Upstream Concert Series for New Music and Performance
± Lara Agar & Louis d'Heudières ± Wojciech Rusin ± bod [包家巷]
± Upstream DJs
Drifting does not necessarily describe the music, sounds, words and objects of Wojciech Rusin, bod [包家巷], Louis d'Heudières & Lara Agar, but perhaps the state of mind that emerges. Through shimmering harmonies, gentle movements and implied spiritualism, there is a sense of past and future drifting together into the present. Drawing on the region of East Anglia where they grew up, Agar and d’Heudières’ collaborative project reimagines ancient English myths through self-programmed synths and violin textures. After collaborating with Poland's Spółdzielnia Muzyczna new music ensemble at last year’s Unsound festival, Rusin continues to work with classical instruments, balancing their timbres against electronic soundscapes designed to push the Stubnitz’s sound system to its limit. bod [包家巷]’s gripping and immersive audiovisual style, combining voice, software synthesisers and electronics, closes out an evening which brings fictional approaches to folkloric music to the fore.
Supported by Hamburgische Kulturstiftung and Vamh, Verband für aktuelle Musik Hamburg, der Behörde für Kultur und Medien.
Curated by:
Lara Agar’s work is rooted in contemporary classical and experimental music making, writing for acoustic instruments and often blending electronics, found sounds and sampling. Her interests lie in the accidental, the found, indeterminacy, messiness of stuff and collaborative music making. Recent work includes projects with choreographer Anthony Matsena, the National Dance Company of Wales, Juliet Fraser + Mark Knoop, the LSO, the Plus Minus Ensemble, EXAUDI and Quatuor Bozzini, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Sadler’s Wells and at festivals such as Music We’d Like to Hear and Oxford Lieder Festival. Lara’s debut EP Solstice was released on October House Records in October 2023.
Lara Agar - Links:
Louis d'Heudières is a composer and sound artist based in Hamburg. He works across the mediums of writing, live performance and installation to speculatively (re)imagine pasts, presents and futures of musical production and reception. His work has been performed, shown or broadcast in everything from underground corners of small DIY scenes to state-funded international festivals, galleries and museums. It has been described as “humorous, perplexing and disturbing” (The Wire) and “like a revival of some long-forgotten children's game” (The Telegraph).
Louis d'Heudières - Links:
Wojciech Rusin is a Polish-born audio visual artist based in London. He draws inspiration from alchemical and gnostic texts, early renaissance choral music and Eastern European mythologies. He released Syphon LP on ad93 in 2022 and The Funnel LP on Akashic Records in April 2019. He designs and makes 3D-printed reed instruments, reworking ancient designs with contemporary 3D modelling technologies. In 2020 he released Meat for the Guard Dogs on Cafe OTO’s Takuroku digital imprint, and the Rufus Orbis cassette for Boomkat Editions / Documenting Sound series. His music has been featured on BBC Four and he has worked for The National Theatre and The Southbank Centre.
Wojciech Rusin - Links:
bod [包家巷] is an audiovisual artist from Tucson, Arizona, currently based in Berlin, Germany. Their work to date has explored alienation, whether self-induced or socially-enabled, amidst technological hyper-complexification. They work with MIDI classical instrumentation, SFX sound design and expressively banal vocals to create a dense sound-world that reckons with selfhood and systems. bod [包家巷]’s previous releases have been featured on labels such as YEAR0001, Yegorka, and Danse Noire, accompanied by fragmented texts, videos, and code. They detail a desire to find emotional connections beyond discourses of trauma and memory despite varying degrees of annihilationist solipsism.
*bod [包家巷] - Links:
* Ermäßigter Eintritt an der Abendkasse für Schüler*innen, Student*innen, Sozialhilfeempfänger*innen.