“A proposal for innovative shows presented in atypical formatscarried out in unexpected places and starring recognized and professional artists, together with students and amateurs”, is how its organizers define the Unconventional Festival (FNC), which takes place in Buenos Aires between November 24 and 11.
The Festival is directed by Martín Bauer, composer and director of Colón Contemporáneo (which on September 21 was distinguished as Outstanding Cultural Personality by the Buenos Aires Legislature), one of the most active cultural actors in the city.
“The third edition of the Non-Conventional Festival It continues with the line of the previous ones in terms of the uniqueness of the locations and the closeness of the artists with the public, or the participation of amateur performers alongside top-level professionals. But this year it adds some essential characteristics: on the one hand, all the events are absolute premieres for the city and the country. What is going to be heard this year has never been heard live. We also added renowned DJs on an artistic level, highlighting the flight that this practice has acquired in recent years, and finally, for the first time an international artist arrives at the Festival, none other than Christian Marclay: renowned Swiss visual and sound artist, pioneer and avant-garde, owner of absolute international recognition,” explains Bauer.
The FNC begins on September 24 with “Inuksuit”, a work for 66 percussionists by John Luther Adams that will take place at the intersection of Diagonal Norte and Suipacha. The work is designed to be performed in a natural environment, and incorporate the sounds of the environment into listening. “The musicians will be dispersed in the space, which will invite the public to walk through the show as if it were an installation, circulate freely among the performers and constitute their own listening point,” explain the organizers.
The Swiss artist Christian Marclay is the main guest of this edition. Sculptor, video artist and musician, his works that combine images and sound are exhibited in the main museums and biennials in the world. Proa XXI and the Alvear Theater will be some of the stages where Marclay’s works will be heard and seen at the Festival.
Alexandre Babel is another of the guests. Swiss drummer, percussionist and composer residing in Berlin, he is a leading interpreter of experimental music of the last century.
On November 7 at 5 p.m. it can be heard at the headquarters of the Santander Foundation.
Below, we detail all the activities day by day. You can also consult the Non-Conventional Festival Instagram account. Some require prior registration.
Programming
Inuksuit (2009), by John Luther Adams
Date and time: September 24 at 11 a.m.
Location: Suipacha and Diagonal Norte.
Admission: free and open.
Description: It is a work composed for between 9 and 99 percussionists dispersed in an outdoor area (although the piece has also been performed indoors). The New York Times described it as “the supreme ambient piece,” and in the New Yorker, Alex Ross hailed it as “one of the most exhilarating listening experiences of my life.” The title refers to humanoid-shaped megaliths used by the Inuit and other native peoples to orient themselves in Arctic spaces. Adams structured the rhythmic layers in the score to imitate these stone constructions, while maintaining an open form that allows great freedom of interpretation.
Performers: Phantom Drum, Ritmus Ensemble, GRUPEM – Percussion Ensemble of the Vicente Ascone Music School (Montevideo), Percussion Ensemble of the Manuel de Falla Conservatory, Percussion Ensemble of the Santa Ana Conservatory Percussion Ensemble of the Children’s and Youth Orchestras Program of the City of Buenos Aires, Beethoven Conservatory Percussion Ensemble.
Musical direction: Bruno Lo Bianco.
Usine Electrique by Alexandre Babel
Date and time: November 7 at 5 p.m.
Location: Banco Santander Foundation.
Admission: free with prior reservation through the following form.
Description: a performance in which a group of musicians perform a series of pieces that draw a line between sound and visual. Works by Mio Chareteau, Tristan Perich, and Alexandre Babel are presented.
Performers: Bruno Lo Bianco, Oscar Albrieu, Gonzalo Terranova and Daniela Craveto.
Director: Alexandre Babel.
Works by Christian Marclay
Date and time: October 31 at 8 p.m.
Place: Alvear Theater.
Admission: free with prior reservation by form. Soon available on Vivamos Cultura.
Description: works by Christian Marclay performed by Oriana Favaro, Agustín Genoud and Ensemble Babel (Switzerland).
Program: Screenplay, Manga Scroll, To be continued, No! Interpreters: No! (15′) for solo voice, by Oriana Favaro; Screenplay by Ensemble Babel -Antonio Albanese (electric guitar), Laurent Estoppey (saxophone), Anne Gillot (flutes and bass clarinet), Luc Müller (drums), Noëlle Reymond (double bass)-; Manga Scroll (30) for solo voice by Agustín Genoud; and To be continued (30′) by Ensamble Babel.
Imaginary landscape 4
Date and time: Saturday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Place: PROA XXI.
Admission: free with prior reservation by form. Soon available on Vivamos Cultura.
Description: a performance where musicians interact musically with 12 radios tuning to different local frequencies, carried out by 24 performers and the director.
Interpreters: UNA students.
Experimental Showcase
Date and time: Friday, November 3 at 6 p.m.
Location: Artlab.
Admission: free with prior reservation by form. Soon available on Vivamos Cultura.
Description: talk with Christian Marclay + Performances by Argentine DJs and experimental producers.
Performers: Agustin Barbei and Cristian Trincado.
Found in Buenos Aires
Date and time: Saturday, November 4 at 8 p.m.
Location: Station Park.
Admission: free with prior reservation by form. Soon available on Vivamos Cultura.
Description: live music played with objects found in Buenos Aires.
Performers: Christian Marclay with Luc Müller (Switzerland) and local improvisers.
Babel Ensemble Concert
Date and time: Sunday, November 5 at 6:30 p.m.
Place: PROA XXI.
Admission: free with prior reservation by form. Soon available on Vivamos Cultura.
Description: concert by the Babel Ensemble [Suiza]: Walking Venice. National premiere of a new project by the renowned Swiss ensemble.
Performers: Laurent Estoppey (saxophone), Anne Gillot (flutes and bass clarinet), Luc Müller
(drums), Noëlle Reymond (double bass).
Pléiades, for six percussionists by Iannis Xenakis
Date and time: Saturday, November 11 at 5 p.m.
Location: BSM Art Building.
Admission: free with prior registration by form. Soon available on Vivamos Cultura.
Description: It is one of the most paradigmatic and impressive works in the repertoire for percussion ensemble. The piece, composed for 6 percussionists, is divided into four sections whose order is at the discretion of the performers: in the Keyboards movement tuned plates (vibraphones, marimbas and xylophones) sound; In Pieles you hear patches without defined notes (bongos, toms, congas, timbales and bass drums); Metals is dedicated exclusively to a new instrument created by Xenakis, the sixxen; and Mixtures brings together all of the above. Deriving musical ideas from a complex logical-mathematical system, Xenakis composed unison sections and extremely dense polyrhythms, but also simple and clear melodic passages. Among his usual abstract language are unexpected references to musical styles, from almost jazzy syncopated vibraphones to textures that replicate Indonesian gamelan.
Performers: Phantom Drum.
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