First part
Were you there at the beginning
/nu/thing
Andrea Agostini, Daniele Ghisi, Eric Maestri and Andrea Sarto
Second part
Frontera
Maria Sappho, Colin Frank
Sunday 15 March
Teatrostudio
Incluso nell'abbonamento
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Originally conceived as an immersive sound and light experience, Were you there at the beginning is a journey of a voice. Over the course of 30 minutes, an abstract narrative unfolds: from familiar places to remote electronic soundscapes, from contemplative experiences of time to a fabric of sounds that tear and shatter, in a confluence of symphonic gestures and acousmatic forms. The piece is dedicated to the memory of Carlo Ciceri.
Maria Sappho and Colin Frank perform pieces from Maria's current work on Frontera, an exploration of the experiences of bodies at the border, articulated through digital nativity, alienation and activity within real and imaginary spaces. These projects employ wearable sensors that focus on gesture and the politicised body as a hybrid machine. Each instrument defines its own ecosystem, for example Sapphnetics (a glove-based feedback instrument) activates ferrous objects, ZEMI (a pressure-sensing carpet) mediates archives, xhenoatura and frontera.us (gestural sensors) increase microtonal tensions between live and digital sounds. In these spaces, bodies, lands, histories, cultures and online/offline selves intersect to offer moments of resistance. These works critically engage with exclusion and migration, boundaries imposed by both nature and technology, and provide tangible interfaces to subvert the present and imagine alternative human-machine futures.
The collective currently brings together four Italian composers: Andrea Agostini, Daniele Ghisi, Eric Maestri and Andrea Sarto. Initially formed around the blog www.nuthing.eu, the collective then began to create collective works, questioning the notion of authorship and methods of musical writing. In 2017, /nu/thing presented its first work, “I mille fuochi dell'universo” (The Thousand Fires of the Universe), for ensemble and electronics, conceived for the large Hangar Pirelli (Milan). Their second work, “Were you there at the beginning”, a journey through sound and light in collaboration with the ExperiensS studio, premiered in 2022 for the reopening of Ircam's “Espace de Projection”.
A composer and researcher based in New York, she explores hybrid practices and emerging technologies, addressing themes of diaspora and cultural memory from feminist and posthuman perspectives. Composer-in-Residence 2025 for the Bahué Duo, she has presented works at international festivals. As a performer, she has collaborated with prestigious ensembles, including Mogwai in 2024. With a PhD from IRiMaS, she teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and researches at the University of Huddersfield. She has won awards such as the BBC Radiophonic Daphne Oram Award.
Percussionist, improviser and multimedia composer exploring sound objects, noise and site-specific performance with DIY electronics. His PhD thesis at the University of Huddersfield investigated the influence of unconventional instruments in the creative process. He has presented work at international festivals such as CTM in Berlin and Darmstadt Ferienkurse and collaborated with ensembles such as the International Contemporary Ensemble. He creates interactive installations and has exhibited in spaces such as Salem Art Works. With a double degree from McGill University, he teaches percussion at the Leeds Conservatoire. He received the Hildegard Westerkamp Award in 2021 for a site-specific work.
