NL premiere

Brussels-based electronic music composer Maxime Denuc crafts vivid ambient music – most recently taking a focus on church organs in his work. The words “for midi-controlled organ” proudly adorn his recent album Nachthorn (2022). In the album, the strength of his compositions are supported further by the interesting blurring of the lines between physicality and digitality. Although the organ’s notes are sequenced to perfection, the uniqueness of each billowing pipe, of each burst of air, cause a time-worn human element to seep through amidst the arpeggiated sanctity of the midi signal. While the atmospheres of the songs point towards ambience due to the qualities of the instrument of choice, tracks such as “Agoraphobia” and “Fat old sun” summon trance-like visions of club strobes through their rhythmic – but beatless – rave sensibilities. For Rewire, Denuc will debut a performance involving new organ robots that he has developed in collaboration with Brussels-based engineers from Bots Conspiracy and Shakmat. These robots will perform the works of Denuc on the organ at Lutherse Kerk in The Hague as part of the festival.

The presentation of this work was made possible thanks to the support of Flemish Arts Centre de Brakke Grond, VierNulVier & STUK.

*This is a seated concert