In 2019 NEXTONES invited artists such as Amnesia Scanner AV live, Drew McDowall & Florence To “Time Machines” AV live, Laurel Halo, Yuri Ancarani presenting “Il Capo” Screening, Caterina Barbieri & Ruben Spini “Time-blind” AV live, to mention a few. In 2020 in the same incredible location of the disused quarry of Oira, in Baveno, on Lake Maggiore, NEXTONES has hosted an event called ‘‘Before and After’, the disused Cava Roncino became the study and laboratory center from a group of artists with an environmental redevelopment approach to the space, on the electronic side in 2020 the festival has hosted musicians such as Nicolàs Jaar, Mana (Hyperdub) to present his lates ‘Plusminus’ AV, Willikens & Ivkovic (Lena Willikens & Vladimir Ivkovic Dj b2b), the acid techno folk trio Acid Castello to play a live sonorization form a Ben Rivers movie, and more.
This year the festival invites many artists to debut new projects:
27.07 | Sara Berts presents Ayni live | @Ghesc
Ayni is the immersive debut ep of Sara Berts, producer and composer based in Turin, which will be presented at Ghesc, a medieval village composed of eight buildings that were previously abandoned.
Ayni is inspired by a sense of redemption and healing arising from the months spent in the Peruvian Amazon forest in 2019 and during the first lockdown in 2020.
The field recordings from the Peruvian Amazon forest and the sounds of her Buchla Easel will dialogue closely with the set of buildings hidden in the mountains and the vegetation of Ghesc, creating a sense of harmony and peace.
28.07 | Tomoko Sauvage Waterbowls live | @Orridi di Uriezzo
Through primordial elements augmented by technology, enlivened by ritualistic yet playful gestures, Tomoko Sauvage’s work contemplates, tunes and connects with both the material and the immaterial in keeping a fragile balance between hazard and mastery. Over the past decade, Tomoko Sauvage has been working on “natural synthesizer” of her invention – waterbowls – combining water, ceramics and hydrophones (underwater microphones). Porcelain bowls, water drops, waves and bubbles as well as hydrophonic feedback and electronics are the main ingredients of her instrument that generates the sculptural and fluid timbre. These will be the elements of the live performance she will present at Nextones, engaging with the acoustic spaces, the humidity and the temperature of Orridi di Uriezzo.
28.07 | Felicity Mangan & Radio Safari | @Toce
Sound artist Felicity Mangan and the collective project Radio Safari will collaborate on a site specific piece at Nextones by focusing on the ecosystem of the Toce river that hosts the festival and exploring methods and technologies of listening.
29 .07 | Sherpa presents: Collettivo Vendül with Michele Comi.
Michele Comi is a geologist and mountain guide, a facilitator of mountain experiences and a creator of learning paths in nature. He also takes part in various communication, cultural, scientific and sports projects in favour of conscious Alpine tourism. He is the founder of the Vendül collective, where he is responsible for the nature experience area.
The workshop he will be presenting at Nextones will be an eulogy to insecurity, to live every moment under the banner of uncertainty and surprise, for those who wish to improve their perception skills within the changing contexts of the mountains.
A path to facilitate encounters with unspoilt places in the mountains, to encourage adaptations, to improve our knowledge, to contemplate nature and its inhabitants, seen as a complex system, endowed with balance, grace and harmony, from which our well-being and health also derive.
Suitable for hikers who are used to walking, but above all are willing to discover and have a spirit of adaptation; hiking difficulty E (on paths or tracks).
30.07 | Pantha Du Prince presents Conference of Trees live | @Cava Roncino
In his latest musical experiment “Conference of Trees” Hendrik Weber aka Pantha Du Prince translates the communication of trees into an impressive sound journey.
What does it sound like when trees communicate? This is the question the German composer, electronic music producer and conceptual artist Pantha Du Prince attempts to answer in his latest album, “Conference of Trees”, who will present for the first time in Italy at Cava Roncino.
“Conference of Trees” also carries in all its melodic tensions an important social critique. The implications of how we currently interact with nature, and our destructive relationship to our ecosystems are also addressed. In holding this conference, Pantha Du Prince gives voice to trees, a voice we seldom recognize in our current systems of rights, and with that voice the trees become not the silent giants of our world, but active and wise communicators.
The instruments Pantha du Prince uses on “Conference of Trees” are the tools for his exploration; partly handmade by the artist himself, who wanted to explore the sound characteristics of different woods through intensive studies of the material. He is supported by a percussion ensemble consisting of Håkon Stene and Bendik Hovik Kjeldsberg, who already participated in his last ensemble project The Bell Laboratory, and Manuel Chittka, drummer of the German artist Jungstötter.
31.07 | Lubomyr Melnyk & Spime.Im feat. Julia Kent presents The End Of The World live world premiere | @Cava Roncino
The End Of The World is an innovative multimedia performance featuring Ukrainian pianist Lubomyr Melnyk, Canadian cellist Julia Kent and Turin-based collective SPIME.IM, which will be presented as a world premiere at Cava Roncino.
The End Of The World is a celebration of its beauty but above all, as the title suggests, a dramatic artistic representation of the ecological disaster our planet is facing and the self-destructive behaviour of mankind.
The project stems from the piano piece of the same name composed by Melnyk in 2018, with the idea of extending it and shaping a more complete, monumental and collaborative work, in which each section is able to offer multiple acoustic directions with respect to the main concept. Following a long period of solo compositions, Melnyk combined the natural sound elements characteristic of his piano with Julia Kent’s electric and acoustic arrangements and the digital timbres of the SPIME.IM collective, who supplemented it all with virtual interactions.
The End Of The World will be an immersive experience of great impact also thanks to the wearable controllers, i.e. customised gloves-synthesizers developed by Remidi, used by SPIME.IM for the audiovisual interaction with sound and images. The latter are created based on parameters and datasets on current climate change and environmental events.
31.07 | Adiel djset | @Cava Roncino
Adiel, Italian DJ and producer, will conclude the evening in Cava Roncino with one of her hypnotic sets, where melodic motifs, eerie atmospheres and fascinating 4/4 rhythms will coexist in a sort of ecstatic communion. International artist, resident at Rome’s Goa and founder of Danza Tribale label, she has collaborated with the likes of Donato Dozzy and Marcel Dettmann.
1.08 | Tamburi Neri present Odissea del Ritmo extended djset | @Ghesc
The final day of the festival will feature Tamburi Neri, a project based on stories created by the lucid madness of Andrea Barbieri and the musical composition of Claudio Brioschi, who share the same love of music, experimentation and the search for new sounds. The two have different artistic profiles and musical backgrounds, but are complementary in their musical composition and artistic direction.
Their extended dj set will offer a long vortex of emotions and poetry that will animate the village.
