Ensemble Variances

Part of Bristol New Music 2018

Venue:

Victoria Rooms
Time:

17:00
Date:

Sun 22 Apr 2018

Ensemble Variances leader and composer Thierry Pécou’s seminal work Outre-Mémoire is an exploration of the slave trade through music – both from a contemporary perspective and looking back at his own Martinican roots.

Often compared to Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps, Outre-Mémoire is an overwhelming musical experience that invokes a state of meditative contemplation, in which the piano is conceived as a centre of gravity surrounded by satellites, the flute, the clarinet and the cello. The result is a powerful piece that leaves the audience “surrounded by a strong, powerful sound” (BBC Magazine).

This score (1:15 minutes) was first performed by Alexandre Tharaud in 2004 in collaboration with installation artist Jean-François Boclé.

This is a ‘pay what you feel’ event – a donation will be taken on the door.

Please note this event takes place at the Victoria Rooms, University of Bristol, 88 Queens Rd, Bristol BS8 1SA

Bristol New Music 2018

This concert is part of Bristol New Music 2018, bringing the very best international contemporary new music to the city in partnership with Colston Hall, Arnolfini, Spike Island, St George’s Bristol and the University of Bristol for a dazzling weekend to explores new realms in sound.

To view the full festival programme click here.

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Supported by

Bristol New Music is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and by the PRS for Music Foundation; in partnership with the University of Bristol.

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Ensemble Variances

Ensemble Variances was in residence ats the University of Bristol from 2015-2017 supported by the Carr-Gregory Trust and Diaphonique. Their performances are about experiencing the music, being touched by the deeper layers you will never get to know by just using your ears.

The secret lies in the programs their artistic director Thierry Pécou creates: these do not just exist of separate compositions, but are a composition in itself. A composition that can be staged, or have a choreography: whatever happens to it afterwards is decided in an organic group process of the entire ensemble. In his own compositions he is always looking for new ways to make the listener part of the performance. Someone from the audience described listening to his work once as going to prayer services at a monastery: it has an almost ritualistic atmosphere that encourages a state of meditation or pure focus.

The Ensemble has the pleasure of working with guest artists such as Frédéric Vaysse-Knitter, Noa Frenkel, Ensemble Resonanz and Percussions Claviers de Lyon, composers Moritz Eggert, Lisa Bielawa, Gabriela Ortiz, Marc Patch, Michael Ellison, and stage directors Stephan Grögler and Christine Mananzar.

Since 2011 Thierry Pécou and Ensemble Variances have been in residence at the Arsenal in Metz. Ensemble Variances has appeared at the French May Festival (Hong Kong), at the Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Festival Présences de Radio France, the Auditorium de Lyon, the Arsenal de Metz, the Festival „das neue Werk“ at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) Hamburg (Germany), the Opéra de Dijon, the Opéra de Saint-Étienne and the Opéra de Reims, the Bourgie Hall Montréal (Canada), the Town Seattle Hall (USA), at Bargemusic New York (USA). Its CD Tremendum (Harmonia Mundi) with chamber music by Thierry Pécou obtained the Diapason d’or award in October 2012.

Bristol New Music

Bristol New Music is a consortium of five key organisations in Bristol (Colston Hall, Arnolfini, Spike Island, St George’s Bristol and the University of Bristol) dedicated to bringing the very best international new music to the city, while working to create opportunities for emerging regional artists.

The consortium present a biennial festival of new and experimental music in venues and spaces across the city. The first festival took place in February 2014 and showcased artists including Quatuor Bozzini, Canada’s leading new music string quartet, Ensemble musikFabrik, composer and saxophonist John Butcher, soundscape artist Cevdet Erek, electronic artists Klavikon, Roly Porter and Addison Groove and the Christian Wallrumrød Ensemble.

In 2016 the festival returned for it’s second instalment in May with a fascinating installation in Colston Hall’s cellars titled Requiem for 114 Radios by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard alongside performances from contemporary music artists, Max Richter and Kronos Quartet. Bristol composer/producer Vessel teamed up with Liverpool’s Immix Ensemble to present the live A/V incarnation of their 2016 Erased Tapes collaboration Transition and new commisions were performed by John Bence and Arve Henriksen at St George’s Bristol.

In 2018 the festival continued its growing reputation of fearlessly exhibiting and exploring new realms in sound with a programme including Charles Hazlewood with Army of Generals and members of The British Paraorchestra performing Steve Reich’s The Four Sections across the four levels of Colston Hall’s foyer, electronic artist Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith performing in the IMAX cinema at Bristol Aquarium, and Sarah Angliss’ unsettling electronic composition at St Geroge’s Bristol with Aether Music and Oramics, to name a few.

Ensemble Variances

Part of Bristol New Music 2018

Venue:

Time:

Date:

Bristol New Music 2018

Were you at this show?

Supported by

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