Lab 1: Subotnick & Lillevan

The opera "Jacob's Room", commissioned by the Bregenzer Festspiele, became the foundation of nearly ten years of cooperation between Morton Subotnick and Lillevan. In Szczecin, they will perform music from their project "Silver Apples of the Moon Revisited", as well as the new composition by Subotnick, "As I Live and Breathe". It will have its world premiere at the Szczecin Philharmonic.

For nearly ten years, Lillevan and Subotnick have travelled from Mexico to China, reinterpreting and giving a new dimension to the classic compositions of the latter. During the performance, the audience has the opportunity not only to get acquainted with the works or recall the classics of electronics but also – literally – to see the path of music and image in the reality of accelerated media and technology development.

This musical-visual retrospective of the work of Subotnick, who is regarded as a godfather of electronic music, will open another edition of the SOUNDLAB series – the Philharmonic Laboratory of Electronic Music. The audience will have an opportunity to listen to the project "Silver Apples of the Moon Revisited”. The original version was commissioned by the Nonesuch Records, marking the first time an original large-scale composition had been created specifically for the disc medium. A milestone in the artist’s career and the genre timeline.

During this evening, the newest composition by Morton Subotnick, "As I Live and Breathe", will have its world premiere. The stage will include early electronic devices, such as the Buchla synthesizer. Sounds – both those generated organically and those multiplied by the electronics – will be accompanied by the visuals created by Lillevan.

Morton Subotnick is a pioneer and innovator – without him, contemporary electronic music would sound completely different. He was one of the first to incorporate live instruments or interactive digital systems into his works. A milestone in the artist's career was the composition "Silver Apples of the Moon" (1966-67), written at the request of Nonesuch Records, which was created from the very beginning with the idea of recording it on a completely new medium – a portable disk. Subotnick participated in a revolution in which the modern audio system can become a modern form of chamber music presentation. It is not without reason that he is considered to be the godfather of electronic music as we know it. Subotnick is also an avid lecturer, performer and creator of creative musical tools for children. He developed, among others music education programs for use in and outside of school.

In Szczecin, Morton Subotnick will be accompanied by Lillevan – a visual artist specializing in new media. A member of the famous German group Rechenzentrum does not cease to experiment. He combines old and new projection techniques, creates audio-video installations, mixes genres by blurring their boundaries. Among the artists, he collaborated with, there are Christian Fennesz and Vladislav Delay / Luomo, Zeitkratzer, Zbigniev Karkowski, Deadbeat, Tarwater, Pole, and Zeitblom.

This will be the only performance of Morton Subotnick and Lillevan in Poland as part of this concert tour. We invite you to the golden Symphony Hall to the first concert with the SOUNDLAB series in the 2019/2020 artistic season – we guarantee another good year!