CHRIS RAINIER is a South-African born performer, improviser and composer from Melbourne, now based in London. Alongside Dutch ensemble Scordatura – led by violist Elisabeth Smalt – he has performed the music of various composers whose practices explore tuning systems outside of Equal Temperament. He has also collaborated with various craftspeople in the UK, Europe and Australia to create replicas of some of Harry Partch’s unique musical instruments, with a particular focus on the composer’s various microtonally adapted guitars. He has performed solo and in collaboration with other performers in a diverse range of concert venues, including the Slade School of Fine Art, the Orpheus Institute [Ghent], the Kunitachi College Of Music [Tokyo], the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Harry Partch Archives [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign].
Rainier's most recent release is “Sorrowful Songs of the Silverswords [2023], a collection of pieces that forge intersections between compositional frameworks and improvisation on his replica of Partch's first Adapted Guitar 1. This year will also see the vinyl release of his interpretations of some of Partch's earliest compositions for voice, Adapted Guitar 1 and Adapted Viola on the Belgian label bwaa.
