ELEKTROPOLIS: Swarms

This full-length program is split into four sections, each exploring the sonic possibilities of the TRANSFORMATOR – an instrument designed especially for the Spreehalle.

Iva Bittová is the grande dame of avant-garde improvisation. Her interpretation of the evening’s theme involves leading the ensemble into the realm of organic movement and collective improvisation – an acoustic metaphor for a flock of birds. Dexterously maneuvering from jazz to new music to Moravian folklore to classical songwriting, she develops her own way of expression using her voice and violin.

SWARM by Andrea Molino is the high-tech answer to Steve Reich’s ELECTRIC COUNTERPOINT (1987): Just like in the minimalist milestone, SWARM prompts a guitarist to spin a dense web of 16 layers of audio that he plays along to live. Molino, however, is more concerned with the flutter created when similar voices are not quite in unison – a compositional meditation on the cheering of soccer fans and the song of dancing snowflakes.

The new piece DISTAL by Amsterdam-based clarinetist Oğuz Büyükberber borrows its title from ornithology, examining the dynamics between performers when there is no common ground. Nearly blind, Büyükberber has become accustomed to dealing with uncertainty throughout his life – a constant condition that now many people are facing because of the pandemic. DISTAL is based on the Conducted Improvisation system by Büyükberber’s mentor Butch Morris, aiming to make both the audience and the performers oscillate between discomfort and reassurance.

JakoJako will round off the evening with an ambient/noise DJ set. The techno artist, who mainly performs live, is an expert in modular synthesis. She released her debut EP on Leisure System in 2019, and she also works at SchneidersLaden, one of the world’s most reputable stores for modular synthesizers.