"At turns ambient and wildly avant-garde, Aliya Ultan's Nocturnal Cellist project slides in and out of the anarchaic. The glue between melodious and uprooted moments is a stranglehold on the air. It's as if the entire atmosphere of the room is ordered (and broken apart) by the whims of Ultan's bow." 

- Andy Phillips

"Aliya Ultan — the Nocturnal Cellist — is a composer-improviser from the road, now based in New York. Raised in motion, she turned to music as a survival instinct, and never stopped moving. Her cello becomes a voice of its own: orchestral and grungy, seductive and unhinged — a medium of myth, memory, and pure sensation." 

- Jetlag Music Festival 

I am interested in how we feel sound in our bodies. 

When playing the cello, I am as much focused on what my body insists upon as what the music calls for.

By listening with our whole being, music can function medicinally - heal us by transmuting pain and suffering into self expression.

The choreography of intuition into air...

Witch Hunt

Debut release of project, Nocturnal Cellist

Track 1: "Lilith"

For the last year or so, I have been visited by the goddess Lilith (Lilit, Lilis, or Lilitu) in my dreams without knowing who she was. I came upon her image by accident realizing the woman I thought might have been my shadow self was in fact an ancient power recognized and documented by many. It has taken much research to learn her true story and origin as our primarily christian patriarchy tends to twist things especially when they pertain to femininity and nature. Interestingly enough, many of these demonizing stories have only helped Lilith rise to power as they reveal a kind of sexual freedom women have been both forced into and punished for. Her story has been erased time and time again, yet her power continues to reveal a collective memory many of us share. She is often referred to as the "first Eve" as she was created from the same clay God made Adam, but she is quite the opposite. After refusing to "lay beneath Adam" while having sex and Adam not allowing her a change of positions, she fled the Garden of Eden for the sake of her right to choose. When Adam cried out to God asking that she be returned, even the Angels couldn't convince her and so she was "banished". God then made female 2.0 from Adam's rib and Eve ate an apple and so on and so forth. Lilith has been depicted a number of ways but there are two that are most consistent. One is her as an otherworldly creature standing tall and naked with a wild mane of black hair, bird feet, and wings. Sometimes in this version she is on fire from head to toe, dripping with snake venom holding a large sword known for its unchecked justice, a fiery weapon at the gate between worlds. The second more consistent depiction of Lilith is her as a seductress with long red hair, purple threads, 39 pieces of finery and 6 earrings. In this form she is found between places either on the side of a long road or at cross sections. It is there that she weeds out the men that are distracted and disloyal to their families. Once they fornicate with her, she feeds them a concoction of wine leaves and venom followed by a dagger through the heart before shooting up into the heavens to notify God, one of her ex lovers… In this first track, Lilith is depicted in two forms - the warrior and the seductress along with their conduit, myself. Through the trance-inducing frequencies of wind, natural harmonics, and drones one might experience her magic as a portal out of the matrix and into the infinite oneness with all things and places both here and there. Lilith symbolizes a fiery force within all of us that can better define our boundaries with people and the world through saying No and simply removing oneself. Sometimes we need a story, a song, or an image to exercise skills we thought impossible or forbidden. It is through music and nature (cello and herbal medicine) that I have managed to maintain my sense of self in a world designed to break us. I invite you to enter this world with me whether you like goddesses or not, as a means for release, reflection, evolution and beyond. From my dreamscape to yours.

notation 

As a composer-improvisor, notation has always been a major area of inquiry in my musical practice as it can facilitate immense freedom for collective consciousness if properly applied. 

During my studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music I studied classical music both as a cellist and composer, learning the history of Western notation in great detail. Later I began working with avant-garde jazz artists including Dr. Tyshawn Sorey whom opened my eyes and ears to another universe of possibilities involving the use of graphic notation, text scores, and charts. 

When composing for large ensembles both musical and beyond, I have become exceedingly interested in combining the language of Western notation with ancient symbology to guide and set-free those involved. 

Below are some examples of my work involving hybrid notation systems for large ensemble. 

• Orchestral
• Interdisciplinary Ensemble

In 2022-23, I hosted a monthly series in Redhook Brooklyn called the Wham Jams at the Record Shop. These were night long jams that welcomed musicians, dancers, poets, and visual artists to improvise in self-organized groups for 15-20 minute long sets. For the year that it ran, hundreds of creatives attended and/or participated forming projects due to their meeting at the event.