Sxip Shirey is a boundary-pushing sonic innovator who blends performance, storytelling, experimental instrument design, and theatrical spectacle – whether on stage, in circus tents, or immersive venues around the world.
“The notes of Shirey’s music don’t just float in the air; Limbo’s performers respond to them. There’s cause and effect, actions and reactions. While many of the big Fringe circus shows feature performers who have choregraphed their routines to match songs which have been composed separately, Limbo differentiates itself through its interplay between artist and composer. When a fire breather blows on the flames, the music blazes.” -Eventalaide
“Shirey is the living embodiment of the spirit of John Cage, committed to the tenets that music is play and listening to music is an active endeavor…”
— Anne E. Johnson, Classical Voice America
“…his performances seem a combination of
careful planning and spur-of- the-moment
inspiration.” — The New York Times
Unicycle Productions and Sxip Shirey are launching a new collaboration, please reach out to learn if you are interested in Sxip’s work.
Sxip Shirey is an international composer, producer, sound artist, and sonic pioneer. His compositions, performances and curated evenings “Sxip’s Hour of Charm” established him as a fixture in New York’s underground art scene and internationally. He makes music, sound design and Foley for theater, dance and film.
Shirey presented at TED, is a United States Artist Fellow, and has been artist curator and artist in residence at National Sawdust, Brooklyn. He was the composer and music director for the circus arts production “LIMBO”, produced by Melbourne based Strut N Fret Productions House and London based, Underbelly and South Bank Center. “LIMBO“ toured internationally (2013-2019) to critical acclaim, including Sydney Opera House, London’s Southbank Center, the Bogota International Theater Festival, and Madonna’s 57th Birthday Day party.
Shirey teaches workshops in “Text and Object Oriented Composition” at Norwegian Theater Academy in Fredrickstad which he considers a contemporary Black Mountain College. His community-inclusive, immersive choral works, “The Gauntlet,” developed with Coco Karol, have been created for Rockefeller Center, The Sydney Opera House, Bard College, Friends of the Highline, Cleveland Museum of Art, and virtually in 3D immersive sound for NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center. He is a collaborator of singer, scholar, and song composer, Rhiannon Giddens, and released tracks together that include, “All Babies Must Cry,” “Woman of Constant Sorrow,” and “Just the Two of Us.” and artists like Puddles Pitty Party.
Shirey composed for the short Neil Gaiman film “Statuesque” which premiered on Christmas Day on SKY TV, UK. Other compositional highlights include music for choreographer Morgan Thorsen’s “Still Life”, for choreographer Dan Safer’s “The One You Feed” at M.I.T., the Pearl D’Amour production “Ocean Filibuster” which premiered at A.R.T. in Boston, music for Little Amal’s visit with the artist SWOON’s Sibylant Sisters presented by Saint Anne’s Warehouse, and music and Foley for puppeteer Kate Brehm’s “The Poacher” at Harvard University.
Shirey is currently composing and arranging an orchestral score for CIRCA (Australia) and is in pre-production as a composer for a new show by CIRCA (Australia) based on the recently recorded score Kendrick conducted by Rachel Jason. In New York City Shirey is working with producer Sonia Clark to bring an international style of circus to the US.
