Brno Contemporary Orchestra, in collaboration with the Imediatus Biennale festival, will bring together improvised and composed music and dance. The programme includes works by major twentieth-century composers Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, Gavin Bryars and Tom Johnson, as well as a piece by Pavel Zlámal composed during the pandemic. Daniel Matej’s multimedia music performance inspired by David Lynch will receive its world premiere. The industrial setting of the former textile dye works at the Mosilana complex will add to the atmosphere. The concert, entitled oBCOování s dUCHEM Alfreda Jarryho, pays tribute to Alfred Jarry, creator of King Ubu and Mother Ubu.
“When I read fiction, I often imagine what the characters in the story can hear, or what they might be listening to. In Ubu Enchained, Mother Ubu says she can hear strange music. That seemed like a wonderful challenge – to imagine what Alfred Jarry might hear 140 years after the premiere,” says dramaturg Viktor Pantůček.
Pavel Zlámal’s Organizations takes a divergent approach to the musical and dance material, exploring different ways of working with the same theme or idea. In Daniel Matej’s WILD.BLUE.FIRE, the conductor uses special gestures to choose from pre-prepared parts, recordings and videos, which the performers then interpret. Roman Haubenstock-Ramati’s Multiple 2 from 1969 uses graphic notation, opening up an unusual exploration of the musical worlds of past and present. Tom Johnson’s seemingly simple Eight Patterns for Eight Instruments brings together eight patterns for eight instruments, with dancers added to the mix. In Gavin Bryars’s 1, 2, 1-2-3-4 and the spontaneous Dada Variation that follows, the musicians play not from what they see but from what they hear, responding in real time without preparation; the same applies to the dancers. Brno Contemporary Orchestra will perform on 19 September 2026 at the former Mosilana complex, Křenová 19, Brno.
“I’m curious to see how the musicians and dancers will surprise me, because most of the pieces leave plenty of room for improvisation. But I’m especially looking forward to the premiere of Dan Matej’s WILD.BLUE.FIRE, because Daniel Matej will be conducting it and I’ll get to enjoy it from the audience. I’ll have to buy myself a ticket…” says conductor Pavel Šnajdr.
Photo: BCO archive
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