De/Saturation
QUESTIONS:
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What can we learn from our colleagues?
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From musicians who belong to a different aesthetic?
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From artists whose understanding of music is contrary to ours?
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Are there similarities between "classically" trained artists and self-taught musicians whose concerts fill entire stadiums?
In the history of music there are many examples of joint productions by musicians of different styles. The most important point of such collaboration, however, always remains learning from each other and acquiring new skills:
how do you rehearse in a group of highly sought-after interpreters of the music of our time and virtuosos who are reluctant to read musical texts but are used to playing their concerts by heart?
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How do you compose complex structures for performers from different backgrounds so that the roles are equal?
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How and where do you present the result of such a collaboration?
Possible answers:
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Perhaps there is one aspect of music that has not yet been verbalized. In response to the theory that the sound repertoire of the avant-garde has completely lost its boundaries and has been more or less completely explored, further progress is only possible if the focus is shifted to its semantic potential. A kind of saturation is reached when one hears so many similarities and recurring patterns in New Music - to the extent that they solidify into clichés.
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It is our full intention to break this routine; to dissolve the stigmatic accumulation of clichés in our field by breaking down the boundaries through new and untapped collaborations, genre blends and compositions to challenge the culture of New Music in unforeseen ways.
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We would like to break new ground and enter into unusual collaborations in order to blur the boundaries between genres and different artists.
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We see our unique points of departure and diverse backgrounds as the perfect combination to create a world of untapped possibilities to enrich today's musical culture with countless new facets and to learn from each other in a collaboration that serves to offer unusual and completely unique music to an open-minded audience.
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THE PROJECT
Specifically, this project deals with the collaboration with Swedish drummer and Grammy Award winner Morgan Ågren, a star of the prog rock/prog metal scene and member of the Mats & Morgan Band. His collaborations with Frank Zappa, Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah), Bill Laswell or Devin Townsend have taken Morgan Ågren to the biggest and most famous music festivals in the world. Thanks to his activity as a composer, projects of the Mats & Morgan Band with the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra have also been developed.
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More information about Morgan Ågren - click HERE
The Salvadorian/Swiss composer and performer Arturo Corrales shows great interest in projects that propose a new vision for contemporary music, which are closely related to the dissemination and communication of New Music, for musicologists or experienced composers, but also for young composers, amateur musicians or students. Corrales is actively involved in the programming and direction of various groups, including the Ensemble Vortex, whose originality has set important points in the Swiss performance scene. His love and knowledge of popular, rock and metal music was one of the reasons why we decided to ask Arturo Corrales for a new composition for this project.
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More information about Arturo Corrales - click HERE
PROGRAM:
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Morgan Ågren (SWE, *1967): New work for percussion and ensemble (Premiere)
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Stefan Prins (BE, *1979): Fremdkörper #1 for ensemble and live-electronics (2008)
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Rebecca Saunders (UK, *1967): Fury for contrabass solo (2005)
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Arturo Corrales (CH, *1973): Batero for percussion and ensemble (Premiere)
Documentation
We invited visual artist Emmanuel Vion-Dury to create a documentary during our work phase for DE/SATURATION. This film will be shown as a concert introduction before the performances.
“A movie is always a matter of confluence. Between people, between worlds, between different visions. DE/SATURATION is, inherently, a project thought to make a lot of elements converge. The documentary’s intention is to allow the view to be a witness of this meeting. Even more so than a musical moment, it will also be a rare moment of artistic, cultural and human collaboration, something expected and fantasized about for years,. It will certainly bring us into an unknown territory. Showcasing the process of this project more than its result, will force us to dive in the everyday life of musicians; sharing their needs and expectations leading up to the very first concert that they will have worked on for so many countless hours.”
-Emmanuel Vion-Dury