Immersive Sounds
Showcase
With the Immersive Sounds series, HELLERAU has been establishing a focus since 2023 that presents, discusses and actively shapes current and innovative developments in the field of new concert formats. ZIMMT (Center for Immersive Media Art, Music and Technology), which was founded in Leipzig in 2020 by Felix Deufel, Jakob Gruhl, Martin Recker, Nina Buttendorf and Paul Hauptmeier, among others, will be responsible for the special technical conception, installation and equipment of the complex multi-channel audio system in HELLERAU on 01.11.2024: with a sound system consisting of over 40 loudspeakers, the audience will be offered an extraordinary sound and spatial experience with exciting artistic projects.
18:00 & 22:15, Seitenbühne Ost (Side Stage East)
“Water and Ice” – multichannel sound installation
The program will open on the Seitenbühne Ost in the Festspielhaus HELLERAU with the installation “Water and Ice”, a multichannel 3D composition by Felix Deufel and Anna Schimkat. In her work Water (2022), Schimkat explored the question of how different worlds are connected by water. On his research trips, Deufel collected sounds of moving glaciers, breaking icebergs, melting rivers and ice crystals. “Water and Ice” presents the two works of Schimkat and Deufel by bringing together their research on water and ice in a spatial composition and installation.
19:00 & 20:30, Dalcroze Hall
Spatial Audio Networks – discussions and presentations
In addition to the musical-artistic program, two discussion rounds with experts from the spatial audio scene are planned. Jakob Gruhl (ZIMMT) will present SANE, the Spatial Audio Network Europe, newly founded in 2024, which, with the support of Creative Europe, brings together renowned partners from the field of immersive audio technologies with 3D audio live venues and artists to create innovative, hybrid and immersive concert experiences. Other panelists include Poul Hollemann (4DSound, Amsterdam) and Brigitta Muntendorf (EchoFactory / HfMT Cologne), both of whom are also part of SANE. Other guests include Polina Khatsenka (phonon~, Usti nad Labem) and Aaron Holloway-Nahum (Southby Productions / d&b Soundscape, London), who together with Brigitta Muntendorf is currently designing a 3D audio lab for the Darmstadt Summer Course 2025, one of the most important international platforms for contemporary music.
19:30, Großer Saal
Live-Set Hauptmeier | Recker – 3D Audio Concert
In their live electronic setup Hauptmeier | Recker are incorporating a variety of controllers, tactile sensors, live sampling, no-input mixers, as well as live miking and feedback techniques. Apart from the 3D sound system they are using loudspeakers and microphones as musical instruments on stage. Since 2017 Hauptmeier|Recker are developing their own system for spatializing sounds in live concerts. Their custom software “3D LEM” enables them to intuitively incorporate complex spatial gestures into their live performance. The movement of sounds in a 3D space becomes an integral part of the performances and is just as important to the music as the sound, timbre, pitch and gestures. Therefore room itself becomes an instrument that is played by both performers at the same time. Their current live set is also incorporating modular synthesis and ultra sonic speakers and was premiered in April during the Tallinn Music week in Estonia on a 24 channel dome setup.
21:30, Großer Saal
Live set Amélie Nilles – 3D Audio Concert
Paris-based artist and spatial audio expert Amélie Nilles will also be performing a live set. Amélie Nilles’ music reflects a vital need to create her own space, her own sonic environment through which she escapes. With organic textures and field recordings, she searches for the nature that eludes her in the megacities. The voice is central, intimate, sometimes whispered, often transformed, and rarely shouted because she feels constricted. Each piece is an imaginary world in which the artist feels free.
Duration: ca. 4 hours
Language: English, German
Trigger Warning
Stroboscopic light effects will be used for considerable periods of time during the event. This can lead to physical discomfort in sensitive persons.
Felix Deufel is a sound artist and sound ecologist with a focus in spatial sound, spatial hearing, and the role of soundscapes in society and the environment. In his field research and expeditions, Deufel explores current environmental issues relating to ecosystems and natural phenomena and to the influence of humans as a significant geological force in the so-called Anthropocene.
His artistic oeuvre includes spatial installations, compositions, performances and field research. Collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches play a crucial role in Deufel’s working methods, fostering exchange, learning and the stretching of artistic boundaries. Deufel’s collaborations range from musical productions to dance, performance formats and cinematic creations. These projects seamlessly blend diverse forms of artistic expression, with sound playing a central in narration and emotion.
Deufel is the founder of Not a Number Studio, which specializes in 3D audio productions and is currently dedicated to the development of a creative 3D audio software tool. In 2020, Deufel founded the Center for Immersive Media Art, Music and Technology (ZiMMT) in Leipzig. Deufel conducts artist workshops at institutes, universities and festivals worldwide, where he shares his expertise in field recording and introduces creative professionals to spatial audio technology.
Amelie Nilles is a French composer and spatial audio expert from Paris, drawing inspiration from her background in singing and drumming on the jazz music scenes. Explorer of experimental realms, she offers an aesthetic approach to spatialisation in her music. Under the guidance of composer Régis Renouard-Larivière, she honed her skills in electroacoustic composition, while she was simultaneously pursuing her Master’s degree at Paris 8 University, delving into research exploring the spatial dimension of music. Constantly in the process of creating sound environments, she crafts captivating soundscapes weaving together her voice, field recordings, electronic textures, and organic rhythms. In November 2021, she unveiled her debut EP, ‘A croqué le fruit étrange’, on Planisphère label, introducing listeners to her deeply personal and experimental universe, both dark and pop. Since then, she has performed live at various venues across Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia ; has designed multichannel sound installations, collaborating with diverse artists along the way.
Martin Recker and Paul Hauptmeier have been working as an artist duo under the name ‘Hauptmeier | Recker’ since 2009 in the fields of composition, sound and multimedia art. In addition to works for theatre and opera, live electronics, radio and electro-acoustic music, their joint focus is on sound installations in public spaces. They are co-founders and board members of ZiMMT. There they conduct research in the field of spatial audio and organise workshops, panels, concerts and exhibitions on the subject. In addition to their own artistic work, they also work internationally as sound engineers, sound directors and technical directors for other artists. Since October 2022, they have shared a position as artistic staff at Burg Giebichenstein in Halle and teach sound art in the Time-Based Arts programme.
Anna Schimkat works as a visual artist, entering the field of sound art with her installations and performances. She composes spaces which sharpen perception and thereby enforce the perceiver’s action. Her sound materials are self-built instruments and field recordings of her main instrument: The world surrounding us. She lives in Leipzig, Germany. Besides works for public space, her artwork has been shown internationally, in La Station Vastemonde (St. Brieuc, F), obPHON Hörkunsttage (Kirschau,GER), Goethe-Institut (Damaskus, SYR), Kunstraum Michael Barthel (Leipzig, GER), 24 Gauche Series in (Montreal, CAN), ausland (Berlin, GER), Longbridge Light Festival (Birmingham, UK), Festival für experimentelle Musik (Munich, GER), the Vadehavsfestival (Blavandshuk, DNK), Inact Festival de Performances Transmedias (Straßburg, FRA), BB15, (Linz, AUT), the church of Mutzschen (Mutzschen, GER), Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst (Leipzig, GER), RE:FLUX 16 FESTIVAL, (Moncton, CAN), Z.i.M.M.T, Leipzig, GER, Re Shape Festival, (Miami Beach, US), FourOneOne (NYC, US), Deutsches Haus (NYC, US), Seanaps Festival (Leipzig, GER), Kunstverein Meißen (Meißen, GER)
Jakob Gruhl was born in Bautzen/Budyšin in 1986. He completed his degree in museology in 2012. In his work, he focussed on the communication of contemporary history through new media. Since 2013, he has acted as an interface between art, music and technology as part of Ectoplastic, particularly in the Mazetools project. As a musician, he goes by the pseudonym JKUBE. He regularly leads workshops on hip-hop and electronic music in schools and socio-cultural institutions. Jakob was born in Sorbia and grew up bilingually and is active as a composer, lyricist and interpreter of Sorbian electronic music as well as an audiovisual performer in the ambient/electronica field. Jakob Gruhl is a founding member of the Centre for Immersive Media Art, Music and Technology e.V. in Leipzig, where his focus is on concept development. Among other things, he developed the ‘Immersive Sound – Forum for 3D Audio’ and is co-initiator of the ‘Spatial Audio Network Germany’, the ‘Spatial Audio Network Europe’ and the AV Lab.
Poul Holleman is co-founder and director of the spatial sound and creative development studio 4DSOUND. His work focuses on the continuous development and exploration of spatial sound as an emerging artistic medium, through designing and using 4DSOUND technology. Besides leading the company, Poul is regularly involved with developing and executing projects. As a creative technologist he is interested in the application of spatial sound to a variety of artforms, ranging from light installations to kinetic architecture and live performances. Poul is a lecturer at the Creative Systems Design and Spatial Audio programmes at University of the Arts Utrecht. Next to his artistic achievements, Poul holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Sociology from the University of Amsterdam.
4DSOUND is an Amsterdam-based studio pushing the boundaries of spatial sound. Since 2007, the studio has been at the forefront of some of the most creatively challenging and technically complex projects using spatial audio in the context of architecture, music, opera, fashion, installation, dance, and research. Building on more than a decade of research, development and experimentation with spatial sound technology, 4DSOUND has pioneered the design of fully omnidirectional sound environments, and developed the 4DSOUND Suite, an extensive set of tools used to create spatializations, immersive performances, compositions and interactive installations.
Aaron Holloway-Nahum is one of the leading composers, conductors and producers of his generation. He has received commissions from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Third Coast Percussion and Ensemble Chartreuse, among others, and was a composer in the Peter Eötvös Foundation mentoring programme in 2018. As a conductor, Aaron Holloway-Nahum has conducted over 100 world premieres at world-renowned venues including the Southbank Centre, LSO St Luke’s, Cafe Oto, Trinity Buoy Wharf and St Paul’s Huddersfield. He has worked with ensembles across Europe and the USA and as artistic director of the Riot Ensemble conducts compositions by international composers of new music. With up to 30 performances a year, the Riot Ensemble, which he founded in 2012, is dedicated to promoting contemporary music and has premiered over 300 works and released highly acclaimed recordings since its inception. Aaron Holloway-Nahum combines his work as a composer and conductor with a variety of other roles, including Technical Director of Ensemble Nikel, Recording and Production Manager of Coviello Productions and currently Head of Soundscape at Southby Productions. Southby is a world leader in d&b Soundscape, in his role Aaron runs a pre-production and demonstration room in Soho/London where he works with composers, sound engineers, sound designers, visual artists and a range of other creatives to develop new and best results with this new and emerging technology.
Polina Khatsenka is a Belarusian sound artist, DJ, and composer, currently based in the Czech Republic. Polina’s work spans electroacoustic performance, sound installations, and spatial audio projects. She holds a Master’s degree in time-based media and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Faculty of Art and Design, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyne in Ústí nad Labem. Her research topic is “Location vs. presence: aural perception as an existential tool in the world of digital culture”; she’s been teaching “Silence. Pause. Rest.” course at Kunstuniversitat Linz since 2021. Polina Khatsenka has performed at various venues across Europe, including festivals and events in Linz, Prague, Berlin, Dresden and beyond, where her work delves into the intersections of sound, space, and acoustic ecology through field recordings, synthesis, and spatial audio. Polina is one of the founders of the phonon~ association, which she has been running for the last 5 years. The collective specializes in experimental electronic music, sound art & ambisonics. Since 2023 phonon~ organizes SPATIAL, a summer lab & residency dedicated to exploring immersive audio formats and experimental sound practices.
In her work, the German-Austrian composer Brigitta Muntendorf explores the fragility of our technosocial reality, developing new concepts of radical listening, environmental storytelling or immersive music theatre in instrumental settings, 3D audio productions or transdigital projects; currently in artistic-scientific collaborations with d&b audio and S+T+ARTS/Ars Electronica.
Muntendorf has received numerous awards and has been a resident artist in Kyoto (Villa Kamogawa) and Paris (Cité des Arts), among others. In 2023, the recording of her trilogy for two grand pianos (GrauSchumacher Piano Duo) was awarded the German Record Critics’ Prize. Her works are commissioned and presented by leading international ensembles such as Ensemble Modern or London Sinfonietta as well as international music and art festivals such as La Biennale di Venezia, Ruhrtriennale, Wiener Festwochen, Festival d’Automne Paris, Holland Festival, ONASSIS Athens, ULTIMA Oslo, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Münchner Biennale, Kyoto Experiment or TIME:SPANS New York. She has been Professor of Composition at the HfMT Cologne and Director of the Institut for New Music since 2018 and was admitted to the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts in 2024.
Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the Alliance of International Production Houses.