Novi zvuci prošlosti
On the first day of the Biennale, as part of the afternoon Celebration of the Croatian Music Institute Day, we will hear the performance of the Tena Novak Quartet and saxophonist Damir Prica Kafka.
The Quartet of violinist Tena Novak Vincek – author of numerous projects, whose work is described as “widely multidimensional”, and the creator of the genre she calls “progressive minimalism” – also includes violinist Lucija Stanojević, violist Dora Šimunić and cellist Neva Begović, who have been working together since 2020, when they got together for the performance of the Improkvart project.
For the MBZ, the Quartet announced the New Sounds of the Past project, which involves playing several kinds of improvisations, meaning improvisations with varying degrees of freedom or the amount of set parameters: in the first part they will begin with a joint performance of a selected composition that they will then “deliberately play out of tune,” transform into separate passages, into walls of sound that will vary; then, each of them individually, will be free to improvise starting from the notes they have in front of them.
In the part titled “progressive loops,” they will improvise according to the set parameters, then will improvise with sounds that are not tones – and show other sound possibilities of string instruments – and finally will improvise freely with saxophone. They will use improvisational techniques to process some of the musical material that was played at the opening of the Croatian Music Institute Hall.
Composer Ana Horvat and visual artist Iva Ćurić have been collaborating for about ten years, and one of their common areas are, as they say, interactive playful installations. One such is the interactive sound installation Keep Calm and Fidget On, designed specifically for the 2021 MBZ. According to them, the new installation is “conceived as a sculpture that takes on the traits of an instrument, when interacting with the audience.
By moving the hidden compartments, pressing the keys on the surface of the object, a sound is activated and modulated in relation to changes in the very shape of the object. In a way, the audience here, as a DJ, determines which sounds they will activate and combine as they wish, thus creating interactive music.” The installation Keep Calm and Fidget On will be realized with the technical collaboration of Miodrag Gladović, in charge of software, and Vedran Relja, in charge of making the installation construction.