Electric Umbrella #1

Uhmm… improv? – Not everyone knows that WORM and improvised music go way way back in time. WORM, being a production place for authentic and spontaneous creative processes, has always had improvisation in the core of its DNA.
Music in itself is ungovernable and its definitions and genre divisions are not really relevant – improvisation has many different, heterogenous and divergent definitions. We allow all of them to coexist, intertwine and mingle, creating an environment where an experience is shared in a specific configuration of time, space and sound.

Local and international improvisers merge, exchange and offer an excitingly unpredictable sound experience in every edition of this series, created by five local curators with diverse approaches to improvised music under the common name Electric Umbrella. An experience that may sometimes be short-circuited, other times overcharged, sparkling, crackling…, but always empowering!

So what can we expect? – Two different sets of predetermined performances per evening, each curated by one curator from the team. Since this is the first episode, the shameless curators have formed their own ensemble that will kick off the series.

Who are these shameless people? – Tisa Neža Herlec runs the newly formed Rotterdam AIM (Association of Improvised Music) & her own Mystery Sessions, Mariëtte Groot runs RE#SISTER, Fra Zedde runs Discomfort Dispatch (a traveling series of improv-match concerts), Lukas Simonis and Johanna Monk are more general old rots within the discipline. And.. not to forget: Gilbert Van Drunen (of Koffie en Ambacht) as a flying chicken.

Programme

1st set (the shameless)
Tisa Neža Herlec– voice
Johanna Monk – clarinet
Mariëtte Groot – voice and electronics
Lukas Simonis – guitar

2nd set (the invitees)
Ernesto Rodrigues – violin/viola
Guilherme Rodrigues – cello
Hugo Costa – saxophone
Nicolas Chientaroli – piano
This ensemble explores the concepts of acoustic improvisation of a markedly reductionist nature. An aesthetic free form of improvisation privileging a close relationship with the acoustic space. Made up of viola, cello , alto saxophone and piano/synth, the music produced by the quartet creates intimate atmospheres, with special attention to detail in textures and sounds, playing with notions of timbre , plasticity and color.