Music Biennale Zagreb: Proxima Centauri

It further broadens the perception of chamber music through collaboration with other musicians, improvisers, dancers, visual artists, etc., that is, through a multidisciplinary approach. The ensemble performs existing, or premieres commissioned pieces, balancing between the anthological 20th-century repertoire and contemporary compositional practices. It was founded and operates in Bordeaux, France, and is a regular participant at major international festivals and related events. Its artistic director, Marie-Bernadette Charrier, also plays saxophone in the ensemble.

One of the most important new music ensembles in Croatia and the permanent Biennale ensemble, the Cantus Ensemble, and its conductor Berislav Šipuš will be the guest of the Proxima Centauri at the 2023 MBZ. In addition to the pieces by contemporary French composers, the program will be enriched with the first performance of Davor Vincze’s composition. One of the compositions on the program was written by a member of the ensemble, Christophe Havel, a professor of electroacoustic composition, electronic performer, and a composer who explores the phenomenon of sound between instrumental and electronic music. Havel prefers dynamic structures with a pronounced harmonic and rhythmic play, and more recently also a sort of “gestural grammar,” through which he reveals the phenomenon of sound in its entirety. In addition to Jodlowski’s Coliseum II, dedicated to the Proxima Centauri, we should also mention Raphaël Cenda, the architect of the instrumental saturation movement, which he describes as “the result of an overflow (of excess) in a confined space”. This excess is manifested through the distortion of familiar sounds, noise and, as the title indicates, a total loss of control over the performance.
This time, the saturated tensions will take place at the Pogon Jedinstvo, Zagreb's center for independent culture and youth. Spatial manipulation will also accompany the idea of redefining chamber music, that is, the concert.