Composer Alex Mah’s debut EP birdcage, created in collaboration with violinist Ilana Waniuk, weaves together ghost stories, dreams, and diasporic memories using Mah’s poetry and vocals in combination with rich, ethereal processed violin. The project also takes the form of a live performance of the duo and as an artist book created in collaboration with Moniker Press.
TRACKS
1. arrival i 2:19
2. improvisation 5:10
3. image score 3:34
4. a birdcage 1:11
5. double stops 4:37
6. arrival ii 2:19
7. ghost bicycle 5:42
8. incantation 1:51
9. ghost score 6:27
All compositions by Alex Mah.
CREDITS
Alex Mah, composer, poetry, vocals, electronics, liner notes
Ilana Waniuk, collaborator, violin, vocals, album artwork photography
David Aguila, mixing and mastering
Recorded June 6, 2026 at sunset visitor 斜陽過客
Limited edition cassette insert risograph printed by Moniker Press
Composed, rehearsed, recorded, and printed on the unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
birdcage was made possible with generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts. Special thanks to the artists’ families and partners, David Aguila, EDAM, and Remy Siu.
birdcage is available from
TK579 © ℗ 2026 Alex Mah, SOCAN
All rights reserved / Tous droits réservés
Release date: September 5, 2026
LIVE
birdcage is performed live by Alex Mah and Ilana Waniuk at the Western Front, Vancouver, September 3 to 5, 2026, presented in partnership with Pi Theatre and EDAM.
ABOUT ALEX MAH
Alex Mah is an interdisciplinary performing artist, composer-musician, and dancer based on the unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. He composes experimental music, embodied text scores, and sometimes songs for dance, theatre, and short films. He has performed in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Denmark, and Germany and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hon.) from Simon Fraser University and a Master of Research Composition from Bath Spa University (U.K.) under James Saunders. As a songwriter and recording engineer, he contributed to the 2024 Peabody Award-winning narrative video game 1000xRESIST, by sunset visitor 斜陽過客. He is grateful to have worked with Peter Bingham for 10 years and for other long term collaborations with EDAM, Antoine Beuger & Wandelweiser, Hong Kong Exile, and The Biting School. He is fond of folk music, loves a good cheesecake, and prefers taking things slowly.
ABOUT ILANA WANIUK
Ilana Waniuk is a violinist, creator and curator with interests ranging from improvisation to visual arts. Along with pianist Cheryl Duvall, Ilana is a founding member and co-artistic director of Tkarón:to (Toronto) based contemporary music ensemble Thin Edge New Music Collective, and Balancing on the Edge, a multidisciplinary production company merging contemporary music and circus arts. TENMC was the 2020 winner of the Canadian League of Composers / Canadian Music Centre Friends of Canadian Music award and has commissioned over 80 chamber works since its inception in 2011. She is also a founding member of in^set, a flexible trio with Teresa Díaz de Cossio (flute) and David Aguila (trumpet) dedicated to creation, improvisation and experimentation. Ilana has performed on concert stages across Canada, Italy, Argentina, Poland, Japan, Iceland, Mexico, the U.S. and Germany. Her creative work explores various configurations of digital and analog materials, often merging graphic notation and improvisation with fixed and live projections. Ilana received a doctorate in contemporary performance from the University of California, San Diego where her research explored collaborative audiovisual practices.
Redshift Records 