With ‘Minerals’, composer Mathias Coppens redefines the traditional relationship between musicians and listeners. Artists on stage, consumers in the audience? In this age of co-creation, that atavism needs to be shaken up. Together with BRYGGEN – Bruges strings, we interrogate tomorrow’s music.
As a composer, Mathias Coppens himself provides the music, with an ambitious score that meditates on the formation of minerals. It is no coincidence that these are the building blocks of a planet that make existence possible. It is also no coincidence that Mathias links the idea of collective participation in the performance to the most important political and ideological question of the 21st century: how do we live together? How do we, as humanity, treat the earth, and what can this behaviour lead to?
It should be pointed out how far Coppens and co dare push their alternative concert formula. The fusion of a soundscape, a dynamic score subject to democratic decision-making via an app and a sophisticated visual representation, additionally enriched with a narrative discourse through which the listener is willingly drawn into the music: there is no precedent of such an ambitious artistic adventure.
***** review at cuttingedge.be by Jan-Jakob Delanoye – 27 april 2024
Visually, I was responsible for an abstract translation of the score, with sinuous figurative motifs referring to geological processes. This aesthetic never becomes demonstrative, not even when the fog machine is brought out. On the contrary, with the artistic team we managed to create immersive worlds with minimal resources. It is the use of generative video and sparse lighting that makes the effect unparalleled.
‘Minerals’ is not only a groundbreaking creation that can and will serve as a blueprint for the concert of the future, but also a grandiose anthem for the planet that no one can remain insensitive to…
***** review at cuttingedge.be by Jan-Jakob Delanoye – 27 april 2024
‘Minerals’ (2024) – Mathias Coppens
Performed by:
Mathias Coppens, Composer
BRYGGEN Bruges Strings, Musical Performance
Jolente De Maeyer, Musical Director
Maya Fridman, Cello
Klaas Verpoest, video artist
Menno Buggenhout, App Development
Constantin Binard, Light & Sound Design
“Minerals” is a coproduction of De Singel
26 April 2024, Festival CARTA – Blauwe Zaal, De Singel (B)
All pictures © Björn Comhaire 2024