The first of six programmes presented at the HAU2 proposes two live performances on a special 12-channel sound system. Imaginative narration and an eclecticism of styles engulf listeners in a surround sound environment.

One of two winners of the CTM 2015 Radio Lab open call for works, which sought unusual ideas for pairing the specific artistic possibilities of radio with the potentials of live performance, Mexico city-based radio composer and sound designer Sol Rezza premieres “In the Darkness of the World.” The experimental radio play pulls the hydrophone away from its primarily scientific usage into the realm of storytelling to recount a tale through sound – namely Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as it explores the dark, underwater world where light is scarce and the only consistent guide is sound. Using 3D acousmatic sound, the play experiments with spatial capabilities of live and radio contexts while inviting listeners to experience a sonic environment not normally lived by humans – where life takes place under different circumstances that often still remain unknown.

A specially conceived radio version of the piece will be broadcasted by Deutschlandradio Kultur / Klangkunst in the night from the 12th to the 13th of February at 0h05.

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay is the current recipient of the Edgard Varèse Guest Professorship for Computer Music in conjunction with the department of audio technology at the Technical University Berlin. A producer, studio musician, and contemporary jazz enthusiast, Tremblay will synthesize the influence of eclectic styles and engage the same spatial, 12-channel setup used by Sol Rezza in his performance.

In collaboration with the Electronic Studio of Berlin Technical University, Deutschlandradio Kultur Hörspiel / Klangkunst, ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst, Ö1 Kunstradio, ICAS/ECAS – International Cities of Advanced Soundicasnetwork.org, and Goethe Institut. Supported by Auswärtiges Amt, the Embassy of Canadian, and the Québec Government Office Berlin.