Performances
- 2021 oct 14 : Biophonica at Dutch Composers NOW: Bits & Pieces, at ADE, Plantage Dokzaal, Amsterdam NL
- 2021 sep 10 : Biophonica at Rewire, Theater a/h Spui, The Hague NL
2020 dec 17 : Biophonica at Club Fluxus (Gaudeamus), Utrecht NL:CANCELLED2020 may 15 : Biophonica at EARsessions, De Ruimte, Amsterdam NL:CANCELLED2020 apr 04 : Biophonica at Rewire, Theater a/h Spui, Korte Voorhout 3, The Hague NL:CANCELLED- 2019 nov 09 : Permiere during November Music at Babel, ‘s Hertogenbosch NL
- 2019 oct 27 : Try-out at Splendor, Amsterdam NL
About
Growl, chirp, hum & whistle… Music about extinction, with soundscapes, trumpet and electronics.
In Biophonica, composer and performer Evelien van den Broek gives her sonic reaction to mass extinction caused by mankind. Animals die en masse and we are so alienated from nature that we hardly seem to notice it. Nature field recordings, trumpet, analogue synths and electronic beats merge in raw, mesmerizing and mournful music. Music that navigates between electronic- and pop music, sound art and contemporary classical.
As part of the material for the project, Evelien has collected recordings of animals that are extinct or endangered. What struck her when listening to these recordings, is the expressiveness and strength of these sounds. They are in a way stronger than images or words, make you aware of what it is we are exactly losing, rapidly. For a moment you are in nature, in touch with nature again. For the audio recordings Evelien has contacted sound libraries, scientists and the American musician and soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause (1938). Krause invented the term ‘biophony’. He has been making sound recordings in nature for fifty years. In his recordings you can hear how, over the course of time, only shockingly little of the original wealth of sounds, and life, has remained. Additionally, sound recordings of Sudan, the last northern white male rhino that died in March 2018, and of the extinct Kauai ‘O’o bird, can be heard. Sound worlds that have disappeared from the face of the earth. With these sounds and her new music Evelien celebrates the wonder, beauty and diversity of nature, and mourns the brutal destruction of it. On stage she is accompanied by trumpet player Mark Nieuwenhuis.
Credits
Evelien van den Broek – composition, electronics | Mark Nieuwenhuis – trumpet | Timo Hoogland – visuals | Edo Paulus – bird design sound module | Sandor Caron – live sound engineer | Gijs van Klooster – studio production and -mix | Richard van Kruysdijk – graphic design | Chris van Wyk – Mary River turtle photo / thumbnail.
Supported by the Performing Arts Fund NL. Thanks to Bernie Krause, PhD. / Wild Sanctuary @ 2019, Dr. Ivana Cinkova and Splendor.
