As its name implies, Sonica is about rocking worlds. Over eleven days in September, the Glasgow based Cryptic company’s eighth edition of its festival ‘for curious minds and restless spirits’ mixes up a smorgasbord of international audio-visual artworks from Egypt, Ukraine, Quebec and more. These are seen and heard alongside a plethora of homegrown fare from the likes of the Scottish Ensemble, the RSNO, composer Michael Begg and more, infiltrating the city across multiple venues great and small.
Sonica sets out its store from the start with Nati Infiniti, the Scottish premiere of a new work at Tramway by Allesandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails. Other highlights include Songs for a Passerby, Celine Daeman’s Venice Film Festival Award-winning VR opera for a sole headset wearer; a cyborg pop concert of the future from Danish ensemble, NEKO3 and German multimedia composer Alexander Schubert.
Scottish and Scotland based artists in the programme include the world premiere of Ela Orleans’ La Nuit Dorée, a suite of deconstructed and reimagined 1960s and 1970s French pop music. Other artists include Alex Smoke and SHHE, while Michael Begg reflects on his time as musician in residence aboard the royal Navy’s Antarctic ice patrol ship.
With a programme of installations, soundscapes, interventions and otherwise uncategorisable offerings, around half of the work is delivered free of charge. On every level, then, Sonica truly is a gift of sound and vision.
Sonica takes place in various Glasgow venues from 19th– 29thSeptember. Full programme at sonic-a.co.uk.
The List, September 2024
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