Premiere: March 1, 2015, Montréal / Nouvelles Musiques 2015: Sur les traces des éléphants blancs, Agora Hydro-Québec — Cœur des sciences — UQAM, Montréal (Québec)

In this show for six new digital percussion instruments and real-time video projection, four Montreal composers / audio artists / videographers — Sylvain Pohu, Dominque Thibault, Jean-Michel Dumas and Étienne Deslières — contemplate the major architectural structures of Montreal.

These white elephants [Olympic Stadium, Mirabel airport, Man and His World site (Expo 67), etc.] have left a trail that has formed a collective Quebecois identity. They make some people feel proud and others feel embarrassed. These icons from the “anything goes” era, that was not so long ago, have become gigantic monuments that are part of our everyday lives today. We are captivated and inspired by these incredible cement sculptures.

The six percussionists of Sixtrum give free rein to the four multi-talented innovators to create a one-hour hybrid show in a genre that is as yet, unclassified. In new collective works that straddle the line between improvisation and written composition, they will revisit the technologies and iconic objects of the 1960s/70s (television, turn tables…), to produce a groundbreaking work for percussion and audio and visual performance.

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