Spatial Sound and Science Festival SWRL "Laboratory of Entangled Spaces"

From November 8 to 16, the annual spatial sound festival "Laboratory of Entangled Spaces" will take place at Kaļķu Street 24 in the Old Town of Riga. The innovative concert format will offer listeners a unique auditory experience, featuring eight world premieres, as announced by the festival organizers.

For the third consecutive year, the festival will bring together Latvian and international composers and researchers to create a new listening experience through approximately one-hour-long spatial sound concerts using 36 speakers in a specially designed multi-channel sound space. Festival information and the program are available on the website.

This year’s theme, "Laboratory of Entangled Spaces," references the physical phenomenon of quantum entanglement. The festival traditionally showcases both Latvian and foreign composers’ new works, facilitating international collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The program for the world premieres of spatial music concerts will include Alice Rancāne's "Hidden Layer" (2024), Reiko Yamada (Japan) "Studies on Wigner Function," Juliette Tudoce (Spain) "Echoes in Transition," Felipe González de la Maza (Spain) "Formalized Wigner Fields" (2024), Voldemārs Johansons' "Songs of Dissolution" (2024), Armands Skuķis' "Algorithmic Studies" (2024), Eduardo Miranda (UK) "Moment States" (2024), Nicola Privato (Iceland) "Mouija+" (2024), Krists Auznieks (LV) "Dhammanupassana" (2024), among others.

In addition to the main program, the festival will feature an extensive educational program, creative workshops, special concerts, and performances.

“With this sound event, we aim to introduce the residents of Riga to a high-quality spatial music experience. Concerts will take place several times a day, allowing a large audience to experience contemporary electroacoustic music,” says the festival's artistic director Voldemārs Johansons.

The previous three festivals received positive feedback from both audiences and professionals: the first was nominated for the Latvian public media's cultural award "Kilograms of Culture 2022" in the "Surprise" category, and "Complementary Contradictions" was included in Radio 3 "Klasika" year’s top 10 events. Voldemārs Johansons' composition "Chromosphere" was nominated for the Great Music Award.

Festival supporters and partners include the State Cultural Capital Fund, Moth Quantum, Cēsis Concert Hall, Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Latvian Academy of Arts, Latvian Quantum Initiative, Latvian Composers' Union (LKS), and the Innovation Study Center of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Photo and source: lsm.lv