Heading towards Darmstadt!

Who are we?

We are We Spoke! Based in London and in Switzerland, we are a contemporary and experimental music ensemble.

Above all, we are a group of percussionist friends who dedicated to exploring the various trends in contemporary music. Our approach is focussed not only on creation and interpretation but also on staging and set design for the works we present.

Thus, we collaborate regularly with Composers, Artists, Stage Directors, Dancers and Choreographers in order to bring an original and virtuous view of today’s music.

We perform regularly in Switzerland and in London, and go on tour several times each year to destinations like Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Lima, Sao Paolo or Rio de Janeiro.

Curious to know more about our productions and our schedule? Simply visit our website.

Who is going?

We Spoke members: Julien Annoni, Julien Mégroz, Olivier Membrez, Robert Torche and Serge Vuille.

Hackuarium Team: Luc Henry, Oliver Keller and Vanessa Lorenzo

Guest composer: Fritz Hauser

Why Darmstadt?

This event is widely recognised over the world as one of the most important events for contemporary and experimental music. It brings together more than 300 participants, talks, rehearsals, masterclasses, workshops and concerts. It is a meeting point for composers, performers, sound artists and musicologists – the hotspot for contemporary music.

We are proud to be the first Swiss ensemble to take this role in Darmstadt. This is an incredible opportunity for We Spoke to learn, to develop the identity of the group, to present our most recent work and to make contacts on the international scene.

What we are gonna do...

During our stay, we will run several projects simultaneously:

• creating new pieces with student composers
• music interpretation and working with instrumentalists on a piece by Fritz Hauser – who will join us for a few days
• showing some surround recordings in collaboration with label ’Neu Records’ including our last double album featuring music by Fritz Hauser
• working on musical theatre pieces such as ’Les guetteurs de sons’ by Georges Aperghis with the composer himself.
• leading workshops about our ’Living Instruments’ developed in the biohacking lab ’Hackuarium’ in Lausanne (Switzerland)

We will finish our residency with the concert ’Carte Blanche’ to We Spoke’ on the main stage. Our concert will include a new work-in- progress piece by Simon Løffler, commissioned specially for us by Darmstadt!

In a nutshell, this residency will be very intense and will enable us to learn, share our work and develop some contacts.

Why do we need you support?

Darmstadt will give us a room for two weeks and will take care of all production and technical aspects. The festival has also commissioned Simon Løffler to create a new piece for us but is unfortunately not able to cover all of our costs. That’s the reason we need you!

First of all your support will enable us to find a roof over our heads; in other words to rent a house that we will share for two weeks, which will cost 2200 CHF. If we exceed our first funding goal, you will contribute to our essentials (pasta with vegetables!) and even our journey. We plan to spend 1125 CHF on food for all of us and 2500 CHF regarding transport (including musicians and equipment).

All of the participants are committed to this project without being paid. We can’t refuse this invitation, but also can’t do it without support.

Your support will enable us to cover general expenses and will give us the possibility to concentrate on music, experimenting and exchanges.

A massive thank you!