What's On Past Concerts & Events >Music & Maths Festival< Iannis Xenakis 100 Sun 29 May 2022 Tickets Programme In celebration of revolutionary composer Iannis Xenakis’s centenary, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group have created a festival for all senses, with partners from Sound and Music, University of Birmingham, and PRiSM (Royal Northern College of Music). Join us in the afternoon for a family drop-in session; Drawing Scoring, talks from our partners at University of Birmingham and PRiSM, and for an invigorating performance from our musicians in the evening. We are proud to celebrate the communal and creative beliefs of Xenakis, by sharing music from young participants in Birmingham and showing the beauty of maths through sensory visuals and sounds. This will be a wonderful day of activity culminating in an evening performance of electro-acoustic music by BCMG and BEAST. 3pm /performing /drawing /scoring CBSO Centre Join us for the afternoon celebrations of composer Iannis Xenakis’s centenary! We will be performing exciting pieces of his work alongside visuals by animator Simon Russell and mathematician Marcus du Sautoy. Come see, and hear, the selected digital compositions created by young participants in Birmingham during our Drawing Scoring Workshop. At this workshop people of all ages were invited to use the free software Synethesia to draw and create their own scores using brush strokes and shapes, inspired by Xenakis’s work, these pieces were then re-instrumented for BCMG performers. We will also hear BCMG NEXT, our early career musicians perform some of Xenakis’s well-known work. Melvin Tay, Conductor Arne Deforce, Solo Cello BCMG NEXT Iannis Xenakis (1922 - 2001) Plekto (1993) 14’ Frédéric Pattar (b. 1969) New work (2022) 5’ WP* Synesthesia graphic score reimagined Nicolas Tzortzis (b. Croquis strideurs (2022) 5’ WP** Synesthesia graphic score reimagined Iannis Xenakis (1922 - 2001) Anaktoria (1969) 13’ Nomos Alpha (1966) 12’ WP† Phlegra (1975) 14’ Synesthesia created by Lamberto Coccioli & Joe Wright of Integra Lab, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. *Commissioned by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group with financial assistance from the following individuals through BCMG's Sound Investment Scheme: Paul Bond, Christopher Carrier and Nicole Hermanns. **Commissioned by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group with financial assistance from Steve Saltaire as part of the BCMG's Sound Investment Scheme. †World premiere of visual performance given in collaboration with Royal Northern College of Music’s PRiSM, commissioned by Simon Russel and Marcus de Sautoy. 5pm ∞ (infinity) CBSO Centre In the 1950’s Iannis Xenakis was employed in the LeCorbusier’s offices for architecture and was viewed as an outsider by many of his peers for his orchestral, vocal, and electronic music. He applied maths, random probability, and graphic software to sound, creating worlds previously unheard of. Ironically, these musical pieces revealed both the most inner simplicity and complexities of music despite him coming to composition as a “musical outsider”. On 29th May 2022, we are celebrating Xenakis’s legacy by presenting some of his classics, pieces less frequently heard, and dramatic new works linking maths and music. Anna Dennis, Soprano Gabriella Teychenné, Conductor Iannis Xenakis (1922 - 2001) Ittidra (1996) 9’ Samantha Fernando (b. 1984) Breathing Forest (2022) 15‘† Iannis Xenakis (1922 - 2001) Akanthos (1977) 11’ Emily Howard (b. 1979) Compass (2022) 15’ WP* Iannis Xenakis (1922 - 2001) Jalons (1986) 15’ †libretto by Zoe Palmer, commissioned in collaboration with Sound and Music. *commissioned with financial assistance from Arts Council England and individuals through BCMG’s Sound Investment scheme. 7pm Acousmatic Concert w/ BEAST The Exchange, Birmingham Join the finale of our Iannis Xenakis 100 celebration with an immersive electroacoustic performance with BEAST. BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) is a complex sound system of the University of Birmingham’s Electroacoustic Music Studios and are recognised as one of the leading groups for presenting electronic music and soundscapes. During this ambient evening, we will also hear from Christopher Haworth, Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Birmingham for an insight into the work of Xenakis and his influence on music. What better way to experience the works of Iannis Xenakis than by filling the newly opened Exchange building with his work using revolutionary sound technology. This is a poignant celebration of cross-genre music, science, and the arts as a whole. Sergio Luque (b. 1976) It Is Happening Again (2019 – 20, rev. 2021) 12’ UK Christopher Haworth, Introduction to La Légende D'Eer and conversation with Sergio Luque. Iannis Xenakis (1922 - 2001) La Legende d’Eer (1978) 45’ TICKETS Important When booking a ticket please ensure to tick your up-to-date contact preferences regardless of whether you have done this previously. Booking for this event has now closed. Manage Cookie Preferences