KLANG Conversations

Welcome to KLANG Conversations – An intimate conversation between KLANG Festival's artistic director James Black and some of the artists performing at this year's festival. KLANG Conversations presents a unique insight into the enigmatic artistic practices of the performers and explores their creative processes in greater depth. The first conversation is between KLANG's artistic director James Black and composer and sound artist Sophia Sagaradze. She is the founder of Aarhus Lydforening and a teacher of sound installation, multichannel audio, programming, and entrepreneurship at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and Aalborg. Sophia is always pushing the boundaries of what's possible with sound. She's also one half of the performance duo Shattered Objects, who will be debuting their latest work, "Can a Reflection Be a Witness?" at KLANG on June 7th at Musikhuset KBH. In this podcast James and Sophia talk about what you can expect from their performance at this years' KLANG, the duo’s theatrical approach with props, mirrors, and audience participation, some of the challenges of being a non-European artist working in Denmark, the importance of trusting oneself in the artistic process, and collaborating with a long-distance artist.

Welcome to KLANG Conversations – An intimate conversation between KLANG Festival's artistic director James Black and some of the artists performing at this year's festival. KLANG Conversations presents a unique insight into the enigmatic artistic practices of the performers and explores their creative processes in greater depth. The second conversation is between KLANG's artistic director James Black and composer Jexper Holmen. As one of the festival's featured artists, Jexper will be showcasing his unique style in two not-to-be-missed performances. First, on June 1st, Athelas Sinfonietta will be performing his captivating work "Sinfonella" in the stunning Black Diamond venue. Then, on June 4th, Rudersdal Kammersoloister will present a concert curated by Jexper that features his groundbreaking piece "[im'pækt]", along with music by the talented Louis Aguirre and Ylva Lund Bergner. In this chat, James and Jexper delve into the creative process of curating versus creating, as well as the use of wildness and violence in music. Jexper even gives an exclusive preview of his piece and shares his experience of Danishness within the new music scene.

Welcome to KLANG Conversations – An intimate conversation between KLANG Festival's artistic director James Black and some of the artists performing at this year's festival. KLANG Conversations presents a unique insight into the enigmatic artistic practices of the performers and explores their creative processes in greater depth. The third in this series of talks is between KLANG's artistic director James Black and violist and singer-songwriter Mika Persdotter. She is very active on the new music scene in Denmark and plays with the string quartet Halvcirkel and the ensemble Damkapellet among others and releases music under the name Mika Akim. This year at KLANG, Mika will perform twice, first with Damkapellet on June 7th at Statens Museum for Kunst for "A Modern Ceremony" and then a solo concert on June 9th. In this podcast, James and Mika dive into the world of preparing for a performance, including the unique experience of being approached to perform a specific piece. Mika will also share her insights on exploring gender and experiencing freedom through her music.