Ink Sticks & Stones - "Catharsis"

Of Ink Sticks & Stones, the “Catharsis” indicated in the title is a deeply personal concept to composer-musician Ai Rei Dooh-Tousignant. This beautiful and swelling piece of neo-classical work is a triumphant work that hits some pretty deep emotional touchpoints. Of the track, the press release states, “Ink Sticks & Stones is the moniker for Toronto based composer-musician Ai Rei Dooh-Tousignant. Being of mixed descent, she is constantly searching for different ways to express her many cultures, and openly advocates for a more inclusive Canadian music scene. Through her audiovisual projects, she invites us into her unique world based in neoclassical ambiant music with hints of traditional Chinese music.

“Catharsis,” a conflicted yet hopeful neoclassical composition, was written during a period of personal physical rehabilitation following a brain injury that Dooh-Tousignant continues to recover from.

Dooh-Tousignant explains “Catharsis” as “a way to process how one can feel after finding some stability after an event that has overturned one’s life. 

It’s that moment when you know the worst is over, but the end is still far off. 

There is a tension in that stability; that things aren’t okay at the moment, but perhaps they will be eventually.”