sinonó

isabel crespo pardo (voice), Lester St. Louis (cello), Henry Fraser (bass)

“It’s an astonishing blend of the lyric and the austere, with time stretched like taffy, […] utterly devastating in its meticulously sculpted intensity”— Peter Magarsak for The Wire Magazine

“A kind of expressionist fado, middle-of-the-night music, comfortable in the deep surrounding darkness, but also an “offering” that bends towards an oncoming light without betraying that it really is coming”— Piotr Orlov for Dada Strain

Explosive and wistful, sinonó draws on Latin American folk and free improvisation to create a space of crackling aliveness. Described as “middle-of-the-night music” (Dada Strain), the trio features vocalist and composer isabel crespo pardo, cellist Lester St. Louis, and bassist Henry Fraser. Together, they perform crespo’s “poemsongs” – pieces built around metaphor and improvisation that shift in performance, but always remain tied to poetry and breath. sinonó has performed at venues such as Roulette Intermedium, The DiMenna Center, and Lincoln Center Atrium, and their debut album la espalda y su punto radiante (Subtext Recordings) released in Spring 2024. They will record their sophomore album this Fall at Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, NY).

la espalda y su punto radiante is a collection of poem-songs spun out of solitude. Performed by sinonó, Crespo’s compositions live in familiar yet surprising environments, crackling with aliveness. The trio is pulled into the trying, harboring a faith in interconnectivity, impulse and imperfection. A patient listen, this music enlivens unknowing in all its devastating urgency and unfettered curiosity.

isabel crespo pardo (they/them) is a NYC-based latinx vocalist, improviser-composer, and interdisciplinary artist. Recent evening length works include Mighty Angel…come down clothed in rainbow-head (2024), an experimental play co-created and performed with Anna Abondolo. This performance piece exhibits the tension between our hopeful and despondent tendencies via voice, plucked strings, fixed media, sculpture, and haunting monologues. In November 2022, crespo premiered 6., a six-week interdisciplinary installation piece performed by crespo and five close collaborators, making use of screen printing, sculpture and sound to activate contemplation of community and improvisation.  In June 2022, they premiered drip, drip, a co-created site-specific piece with edi kwon in the catacombs of the Green-Wood Cemetery.  Inspired by this historic space and sharing in each other’s grief and light, the duo crafted a ritual of transformation through improvisation, movement, poetry, and the use of found objects. In May 2022, they premiered desbordándome, a large-scale embroidered graphic score composed for sinonó exploring themes of change, interconnectedness, and failure, as well as the expressive and sonic potential of words.