Archipelago LUX, PUNTO Y RAYA ACADEMY, MACBA, Barcelona (ES)

Archipelago LUX

World Première of this commissioned Live AV Performance

The doors will open at 19.30h

This audiovisual concert is based on several percussion pieces by Luís Tinoco, a multi-award-winning composer, radio producer, professor, and artistic director of the Young Musicians Award and Festival in Lisbon. It features works from his albums Archipelago (2019) and Alepo e Outros Silêncios (2022), performed by Drumming-GP, which, under the direction of Miquel Bernat, has established itself as one of the most important ensembles of its kind on an international level since its beginnings in 1999.

The Archipelago LUX concert consists of five movements that will be performed live by Drumming-GP and visually reinterpreted by top-tier artists from Spain and Portugal.

1. Short Cuts (F) for Percussion Quartet    8:41
This piece was originally written for saxophone quarter. Since its première in 2004, the composer has made several transcriptions for different combinations of instruments, amongst which is version “F” for four percussionistas (two vibraphones and two marimbas), which was premièred by the Perkool Quartet. The title is a word-play on the double meaning of “short cuts”. That is, the concept of incisive musical gestures being juxtaposed with the idea that a different, shorter path can be taken to reach a desired destination.

Visual artist: Juanjo Fernández Rivero_gnomalab

2. Mind the Gap for Solo Marimba   8:30
   I. Keep Left
  II. Next Train Approaching
  III. Currently Out of Order
  IV. Keep Right
Mind the Gap is a piece about London, depicting people walking around or traveling from one place to another. It also reflects the composer’s personal journey through the city, as he observed how people have been conditioned to follow traffic lights or signs like “Mind the gap,” “Stand on the right,” “Walk on the left,” and so on. The work is divided into four short movements, each corresponding to a specific sign or direction. The outer movements (I and IV) are written for the left and right sides of the marimba, respectively. The performer attempts to move away from the original register, but the music “pushes” them to stay either on the left or right, returning to the original position.

Visual artist José-Manuel Xavier:
“What could be more enjoyable than creating visual movements from the music of a musician we admire? Luis Tinoco’s music is for me a constant delight, perfect for my favorite activity: creating tangible movements with so-called abstract images.
For me, abstraction is true art. I dedicate myself to this art not out of aesthetic choice, but because abstraction is in my nature. I have been listening to Luis Tinoco’s *Mind The Gap* for months without ever growing tired of it.
The four movements that make up this work are not only delightful to hear but also essential for my mental health. With each listen, new things are revealed to me. Luis Tinoco has joined the half dozen musicians who help me live.
As long as I live, I hope to continue drawing from his art the inspiration that keeps me eager to create unprecedented movements.”

3. Spiralling for 2 vibraphones   11:08
This piece was specifically written for a percussion trio. It features two vibraphones played by three percussionists, who frequently switch between the instruments, making the score unique in that it is organised by the instruments rather than the individual performers. The piece was composed in 2020 and premiered by Drumming-GP at the Póvoa de Varzim International Music Festival in Portugal on September 20th, 2020.

Visual artist Laura Ginès:
“Ten flipbooks depict and transform objects I have seen by chance. Through the combination generated by grouping and persistently manipulating them, that feeling of moving away – but staying – and discovering – while simultaneously recognizing – is drawn, which is suggested by spiral paths.”

4. Archipelago for Vibraphone and Wah-Wah Tubes   9:30
Archipelago was written for solo vibraphone and expanded to include eight tuned wah-wah tubes. The tuning of the tubes i snot exactly tepered, however, which creates some micro-tonal differences within the same notes when played on the vibraphone. The idea of Archipelago arose from the liquid sounds of the timbres involved and also from the structure of the piece, which is based on small musical islands which present us with a diverse set of timbres and colours, produced using different types of mallet, double-bass bows, or the musician’s hands.

Visual artist performing LIVE, Aurora Gasull:
“What has guided me in creating the visuals for *Arquipélago* are the sensations evoked by Luís Tinoco’s work, around which five distinct environments have emerged. In my imagination, these have become five illusions of our world: universe, mind, sky, earth, and water.”

5. Steel Factory for steel drum ensemble   10:40
Steel Factory seeks to meet the challenge of writing a piece for a steel drum ensemble. The characteristics of this instrument are very different from those tht Western composers are used to, specifically in relation to the unusual tuning of each section of the steel drum family, from the bass to the lead (higher pitch). The composer was interested in the characteristics and possibilities of the steel drum and wanted to explore its metallic, almost “industrial” sound. Particularly in the medium and low registers, where the accuracy of tuning of the note is less evident, sounds can be created that transport us to a different universe, more mechanical, sometimes closer to electronic sounds.

Visual artist performing LIVE: Alba G. Corral

This AV Concert premières as the opening ceremony of Punto y Raya Academy 2024, to be held October 15th at 8.00pm at MACBA, Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (Meier Auditorium).