Projects

MINIMALIST DREAM HOUSE

Minimalism is 50 years old. A series of monthly concerts through early 1961 curated by La Monte Young at Yoko Ono's downtown New York loft brought this hypnotic new musical world to the public attention for the first time. Katia and Marielle Labèque and an assortment of friends from the alternative rock and classical worlds come together to celebrate this revolutionary new movement and its many waves of influence. We bring you rarely heard early Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Philip Glass. We immerse ourselves in the experimental drones of La Monte Young. We explore the crystalline gems of the Europeans: Gavin Bryars, Arvo Part, Howard Skempton and Cornelius Cardew. We hunt down the great maverick precursors: Erik Satie, John Cage and Colin McPhee. We peer into the world of Post-Minimalism with Glenn Branca. In the spirit of the loft concerts, improvisations, rearrangements and world premiere compositions will be given birth to by members of the Labèques' regular collaborators, B for Bang (including David Chalmin, Massimo Pupillo and Nicola Tescari), and Lawrence Chandler of Bowery Electric. And we will delve into Minimalism's impressive rock legacy, with works from The Who, Aphex Twin, Sonic Youth, Radiohead and Brian Eno.

LINKS

video teaser
kingsplace.co.uk
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MUSICIANS

Katia & Marielle Labèque
Nicola Tescari
David Chalmin
Raphaël Séguinier
Massimo Pupillo

KALAKAN

The KML Foundation supported Basque Trio Kalakan to help them producing their first album.

Read more here

ROUNDHOUSE
Collaboration with young video artists

Katia and Marielle return to the Roundhouse – the venue where they made their UK debut – on Sunday 31 January as part of Reverb Roundhouse Concerts, a series which explores the many sides of music. As part of the concert, the Labèque sisters will collaborate with young video artists from the pioneering Roundhouse Studios on a new film.

Aspiring video artists, aged 17-25, will be working with SDNA, the leading creative digital agency, on a project which explores myriad ways to create visual imagery and video content for music. The film will be developed in a series of intensive creative sessions in advance of the concert, using the music by Satie, Debussy and Stravinsky that Katia and Marielle will perform at the Roundhouse. Live footage of the concert itself will also be integrated into the final work, with the film shown as part of the concert on 31 January.

The Roundhouse is one of London’s leading performing arts venues and, as a charity, it helps thousands of young people every year.

Following an extensive refurbishment in 2006, more than half a million people have been to music, theatre, dance and circus events, and 15,000 11-25 year olds have developed their talents in the Studios. The Roundhouse delivers creative projects for many of London’s young people from all backgrounds including radio (with a dedicated radio station run by and for young people), music production, drama, poetry, TV, sound engineering, photography, VJ skills and much more.

Reverb also features collaborations between young musicians from Roundhouse Studios and the Main House, with a particular focus on the work of the Roundhouse Choir and Roundhouse Collective. Roundhouse Choir is a vocal ensemble for young people which performs at the Roundhouse and at arts venues across London. The Roundhouse Collective, a group of talented young musicians, champions new music at the Roundhouse, and features musicians from different musical backgrounds, styles of music and ranges of instruments.

with :

- Krystle Torio
- Meng Valeria
- Roman Knipping-Sorokin
- Paria Kamyab
- John Lung
- Dannielle Harper
- Sinead McCarthy
- Mubarak Ahmed

www.roundhouse.org.uk
www.facebook.com
buy tickets here

RED VELVET

(David Chalmin)

The alternative musical scene has given birth to an outstanding rock duet. Red Velvet features the subtle balance of intense songwriting and sharp arrangements.
David Chalmin’s pure and poignant voice, sustained by his genuine guitar playing, encounters Reeks creative drums, analog bass and electronics.
Red Velvet has produced its debut album released worldwide by Sonic Invaders in march 2009.

www.sonicinvaders.com
www.redvelvet.fr

(Reeks & David Chalmin)

De Fuego y de Agua, Mayté Martin

de fuego y de agua'
. . . how it was born . . .

i think it was in april 2005 that i was told the labèque sisters were looking for me to do a project on Spanish music my heart swelled when i realised that, of all the voices that katia and marielle could have chosen to carry out their ideas, they had chosen mine. and, what’s more, i swear that if i’d had to choose between knowing the human or the artistic side of the labèque sisters, i would have chosen the former. for i met two absolutely delightful women, generous and honest, of quite extraordinary quality and warmth joan albert amargós wrote the most amazing arrangements, and the three of us began seducing each other the old way: slowly, with respect and subtlety. we created the repertoire and style of the show without a single problem of understanding or conflict of interests. all three of us wanted the same thing, and we found it by working hand in hand, taking advantage of each moment in which we could see our project growing and becoming more beautiful each idea, each proposition, each rehearsal and each tisane was a great event for me. and in each minute that i shared with them i was conscious of how lucky i was, of the fact that all my life i had wanted something like this to happen to me. because i have always felt close to classical music and opera. in fact, katia and marielle had heard me singing some of my own music on compilation recordings. they asked me to include in the programme some pieces i’d composed myself, and i showed them unpublished themes i had written in totally and deliberately classical arrangements. they chose three which are recorded on our cd i hope that what is heard on this record will reflect all the love and excitement of those who nurtured this project; because if that is so, i’m sure you will enjoy it almost as much as i do

Mayté Martin

B For Bang
Across the Universe of Languages.

A re-interpretation of the Beatles’ songs and universe in a blend of classical, pop instrumentation and visual performance.

If re-interpreting the songs of The Beatles is no easy task, just as challenging is to transform them into images to create an architecture of sound and vision where performance and narration mix.
The idea for Across the Universe was conceived partly within the framework of the Labèque foundation whose aim is to be a workshop for new talents as well as a venue for the meeting and exchange of ideas for artist coming from various sectors: music, cinema, theatre, literature, video, art... The Beatles are practically never ending. The Beatles, and the entire world that has arisen from their music, have become a planetary icon.

B for Bang:

Katia Labèque : piano/rhodes
David Chalmin : electric guitar & vocals
Nicola Tescari : keyboards/electronics
Massimo Pupillo : bass
Marque Gilmore : drums
Reeks: electronics
Nadeah : vocals

Dimension X
....a journey of the incredible …

The path-treading encounter of Massimo Pupillo, Chris Corsano and David Chalmin –rock/noise/experimental improvisers - with the universe of the 50s cult science-fiction radio show Dimension X.
Based on stories from the show, each track unfolds the strange world of thinking machines, robots, chaos, Martians, madness ... and humankind’s quest for emotion, truth and hope.

www.sonicinvaders.com
www.dimensionx.org