Monolith Graffiti by Arturo Corrales and Antoine Chessex (2022)
A collaboration between Ensemble Aabat and composers Arturo Corrales (Geneva) and Antoine Chessex (Zürich) proposes to approach the compositional gesture in a multi-faceted and fragmented way. Corrales and Chessex met with Ensemble Aabat in May 2019 to connect and get to know all sounds and personalities that would be incorporated into the project.
The two composers encounters with the musicians were of paramount importance for the definition of a "project"; one that would not be a classical concert where musical works follow one another or constitute a program, but rather a dense, installation-acoustic performance consisting of two alternating sound monoliths, constituting a single gigantic striated entity.
“The relationships between different instruments, amplification and diffusion techniques, the exploration of dualisms such as acoustics / electronics or analog / digital, as well as the development of new forms of notation will all be fundamental dimensions that will be explored collectively during the realization of this new work.” –Antoine Chessex
“The specific qualities and expertise of the Aabat Ensemble musicians - musical theater, extra-European music, rock, noise, etc. - will be exploited by this forced alternation of unique colors, with the proposition of a show aimed at an experience beyond the musical, corporal, and mystical.” –Arturo Corrales
More about the composers:
Born in Vevey in 1980, Antoine Chessex is a sound artist whose works assume a wide diversity of forms crossing the boundaries between Noise, (de)composition, improvisation and artistic researches. http://www.soundimplant.com/achessex.html
Originally from El Salvador (born in 1973), Arturo Corrales is a swiss-based composer whose work is often inspired by ethnic and popular domains. Constantly attentive to the formal coherence of his works, to the control of their projection in space and time, Arturo strives to facilitate the expression and the perception of a "livable and human" music. http://www.arturocorrales.com/