INTONAL 2025: Acousmatic Concerts at IAC

The collaboration between INTONAL and IAC is renewed this year, once again hosting IAC’s Acousmonium in the Red Room. First set up fifteen years ago, this unique sound system, now comprising more than 40 speakers, has been continuously refined and improved year after year thanks to the artists who have used it, experimented with it, and proposed innovations to expand its possibilities. 

Among them, Sophie Delafontaine stands out in particular. A former student of the legendary composer and Acousmonium performer Annette Vande Gorne, Delafontaine returns to our festival after four years to present two new compositions. This edition will also feature a special focus on Trevor Wishart, a pioneer in the use of granular synthesis and the manipulation of the human voice in acousmatic music. Wishart is also a coder who has developed his own software tools, such as Sound Loom, making them available for digital music production. 

Another key focus is the use of the Acousmonium for music coming from the non-classical tradition, featuring works by artists such as Ryoji Ikeda and Pan Sonic. The latter have also influenced the world of classical music; for example, the Italian composer Fausto Romitelli (1963–2004) sampled sounds and, according to his notes, was inspired by sounds he found in the recordings of Pan Sonic.

Participants: 

Sophie Delafontaine / Jakob Riis / Fabio Monni / Alessandro Perini / Kent Olofsson feat. Robert Ek / Daniele Di Girolamo / Trevor Wishart / Yann Coppier

Free admission!

PROGRAMME

Thursday, 24 April

20:00 
JAKOB RIIS: Riis, Pan Sonic Read more about the concert here!
Location: Red Room

21:30 
FABIO MONNI: Radigue, Ikeda Read more about the concert here!
Location: Red Room

23:00
YANN COPPIER: Coppier, Pan Sonic Read more about the concert here!
Location: Red Room

Friday, 25 April

15:00–17:00
PANEL DISCUSSION: The Cultural Ecosystem of experimental music and related arts Read more about the panel discussion here!
Location: Café/Research Platform

17:00
DANIELE DI GIROLAMO: Why control everything? Read more about the concert here!
Location: Black Room

20:00
ALESSANDRO PERINI: Wishart
Location: Red Room

21:30
SOPHIE DELAFONTAINE: Delafontaine, Lillios, Hartman Read more about the concert here!
Location: Red Room

23:00
FABIO MONNI: Barrett, Monni, Wishart Read more about the concert here!
Location: Red Room

Saturday, 26 April

17:00 
TREVOR WISHART: Artist Talk Read more about the talk here!
Location: Red Room

20:00 
KENT OLOFSSON + ROBERT EK: Olofsson, Wishart, Hettne
Location: Red Room

21:30 
TREVOR WISHART: The Garden of Earthly Delights Read more about the concert here!
Location: Red Room

23:00
ALESSANDRO PERINI: Pan Sonic “A”
Location: Red Room

Sunday, 27 April

13:00–15:30 
WORKSHOP: Acousmonium basics with Alessandro Perini Read more about the workshop here!
Location: Red Room

15:30–18:30
Slots for individual tryouts on the Acousmonium Registration for the tryouts required!
Location: Red Room

BIOGRAPHIES

Trevor Wishart (b 1946). Composer/performer from the North of England specialising in sound metamorphosis and constructing the software to make it possible (Sound Loom/CDP). He has lived and worked as composer-in-residence in Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Mexico and the USA. He creates music with his own voice, for professional groups, or in imaginary worlds conjured up in the studio. His recent work “The Garden of Earthly Delights” (2021) is a darkly comic take on the human situation using the voices of actors, singers and politicians.

He is also the principal developer of music processing software for the Composer’s Desktop Project. His aesthetic and technical ideas are described in the books On Sonic Art, Audible Design and Sound Composition. In 2008 he was awarded the international Giga-Herz Grand prize for his life’s work, and in 2018 the British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) Award for Innovation. 

Visit Trevor Wishart’s artist page – trevorwishart.co.uk

Yann Coppier is a French sound artist, composer and performer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. His personal projects within the fields of music and sound art focus on sound qualities within the experimental field while questioning the role of the composer, of the sound artist/designer, of the performer and of the audience. In 2023 Yann has started an artistic research project on the subject of science and art through a PhD at Lund University, with the collaboration of the European Spallation Source (ESS). His subject "How To Make The Future Unpredictable", expands on his previous research on absurd sounds while developing new uses of space, timbre and context as core compositional elements. Focusing on collaborations and co-creations with the scientists, unfolding their dreams about an improbable future.

Visit Yann Coppier’s artist page – studio-ovale.com

Swiss-born Sophie Delafontaine moved to Belgium at the age of 20, entering the world of acousmatic music and working on the famed acousmonium of Musiques & Recherches, side by side with the pioneer of acousmatic music, Annette Vande Gorne. Her particular interest on acousmatic performance led her to win the second prize at the 2012 Concours d’interprétation spatialisée “Espace du son” and to collaborate on several projects, such as the development of the first fixed acousmonium in Lausanne (the Wolfonium); by performing various pieces on the triple-desk version of the Alcôme Acousmonium (Paris); and developing Titans, a sound projection system consisting of concrete-enclosed loudspeakers.

Read more about Sophie Delafontaine - electropresence.com

Fabio Monni's artistic practice focuses on found objects as sound sources and how these can be integrated together with electronics within instrumental performances. He has a particular fascination with architectural spaces and their acoustic properties, frequently exploring the spatialisation of sound throughout space. His work as a musician exists in parallel with his professional career as a graphic illustrator and his position as a church musician in Lund, creating a multifaceted artistic identity.

Visit Fabio Monni’s artist page – fabiomonni.com

Kent Olofsson is a composer with an extensive artistic output of over 200 works that span a broad field of genres, ensemble types and contexts including music for orchestra, chamber music, electroacoustic music, music theatre, rock music, and works for dance performances and installations. The last decade his artistic work and research has been particularly focused on exploring musical composition in experimental theatre performances, where particularly his work with Teatr Weimar and with artist Nina Jeppsson has been widely acclaimed. Since 2021 he is professor of performing arts at Stockholm University of the Arts.

Visit Ken Olofsson’s artist page – kentolofsson.com

Alessandro Perini's artistic production ranges from instrumental and electronic music to audiovisual and light-based works, net-art, land-art and vibration-based works, recently focusing on custom-built machines. A recent CD issued by KAIROS, “The Expanded Body”, gathers some of his solo and chamber music works. Based in Malmö, he’s a founding member of Hertzbreakerz, a group curating – among other events – SOUND SPACES, dedicated to new and recent instrumental music. Since few years he's been collaborating with INTONAL and Inter Arts Center, curating the acousmatic program at IAC. He currently teaches Composition at the Conservatory of Mantua (Italy).

Visit Alessandro Perini’s artist page – alessandroperini.com

Jakob Riis is a Danish/Swedish laptop musician and composer of electroacoustic music. Improvisation is a central part of Jakob Riis’ view of music as he creates possible soundscapes which are carefully explored together with the audience. His work and discography reveal collaborations with a wide range of different artists in several formats. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on working with spatial music, in electroacoustic compositions for various settings.

Visit Jakob Riis’s artist page – sonicescape.net

Daniele Di Girolamo is a multidisciplinary artist born in Pescara in 1995. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and the Malmö Art Academy. He creates kinetic and sound sculptures and installations that engage with their environment, allowing meaning to evolve through time and perception. He also explores sound performance as a parallel practice. His work draws on natural and physical phenomena that reflect emotional experiences like memory, faith, and the human need for connection.

Recent performances and exhibitions include: Lime, live at Planetario, Rome; Misure di una Distanza, solo show at Spazio Supernova, Rome (2024); Materia Sonora, group show at IIC Madrid (2024); Beautiful Things Fading Away, solo show at KHM2, Malmö (2023).

Visit Daniele Di Girolamo’s artist page – danieledigirolamo.com

As a clarinettist, Robert Ek has specialized in contemporary music, both as a chamber musician and as a soloist. With great curiosity and dedication, he works together with composers to further develop the repertoire for his instrument. He has recorded around 20 records and premiered many works as a soloist and chamber musician.

Visit Robert Ek’s artist page – remusik.se

Intonal is an annual festival for experimental and electronic music that has been held in Malmö, Sweden since 2015. The festival is held at and by Inkonst. The focus of the festival is to offer an international programme of experimental and electronic music covering a wide range of genres, subgenres, and unique expressions. Besides established artists within the electronic avant garde and acts bordering towards sound art, a hefty club-oriented programme also presents DJs acting within innovative scenes for dance music. Parallel to this, there are also a number of installations, exhibitions, and artist talks. In addition to our ticketed programme, a handful of events are free of charge and open to the public.

See the entire Intonal programme here – intonalfestival.com