"stunning, exuberant, lyrical, and hypnotically recursive"
-Tom McCauley, Omaha Magazine
April Faith-Slaker is a cellist, composer, and researcher who embraces an interdisciplinary, multimedia approach to understanding and communicating about human experiences and social policy. Classically trained on cello, April has expanded her musical performance and composition to include a range of influences. Her data composition project utilizes public data, math, and technology to translate complex social issues into auditory representations. Her solo works rely on electric cello, looper and other pedal effects, and extended techniques to modify the sounds produced by the cello and to create a contemporary aesthetic.
April has composed and performed with orchestras, chamber music groups, rock bands, and theater groups. In 2015 she completed a fellowship at the Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska for which she converted social data to music (sonification), and presented the final products through multimedia formats. In 2016, she presented a TEDx talk about the sonification project in Omaha, Nebraska. She has been featured in Omaha Magazine, written about on Les Femmes Folles, a blog dedicated to women in the arts; featured on the New Revolutionists, a portrait project of revolutionary American women; and was also nominated for an Omaha Arts and Entertainment Award in the "best new media artist" category. She is currently based in Detroit, performing solo works and playing with the Grosse Pointe Symphony.