Labor Sonor
The concert series for contemporary music and performance started in 2000 with the aim of creating a free space for new experimental forms of music away from established institutions. Labor Sonor quickly developed into a central platform for the Berlin experimental scene, in which the concept of Echtzeitmusik was significantly shaped. The Echtzeitmusik scene has spawned internationally recognised movements such as Berlin Reductionism. Its representatives now present their music at festivals as diverse as fimav (Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville), meteo festival in Mulhouse, the Ruhrtriennale, Music unlimited in Wels, Ultima Festival in Oslo, Borealis in Bergen, Festival Irtijal in Beirut, MaerzMusik Berlin, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik and the Darmstadt Summer Courses. There are regular collaborations between the Labor Sonor series and the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme.
In the past 24 years, more than 600 artists from over 30 countries have been represented at Labor Sonor, such as Chris Abrahams, Lindy Annis, Antonia Baehr, Serge Baghdassarians & Boris Baltschun, Audrey Chen, Marina Cyrino, Angharad Davies, The International Nothing, Sven-Åke Johansson, Mmakgosi Kgabi, Annette Krebs, Felix Kubin, Catherine Lamb, Chris Mann, Yara Mekawei, Chico Mello, Phil Minton, Toshimaru Nakamura, Phill Niblock, Zeena Parkins, Les Reines Prochaines, Hankil Ryu, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Mieko Suzuki, Lisa Ullén, Ute Wassermann a.m.o.
2 CD productions have been created in the context of LABOR SONOR: • LABOR CD. Labor Sonor / KuLe / Berlin (charhizma 026/027, 2003), Double-CD/DVD with contributions by 21 artists. • echtzeitmusik berlin (mikroton 14/15/16, 2012), 3 CDs with 41 contributions from the Echtzeitmusik scene.
Book Based on the discussion series LABOR DISKURS initiated by Labor Sonor, echtzeitmusik. self-defining a scene [German/English] (Wolke Verlag) was published in 2011 and has attracted international attention in academic circles.
LABOR SONOR’s Artistic Research
Festivals Labor Sonor: Translating Spaces. Music and sound art festival & symposium. Nine commissions. Fundsd by Hauptstadtkulturfonds. 27.-29.08.2021. ausland, Ballhaus Ost Berlin, Friedhofspark Pappelallee, Spätkauf Hutfabrik, St. Elisabethkirche, Villa Elisabeth, diverse locations in public and private spaces.
Labor Sonor : Choreographing Sound. Musicians compose for dancers. Dancers performing music. (2018) Transdisciplinary festival & symposium. Six commissions. Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds. 30.11.–2.12.2018, Ballhaus Ost Berlin.
Labor Sonor : Moving Music. Choreographers compose for musicians. (2016) Transdisciplinary festival & symposium. Six commissions. Funded by the Berlin Senate (Spartenoffene Förderung) and Kulturamt Pankow. Ballhaus Ost, 23./24.09.2016.
Labor Sonor : Translating Music (2015) Translations from another musical practice into the own. Festival & symposium. Nine commissions. Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds. Ballhaus Ost, August 2015.
Thematic series transmit power (2014) – transcriptions based on the ephemeral listening experience of a concert and its new re-interpretation. Special concerts within the Labor Sonor series.
Das Klatschen der zweiten Hand [The sound of the second hand clapping] (2013) – transcriptions and re-interpretations of originally not notated music. Special concerts within the Labor Sonor series. Documentation of the project Das Klatschen der zweiten Hand at QO-2 winter school catalogue, QO-2 workspace for experimental music and sound art, Brussels. Invitation of selected re-interpretations for a concert at QO-2 in Brussels in December 2014.
Further information on the website of Labor Sonor.
