“Spatial Guitar“ is an immersive concert setting that surrounds the audience in a hexagon of sound and light. Compositions of spatially choreographed tone sequences, circulating patterns and moving textures fill the space, while moments of melodic minimalism and spatially distributed chord voices allow the listener to be amidst the very elements that momentarily become the music.
The concept by composer and guitarist Kavall approaches the field of spatial music from an instrument’s perspective. It separates the sound of the individual strings of the guitar and distributes it to a hexagon of speakers around the audience. The spatial movement of the music becomes an inherent part of the composition and the musical performance.
Audio-reactive light steles deepen the spatial perception of the music. The immersive experience of an audiovisual installation merges with the dynamic performance of a live concert. The music forms an inseparable connection with the surrounding space and architecture, and unfolds a unique experience in the settings of large concert spaces – on this night in the fascinating acoustics of Neukölln’s Genezareth Church.
Kavall is a composer and performer of contemporary immerisve music. His approach to music is informed by his interest in spaces, both as acoustic environments and as metaphorical, emotional spaces. In his compositions, he explores the transition between physical and metaphorical spaces by melting the sound of acoustic instruments with their processed layers, eventually transferring their metaphorical qualities to the physical space.
Kavall’s interest in stringed instruments as precise and expressive, playable interfaces stems from the guitar but has since expanded towards building custom instruments which allow him to create yet unheard timbres of harmonic, textural and percussive characteristics, as heard on his solo piece “As if the Air Was Grainy Substance”.
The concert night is the official album release concert of the his new album “Inmitten” which will be released on the label Neue Meister on October 11th.
