World premiere in the Gaudeamus Festival in Utrecht.
Inspired by James Bridle’s “Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machine: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence” (2022), the piece explores different forms of expression of intelligence, logic and (musical) structures.
With Ways of [ ], Zeno van den Broek confronts us with a question that has intrigued mankind over centuries, but is ever so urgent in today’s world: how do we as humans relate to other forms of intelligence? Van den Broek created this composition for two percussion ensembles – HIIIT and Percussions de Strasbourg – and for four digital entities: robotic percussion machines with LED matrices that have been trained over time to interact with human percussionists. To train these robotic entities, Van den Broek fed their algorithms with rhythmic sounds from percussion players, but also with recordings of mechanical technologies such as construction pile drivers, steam engines and a weaving loom. The machines learned to react to different types of material and adjust their touch to what they were given, just as any human percussionist learned from their predecessors.
Delegate producer : Muziekgebouw Amsterdam
Coproduction : HIIIT, Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Composition, concept: Zeno van den Broek
Artistic collaboration and movement: Rosabel Huguet Dueñas
Lights: Rui Monteiro
Sound: Olivier Pfeiffer
Technical manager: Laurent Fournaise
Performers: Hyoungkwon Gil, François Papirer, Yi-Ping Yang (Percussions de Strasbourg), Jonathan Bonny, Ryoko Imai, Kalina Vladovska (HIIIT)
⏰ Concert at 9pm
🎫 Info and ticketing here.
More info on the Festival Gaudeamus in Utrecht.
More info on Ways of [ ] sont à retrouver ici.