LOOS agenda
Lucie Nezri & Clara de Asís - Discreet Editions
the concert is a collab with Discreet Editions
performed by Lucie Nezri:
'ida for amy' (2017) by Michael Winter (Dutch premiere)
'en abyme' (2015) by Melaine Dalibert (Dutch premiere)
performed by Lucie Nezri and Clara de Asís:
'for siblings (tempered)' (2023), composed by Lucie Nezri with Clara de Asís on the guitar and Lucie on the piano.
performed by Clara de Asís:
‘Pillar of Salt' (2023) (Dutch premiere)
'for siblings (tempered)' is the first outcome of a long-term ongoing research revolving around Maghrebin-Andalusian classical music, specifically from Morocco and Algeria where my father's family is from. My initial wish for this research was to loosely integrate tuning systems, modes, as well as melodic and rhythmic patterns of Maghrebin-Andalusian music into my own practice, which is already grounded in rational tuning, algorithmic/probabilistic methods of composition, and open-form scores. My standpoint stems from a deeply personal yet rootless and rather abstract perspective. As a result, and necessarily, the piece 'for siblings (tempered)' ended up being distant from its original source of inspiration.
'Pillar of Salt' is a composition for idiophones, bells and electronics.From an audible account on ambiguity, it explores the potentiality of microtonal intervals, spectral blending and timbral affinity to articulate different levels of synergy, reciprocity and confusion between acoustic and electronic material in the physical and the psychoacoustic space.
The structure of the piece unfolds from a simple pattern up to accidental states with different levels of contingency. It juxtaposes compositional precision to systemic randomness.
about the artists:
Lucie Nezri is a composer, artist, and performer born in Hyères (FR) and currently based in Den Haag (NL).
Nezri is drawn toward abstraction and simplicity. Her work bridges different contexts and disciplines pertaining to musical composition, tuning theory, musicology, computer science, and, at times, choreography. Her pieces combine algorithmic techniques of composition based on probabilities, and a care for harmony. She is especially interested in exploring/making different versions of her pieces and in reconstructing algorithmic pieces made by others, as a means to understand and view these works from multiple angles. Last but not least, she considers music primarily as an experience to be shared and composes her pieces as invitations to 'play' and dedicated to loved ones.
She holds a Bachelor's and a Master's from the Institute of Sonology (Royal Conservatory of the Hague NL). Her works have been performed in a diversity of venues such as OSCII (Amsterdam), GRM (Paris), Orgelpark (Amsterdam), Abbaye de Royaumont (Paris), GMEA (Albi), Studio Loos, (Den Haag), PAS (Berlin), GIT (Riga). Since September 2022, Nezri has been a research associate at the Institute of Sonology and coordinated the festival Echonance at Orgelpark since 2023. She closely collaborates with the composers/musicians Clara de Asís, Edgars Rubenis, Michael Winter, and Nirantar Yakthumba.
Clara de Asís (b. 1988, Spain) is a composer and artist who explores the nexus of acoustics, spatiality and auditory perception in the field of electronic and contemporary experimental music, using sound as a vehicle to investigate wider socio-cultural constructs. She incorporates sound synthesis to idiosyncratic combinations of diverse materials, found objects and traditional instrumentation. Her compositions juxtapose structural precision to areas of indeterminacy, drawing from an interest in tuning, timbral research and the junction of rational and intuitive systems.
De Asís has performed extensively across Europe, the United States and South America; and has been an artist-in-residence at Experimental Sound Studio (Chicago), Tsonami (Valparaíso), Q-O2 (Brussels) and Elektronmusikstudion EMS (Stockholm), among others. Her music is published on labels such as Another Timbre (UK), Elsewhere (US), Marginal Frequency (US), Pilgrim Talk (US), Blank Mind (UK), Erstwhile (US).
As a curator and artistic director, she works independently and within international music organizations, and runs the publishing platform Discreet Editions. She has pursued formal studies in Audiovisual Media Art (University of Sevilla) and Electroacoustic Music Composition (Cité de la Musique / National Conservatory in Marseille), and is currently engaging in academic artistic research at the Institute of Sonology / Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
LOOS HACKLAB with JOHAN VAN KREIJ, FARZANEH NOURI & MARTIN HURYCH
english
The hackLab of Studio LOOS is a neighborhood hub where musicians, artists and anyone can work on projects that include electronics, sensors, micro-controllers, code etc. We offer a comfortable space with basic tools and support by an expert team. Even a very basic knowledge of the technology that a hackLab typically focuses on, is sufficient for participating; the idea of the hackLab community is learning by doing. The hackLab spring series takes place on five Saturday afternoons.
nederland
Het hackLab van Studio LOOS is een buurt-initiatief waar muzikanten, kunstenaars en iedereen kan werken aan projecten met elektronica, sensoren, microcontrollers, code enz. We bieden een comfortabele ruimte met gereedschap en ondersteuning door een deskundig team. Zelfs een basiskennis van de technologie waar een hackLab zich normaal gesproken op richt, is voldoende om deel te nemen; het idee van de hackLab gemeenschap is leren door te doen. De voorjaarsreeks van het hackLab vindt plaats op vijf zaterdagmiddagen
ticket
pay what you want (receipt from LOOS)
betaal wat je wilt (bonnetje van LOOS)
intersect.SERIES #1
On April 19th, the first edition of INTERSECT. series will kick off at Studio Loos
With a focus on improvisation and interactivity, the edition will include showcasing Kinesis an interactive VR experience by Arash Akbari, a live performance by Görkem Arıkan playing the Wirwarp, an instrument commissioned by Sonic Acts for the Touched by Sound project, designed and built in collaboration with Joris Takken, Lucas Vonk, Rahsaan Bleijs, and Roman Willems. Kristin Norderval ( voice & live electronics) and Kaat Vanhaverbeke (accordion & live electronics) will perform “Between air, folds & voltage” integrating gestural movements with a focus on acoustic interactions with the space and the qualities of spatial extension. Gobi_10k’s improvisation will explore Machine Learning techniques in live computer music performance.
Kinesis by Arash Akbari
Kinesis is a digital sonic environment that explores the relationship between sound, space, performer, and computation. A group of AI agents were trained using reinforcement learning to create generative spatial sound objects that react to human presence using their unpredictable behaviors. The result is an ever-changing digital audio-visual structure that transforms the space in an unrepeatable manner. The listeners/performers become active by walking and positioning themselves among the objects and indirectly navigating the composition. The agents constantly react to the performer's actions. These reactions affect the sonic features such as frequency pitch, duration, and amplitude. While the system interacts with the virtual plane of continuous differentiation of its components, every subjective experience becomes a part of the system by encountering it through sense-making.
Arash Akbari is a transdisciplinary artist. He investigates the interplay between dynamic art systems, human perception, nonlinear narrative, and the convergence of physical and digital realms. His exploration spans the domains of generative systems, interaction design, immersive technologies, and real-time processing. Approaching the dominant technological paradigm with a critical perspective, he seeks alternative narratives where computational processes and interactive cybernetic systems give rise to concepts, ideas, and questions, eliciting affective personal and social impacts and responses. Akbari directs his experimental practices into audio-visual performances and installations, interactive software, sonic environments, and multisensory experiences.
“Between air, folds & voltage” – Kristin Norderval & Kaat Vanhaverbeke
a first performance with the support of Studio LOOS
Kristin Norderval, voice & live electronics
Kaat Vanhaverbeke, accordion & live electronics
“Between air, folds & voltage” explores sound and movement in the framework of free improvisation involving voice, accordion, and real-time audio processing with gestural controllers. Both performers are using Genki WAVE MIDI rings as controllers to highlight and integrate gestural movements into their musical practice. Acoustic interactions with the space and the qualities of spatial extension are a central focus. As two performers 40+ years apart in age and from different countries (US/BE), Norderval and Vanhaverbeke investigate the aesthetic possibilities that can emerge from collaborations between composer-performers from different generations, nationalities, and musical training, using different modes of real-time signal processing.
Kristin´s work explores the human expressivity of the acoustic voice and the complexities of the mediated voice. Kristin writes: During my recent PhD research fellowship at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts I designed a performer-controlled vocal processing system for singers that could accommodate mobility and allow interaction based on auditory and haptic cues rather than visual. In other words, a system allowing the singer to control their sonic output without standing behind a laptop. I wanted to create a performer-controlled interface that would enable nuanced and variable vocal processing and freedom of movement. I also wanted to identify a sound design that would afford a balance between the self-amplified, embodied operatic voice and its sampled, processed and disembodied voice(s) or “sonic avatars”. I call the system I developed the Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument (the EVII) as a tribute to and acknowledgement of the influence of Pauline Oliveros and her Expanded Instrument System (EIS).
Kristin Norderval is a Culture Moves Europe grantee and an Artist in Residence at Studio Loos.
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union.
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
Kaat´s work explores futuristic music for accordion, electronics, and theatrical-choreographic movements – which she calls the “3D accordion XL”. Kaat writes: The accordion is an incredibly versatile, dynamic and generous instrument. In 3D accordion XL I’m enlarging that generous character in an attempt to explore extra-dimensionality as the main conceptual idea of the performance. Extra-dimensionality refers to moving the accordion bellows intentionally forward and backwards at different angles, prompting an extra musical dimension of spatiality and motion in music. In the performance, the movements of the bellows take centre stage and are linked by electronics to musical parameters such as pitch and rhythm, challenging the instrument’s acoustic limits – the extra-dimensionality is expanded and becomes uncommonly explicit. The accordion bellows come to life, becoming a strange and fascinating moving entity in a unique sound world.
Wirwarp by Görkem Arıkan
Görkem Arıkan will play the Wirwarp, commissioned by Sonic Acts for the Touched by Sound project, designed and built in collaboration with Joris Takken, Lucas Vonk, Rahsaan Bleijs, and Roman Willems.
Drawing inspiration from Michel Waisvisz’s distinctive approach to sonic interactions and musical expression, Wirwarp incorporates conductive rubber cord stretch sensors. These sensors create a dynamic mesh on a wooden frame, providing a touch canvas for sonic exploration through the manipulation of tension dynamics. Playing the instrument involves warping and tangling the mesh – pulling the cords, pushing the nodes, and adjusting the frame’s angle with movable hinges.
An interdisciplinary sound artist and performer, Görkem Arıkan is a music technologist at SoundLAB in Amsterdam and the co-founder of the non-profit experimental music formation A.I.D. He graduated from the Instruments and Interfaces program of Sonology at STEIM and KONCON, where he developed ARMonic, a gestural electroacoustic music system consisting of wearable D.I.Y sensors and electronics. Afterward, as a research associate at Sonology, he created the sound installation Singing Sparks, which is made of ignition parts of a car engine, presented alongside a documentary film about the listening practice of car mechanics. He actively engages in various projects, blending arts, technology, and culture, exploring expressive sonic interactions, and creating experimental electronic instruments and sound installations.
Gobi_10k
Gobi_10k (Alec Gordon) is a Scottish musician and instrument inventor working in the Hague. His work deals with oversaturation as a method to explore atemporality. This performance will expound on the limits of machine learning synthesis, using material gathered through web scraping and web 2.0-inspired piracy.
Gobi_10k (Alec Gordon) currently lives and works in Den Haag, Netherlands. Gobi_10k’s work is concerned primarily with noise in a variety of “saturated” states, driving noise through numerous cycles of feedback, often using frequencies that occupy the entire range of human hearing.
LOOS HACKLAB with JOHAN VAN KREIJ, FARZANEH NOURI & MARTIN HURYCH
english
The hackLab of Studio LOOS is a neighborhood hub where musicians, artists and anyone can work on projects that include electronics, sensors, micro-controllers, code etc. We offer a comfortable space with basic tools and support by an expert team. Even a very basic knowledge of the technology that a hackLab typically focuses on, is sufficient for participating; the idea of the hackLab community is learning by doing. The hackLab spring series takes place on five Saturday afternoons.
nederland
Het hackLab van Studio LOOS is een buurt-initiatief waar muzikanten, kunstenaars en iedereen kan werken aan projecten met elektronica, sensoren, microcontrollers, code enz. We bieden een comfortabele ruimte met gereedschap en ondersteuning door een deskundig team. Zelfs een basiskennis van de technologie waar een hackLab zich normaal gesproken op richt, is voldoende om deel te nemen; het idee van de hackLab gemeenschap is leren door te doen. De voorjaarsreeks van het hackLab vindt plaats op vijf zaterdagmiddagen
ticket
pay what you want (receipt from LOOS)
betaal wat je wilt (bonnetje van LOOS)
Avoiding and affirming definition Research Presentation by Sean Bell
Sean Bell will present the results of his artistic residency at Studio LOOS. After a week of experimenting with redefining his approach to his own creative practice and early music, the results will be shared and performed.
The event will have two parts. The first will be an open presentation of the work developed and created during the week in the studio. The second will be a work-in-progress presentation of the piece Songbook: Shakespearian Tales of Woe by composer Robert Nettleship for countertenor and drum kit.
The two parts are parallel processes that explore a similar relationship to early music as a style and concept.
Sean Bell - countertenor
Robert Nettleship - drum kit
Ticket price: 5 euros
about the artistic research:
So far, in my artistic research, I have worked on using early music songs/repertoire. With the arrangement as my creative tool, I found freedom working within these parameters and built a concept-driven project from preexisting material. Now, I want to explore how I can break out of this framework and create a new starting point for myself. Moving beyond arranging in my practice, how can I bridge the roles of composer, performance artist, and early music singer by focusing on concept rather than form?
As a starting point, I will explore concepts from different styles of early music repertoire. This will be my approach to historically inspired performance. First, an idea or concept derived from the music or the context in which the music was created historically. I will try to work with the fundaments of the music without the notes: text, mood, instrumentation, tonality and timbre. I will experiment with different compositional tools like graphic scores, free improv, electronics, and live recording to have a fresh approach.
The idea for this research came from people’s reactions to my previous work. They would ask if I considered myself as a composer-performer or just a performer? I would answer that I was a singer (like my education states), realizing that composer-performer was maybe an unexplored identity within my artistic work.
“Why do you sing?” Group Meeting with Kristin Norderval
“Why do you sing?” - A meet-up for singer-creators
A collaboration between VoxLAB and Studio Loos
Group meeting Tuesday April 9th at Studio Loos, 7-9pm
In the first of several planned networking meet-ups, vocalist-creators based in Den Haag have been invited to share and discuss the challenges and inspirations of creating new vocal repertoire and experimental post-operatic forms. Musicologist Jelena Novak, author of Post-opera: Reinventing the Voice-Body (Routledge) will be present to help shape the dialogue and pose questions. Possibilities for international research collaborations between Studio Loos (DH), Voxlab (Oslo) and other artist-led initiatives will be explored.
Composer-performer Kristin Norderval will host both the initial meeting and subsequent follow-up meetings. Themes relevant to post-operatic forms such as body/voice theory, the embodied voice and voice beyond corporeality, and human-computer interaction in technologically augmented environments will be explored. Among the expected results are increased knowledge about post-operatic multimodal creations and methodologies; the establishment of a network of creators, producers, composers and performers interested in exploration of experimental post-operatic forms; and potential co-creations between the Norwegian organization VoxLAB and experimental opera companies based in the Netherlands
Kristin is a Culture Moves Europe grantee and a Studio Loos 2024 artist in residence. This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
Kristin Norderval during REWIRE FESTIVAL THE HAGUE
Queer Sonic Avatars
with Kristin Norderval
In this lecture performance, singer and composer-improviser Kristin Norderval explores themes of resonance, presence, place, and the distortion of time with her mediated voices or “Sonic Avatars." She will perform with EVII, the Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument for gestural vocal processing that she has developed over the last years. She often refers to the instrument as her digital improvising partner. Norderval’s concert will be followed by a Q&A and a demonstration.
Kristin Norderval’s career has been twofold: as a singer of contemporary music working with composers such as Philip Glass, Pauline Oliveros, Annea Lockwood, Tania Leon, and many others, and as a composer-improviser working with technology. Kristin is inspired by hybridity, interactivity, and the idea that everything one does is site-specific. She blends acoustic and electronic sound, and is fascinated with detuned instruments, machines, and ambient sound. Between 2019 and 2023 Kristin was a PhD Research Fellow at the Oslo National Academy of Opera in Norway, where she developed an Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument (EVII) for gestural vocal processing using wireless MIDI rings. Kristin has used the EVII in her latest opera, Crane Reflects on a Favor, and in collaborations with Limpe Fuchs, Peter van Bergen, Jill Sigman, and Miguel Frasconi.
Kristin Norderval is a Culture Moves Europe grantee and an Artist in Residence at Studio Loos. This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
Prior to the lecture performance, Kristin Norderval will lead a Deep Listening workshop. She will also join the conversation Veering Voices, on Friday, 5 April.
LOOS HACKLAB with JOHAN VAN KREIJ, FARZANEH NOURI & MARTIN HURYCH
english
The hackLab of Studio LOOS is a neighborhood hub where musicians, artists and anyone can work on projects that include electronics, sensors, micro-controllers, code etc. We offer a comfortable space with basic tools and support by an expert team. Even a very basic knowledge of the technology that a hackLab typically focuses on, is sufficient for participating; the idea of the hackLab community is learning by doing. The hackLab spring series takes place on five Saturday afternoons.
nederland
Het hackLab van Studio LOOS is een buurt-initiatief waar muzikanten, kunstenaars en iedereen kan werken aan projecten met elektronica, sensoren, microcontrollers, code enz. We bieden een comfortabele ruimte met gereedschap en ondersteuning door een deskundig team. Zelfs een basiskennis van de technologie waar een hackLab zich normaal gesproken op richt, is voldoende om deel te nemen; het idee van de hackLab gemeenschap is leren door te doen. De voorjaarsreeks van het hackLab vindt plaats op vijf zaterdagmiddagen
ticket
pay what you want (receipt from LOOS)
betaal wat je wilt (bonnetje van LOOS)
LOOS HACKLAB with JOHAN VAN KREIJ, FARZANEH NOURI & MARTIN HURYCH
english
The hackLab of Studio LOOS is a neighborhood hub where musicians, artists and anyone can work on projects that include electronics, sensors, micro-controllers, code etc. We offer a comfortable space with basic tools and support by an expert team. Even a very basic knowledge of the technology that a hackLab typically focuses on, is sufficient for participating; the idea of the hackLab community is learning by doing. The hackLab spring series takes place on five Saturday afternoons.
nederland
Het hackLab van Studio LOOS is een buurt-initiatief waar muzikanten, kunstenaars en iedereen kan werken aan projecten met elektronica, sensoren, microcontrollers, code enz. We bieden een comfortabele ruimte met gereedschap en ondersteuning door een deskundig team. Zelfs een basiskennis van de technologie waar een hackLab zich normaal gesproken op richt, is voldoende om deel te nemen; het idee van de hackLab gemeenschap is leren door te doen. De voorjaarsreeks van het hackLab vindt plaats op vijf zaterdagmiddagen
ticket
pay what you want (receipt from LOOS)
betaal wat je wilt (bonnetje van LOOS)
LOOS HACKLAB with JOHAN VAN KREIJ, FARZANEH NOURI & MARTIN HURYCH
english
The hackLab of Studio LOOS is a neighborhood hub where musicians, artists and anyone can work on projects that include electronics, sensors, micro-controllers, code etc. We offer a comfortable space with basic tools and support by an expert team. Even a very basic knowledge of the technology that a hackLab typically focuses on, is sufficient for participating; the idea of the hackLab community is learning by doing. The hackLab spring series takes place on five Saturday afternoons.
nederland
Het hackLab van Studio LOOS is een buurt-initiatief waar muzikanten, kunstenaars en iedereen kan werken aan projecten met elektronica, sensoren, microcontrollers, code enz. We bieden een comfortabele ruimte met gereedschap en ondersteuning door een deskundig team. Zelfs een basiskennis van de technologie waar een hackLab zich normaal gesproken op richt, is voldoende om deel te nemen; het idee van de hackLab gemeenschap is leren door te doen. De voorjaarsreeks van het hackLab vindt plaats op vijf zaterdagmiddagen
ticket
pay what you want (receipt from LOOS)
betaal wat je wilt (bonnetje van LOOS)
12 - 19 preparations for the celebration of "STUDIO LOOS 20 YEARS"
live streaming test with Martin Hurych and Peter van Bergen
18 - 21 hrs rehearsals QUARTET preparing “STUDIO LOOS 20 YEARS!”
“QUARTET”
Peter van Bergen tenorsaxophone
Ike van Bergen piano & keys
Wilbert De Joode double bass
Giacomo Camilletti drums
Compositions of Andrew Hill, Carla Bley & Pete La Roca
16 - 19 hrs rehearsals QUARTET preparing “STUDIO LOOS 20 YEARS!”
“QUARTET”
Peter van Bergen tenorsaxophone
Ike van Bergen piano & keys
Wilbert De Joode double bass
Giacomo Camilletti drums
Compositions of Andrew Hill, Carla Bley & Pete La Roca
18 - 21 hrs rehearsals QUARTET preparing “STUDIO LOOS 20 YEARS!”
“QUARTET”
Peter van Bergen tenorsaxophone
Ike van Bergen piano & keys
Wilbert De Joode double bass
Giacomo Camilletti drums
Compositions of Andrew Hill, Carla Bley & Pete La Roca
10 - 12 rehearsal for STUDIO LOOS 20 YEARS! - Interactive Gestural Arabic Songs
interactive gestural arabic songs
Baidar al-Basri voice + two Wave Rings
Peter van Bergen Bb clarinet + Mi.Mu. gloves
Johan van Kreij computer
Iraqi singer Baidar Al Basra, living in The Hague, worked in a artistic research residency in multiple sessions with artistic researchers of the IOM-AIM Research, Dr. Peter van Bergen and Johan van Kreij. Topics include the transformation of gestures and musical enrichment.
In this performance Baidar will work with two Wave, wireless, sensor rings and show interactive computer music generated by Baidar's own singing and movements.
Musical starting point are songs from From Hamid al-Basri “Iraqi Popular Songs” (Hamid al-Basri) combined the Arabic improvisational solo vocal style Mawwal
Baidar will investigate whether collaboration with interactive electronics, in which gesticulation plays an important role, can add something to the meaning and expression of her performances. Data generated by sensors will be transmitted to computer software of IOM-AIM Research and should lead to simultaneity of human solo acoustic singing Mawwal and Arabic gestures, and computer music that closely matches the sound idiom in which Baidar is comfortable, to transform into a "virtual sound world" that enriches acoustic singing and can connect styles
In the performance Peter van Bergen will start improvisational dialogues with Baidar on Bb clarinet in combination with Mi-Mu gloves.
Johan van Kreij will use the computer to guide the interactivity between voice + rings, Bb clarinet + gloves and the IOM-AIM software that he and Peter van Bergen developed in Peter van Bergen’s doctorate IOM-AIM Research “Improvisation, Interactivity, Instability: Artistic Transformations” 2023.
Songs
Your heart is hard stone
Tell me what is your aim?
I nursed you Hassen
O Basil plant