Composer Andy Akiho's New Release, "Oculus"

The disc features three of Akiho's own works, and includes a set of photographs by Guggenheim award-winning photographer Stuart Rome

Grammy-nominated composer Andy Akiho's recently released album, "Oculus," features performances by the Dover Quartet, percussionist Ian Rosenbaum, violinist Kristin Lee, and Akiho himself.

The album opens with Akiho's LIgNEouS Suite for string quartet and percussion, which Akiho wrote after attending an exhibition of sketches by composer and architect Iannis Xenakis. The work draws on the geometric and linear aspects of Xenakis' sketches, bringing these diagrams to life across the five octaves of the marimba.

Both of the other works on the disc — Deciduous (2014) and Speaking Tree (2014) — are arboreal in theme, and were commissioned by Kristin Lee and Carnegie Hall respectively.

The works on the album are accompanied by Oculus, Within Worlds, a set of images by the Guggenheim award-winning photographer Stuart Rome. The photographs capture the rich internal worlds of giant redwood and sequoia trees.

According to Rome, the ancient trees "may suggest passageways to an underworld with powers and forces that will eventually make their way into the world of light. My intention is to create a bridge between the recognizable world and impressions of other possibilities inspired by what I have found there."

You can listen to "Oculus" on all streaming services here.