out obscure song repertoire, adapts chamber pieces written for other instruments and develops new works in collaboration with composers.
Alongside the mission to foster new creations incorporating theatricality and electronics, Sawtooth pursues creative re-imaginings of art song and folk song transcriptions.In addition to researching and presenting eclectic chamber music programs the duo is currently pursuing a commissioning project based around dream logic.
During the large-scale production «l’Outre Rêve» with l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal in August/September 2021 the duo premiered Symon Henry’s edgy video score “L’amour des oiseaux moches” and Snežana Nešic’s bombastic and virtuosic “Inverted Light” as invited soloists under the direction of Véronique Lacroix.
Both members of the duo, Sarah Albu and Matti Pulkki, are active soloists and collaborators with various ensembles in Canada and internationally. Both are dedicated performers of contemporary music and have commissioned new works that expand the sonic possibilities of their respective instruments.They are versatile performers who work in various musical genres and interdisciplinary settings including video installations, film, theatre, cabaret and contemporary dance.
sarah albu
Sarah Albu is a singer, composer and performance-maker based in Tio’tia:ke (Montréal). Her background in theatre and obsession with science fiction feed quirky and darkly comedic imagined worlds. She has been an invited artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the National Arts Centre of Canada, the Koumaria Residency in Greece, the Summertónar Festival in Tórshavn (Faroe Islands), and international series and festivals across Canada, Europe, the US and Mexico.
An active soloist specializing in new/experimental music, 20th century repertoire and free improvisation, she can be heard in settings ranging from traditional Balkan village music and ancient sacred polyphony to video game soundtracks, noise and psychedelic rock. She is a founding member of the experimental voice collective Phth and frequently collaborates with artists working in video, installation, contemporary dance, textiles and digital media. Her first solo album was released independently in 2013, featuring 8 commissions for solo voice. She has contributed to recordings with a wide array of artists as a guest vocalist. Upcoming in 2023 is the release of an album of Canadian composer Gayle Young’s complete vocal works spanning from 1978-2021.
She has premiered many new works and contemporary opera roles in close cooperation with composers and new media artists including James O’Callaghan, Gabriel Dharmoo, Gayle Young, Patrick Saint-Denis, Charles Quevillon and Tedd Robinson(10 Gates Dancing), Sam Shalabi, Will Eizlini, Symon Henry, Keiko Devaux and Rita Ueda, among others. She performs as a soloist with ensembles such as Ensemble Paramirabo, l’Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, No Hay Banda, Architek Percussion, the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra and collectif9.
She is the voice of all of the characters in interdisciplinary duo Chloë Lum and Yannick Desranleau’s six part video installation The Garden of a Former House Turned Museum, for which she also acted, danced and consulted on the writing process. Artistic and music direction credits include a film adaption of Claude Vivier’s lush and cosmic Love Songs, a commission supported by Le Vivier, premiered in March 2023. As a student in Jennifer Walshe and David Helbich’s Composer-Performer course, she performed her modular participatory work FutureMoves at the Darmstadt Summer Course and Festival for New Music in Germany and subsequently toured the work throughout the Nordic countries.She holds BFAs in Theatre and Music Performance from Concordia University and an MMus from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (Netherlands).
An avid knitter and folk dancer, her recent performance work explores the effects of rapidly developing technology on our bodies and lives through a mix of curiosity and nostalgia. www.sarahalbu.com
matti pulkki
Accordionist Matti Pulkki is an active and enthusiastic performer of contemporary and experimental repertoire. Often performing with different chamber groups and ensembles, Pulkki seeks to explore and extend the technical and acoustic possibilities of his instrument in the music written in our time.
Since his debut recital at the Helsinki Music Center in 2018, Pulkki has made appearances on international festivals, such as the Reedblocks Festival in Thessaloniki, Greece, and performed recitals around Europe and North America. He has also been featured as a soloist by ensembles and orchestras such as NYKY Ensemble and Ensemble contemporain de Montréal.
Recently Pulkki has been focusing especially in collaborating with composers, and has actively commissioned new music featuring accordion. He frequently holds lecture-recitals about his instrument and its possibilities for composers at international festivals and universities around Europe and North America. Although often performing original music written for accordion, Pulkki also arranges and transcribes music from a wide range of global styles and enjoys working as a creative artist and musician on diverse projects from interdisciplinary productions to music theatre and opera.
Toronto-based Pulkki holds a Master’s degree from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and is currently pursuing his doctorate at the University of Toronto under the guidance of professor Joseph Macerollo. His doctoral research focuses on the collaborative processes between composers and instrumentalists.
Sawtooth 