New Babylon ensemble / ARTéfacts ensemble
In co-production with the Athens Conservatoire

Curated by Stavros Gasparatos

COMMISSION

New Babylon ensemble / ARTéfacts ensemble
Time and Money

Conductor Cecilia Castagneto

Time and Money is a multimedia concert (live electronics and video), the fruit of the collaboration between the musical ensembles New Babylon (based in Bremen) and ARTéfacts ensemble (based in Athens). On the one hand, it aims to the sharing of experiences and approaches to musical interpretation, bringing together two musical ensembles from different countries. On the other hand, it seeks to reach and converse with the Greek audience—through music—on the social dimension of time, money, and our economic system, exploring the range of human behaviours that emerge in relation to these concepts.

Pierre Jodlowski’s Time and Money, a work for solo percussion, electronics, and video, serves as the programme’s centrepiece. It transpires as a direct reaction to the absurdity of our economic system, shaped in such a way as to appropriately frame the musical composition. It begins with a sequence played on a wooden cube, which functions as a symbol of an elemental object that comes in sharp contrast to technology (motion capture, real-time video). The composition develops further through loops and cycles of rhythmic patterns, while the use of pre-recorded material, mainly through speeches from radio broadcasts and films, introduces a second level of reading for the listener, simultaneously activating certain collective memories.

The concert is framed by three additional works-commissions by accomplished Greek composers; Not Even Money Can Buy Odd Time by Dimitris Papageorgiou; 6•3 by Andreas Paparousos; and Running Out Of by Irini Amargianaki. The performance is conducted by Cecilia Castagneto.

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The Subset Festival, the multifaceted music platform launched in 2023, held by the Athens Epidaurus Festival in co-production with the Athens Conservatoire, returns refreshed but always with a focus on the dialogue between contemporary music and new media.

Named after a mathematical term (subset ⊆), Subset Festival weaves together diverse versions of contemporary musical creation, incorporating a wide variety of artistic trends. From June 4 to June 8, the Conservatoire venues will host musical ensembles and soloists, established and up-and-coming alike, both from Greece and around the world, visual and sound installations and performances, as well as open-call workshops.