Champ d’Action (Belgium)
Serge Verstockt – Voix Instrumentalisée

This year’s co-curator will be Serge Verstockt. He decided to devise the “Voix Instrumentalisée” project especially for Festival Made®!. In today’s multimedia culture where visuals have taken centre stage, the human voice’s importance seems to be waning. What a pity, given that it is precisely the human voice that can establish a link between imagination and visuals—between music and speech. This is why Serge Verstockt launched his “Voix Instrumentalisée” project. This project focuses entirely on the human voice. Thanks to its interactive, funny, mysterious, touching and grabbing pieces, this project looks sure to draw a huge crowd!

Champ d’Action (Belgium)
Alvin Lucier – I am sitting in a room

“I am sitting in a room” by Alvin Lucier has become an iconic work. Even though one could write a whole series of books about it, nothing beats the amazement when you actually experience it. Especially for Festival Made®!, a cube will be set up in the yard of the former courthouse and used to perform this work. The speaker starts as follows:

“I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but, more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.”

Champ d’Action (Belgium)
Serge Verstockt – Waterboarding (creation)

For the “Voix instrumentalisée” project, Serge Verstockt has written a composition for human beat boxes, heavy metal grungers, rappers, various other musicians and a few… (wait for it) fish tanks. Throughout this composition, the parts involved engage in a dialogue with texts by dada artist Ben Vautier, poems by the Antwerp-born cult poet Marcel Van der Maele, and sound recordings of the very first computer speech experiments. From a totally different angle, the imitation of electronic beats with a simple microphone by the human beat boxes will provide comments on the performance.

Sabine Uytterhoeven (Belgium)
Vinko Globokar – Voix Instrumentalisée

“Voix Instrumentalisée”, a short work created by Vinko Globokar for solo bass clarinet in 1973, is the starting point for this year’s Festival Made®! edition. And the title says it all: the voice is turned into an instrument. The bass clarinet without a mouthpiece is reduced to a tube that can be lengthened or shortened using various fingerings. The voice is modulated by the instrument. Throughout the entire performance, the player keeps repeating the following sentence: “L’art et la science ne peuvent exister sans la possibilité d’exprimer des idées paradoxales.”

Sarah Verrue (Belgium)
“Stanza” by Annelies Van Parys

“Stanza” for harp by Annelies Van Parys is poem without words. The singing will be taken care of by the instrument’s countless strings. Sarah Verrue has already surprised friend and foe with this exceptionally challenging solo piece. Sarah Verrue started playing the harp at the age of nine and is currently studying at the renowned Conservatoire national supérieur de musique (CNSM) in Paris.

Tomomi Adachi (Japan)

Adachi is one of today’s most versatile young Japanese artists. He works as a composer, performer, inventor and organizer. He will fly over from Tokyo to present some of his creations, using a lot more instruments than his Tomomin and Tomoring. His performance for voice and infrared shirt will surprise techno freaks and classical music aficionados alike. Have a look at YouTube!

Kurt Van Houtte (Belgium)

The ruminator is quietly thinking and creating his own poetry. Yet, he is increasingly distracted by the number of people and the growing noise that surround him. His pulse starts to race, and creates less and less poetry, so much so that he begins to wish the humans around him away. Strange boys, those robots. Click here to see the ruminator in progress

Stevie Wishart (Australië/UK) en Simon Limbrick (UK)
Red Iris

The composer, improviser and artist Stevie Wishart embarks on an exploration of extremes in old and contemporary music. During Festival Made®!, she will travel to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, for that is where the sonic realm of the red iris, the emblem of the Florentine court musicians, lies. Red Iris will present music reminiscent of love debates, ballads and troubadour dance songs. Together with the percussion master Simon Limbrick and her good old hurdy-gurdy, Wishart will show you a world of stunning beauty. See a preview on YouTube! 

"The fiery improviser and medieval specialist - 'True Grit' "
The Wire Magazine, London

"On the medieval super-highway, this is something strange and new …
We could be looking at a prototype for the concert of the future (Red Iris)"
The Times, London

Aïfoon (Belgium) (Creation)

Aifoon is an educational art organisation that focuses and sound. It is famous for its countless sound-related projects for children of all ages. For Festival Made®!, they asked children which sounds really make them happy. Based on those findings, they will create a sonic joy bomb, while you will also be given the opportunity to experiment with their “ptchwrk” installation. So kneel down at the altar of music and let your hands depart on an exploration out of the ordinary.

REC Radiocentrum (België)
La voix qui rit (Creatie)

Based on its intention to also play the radio waves, Festival Made®! decided to invite radio makers and turn them into musicians. The cells of the courthouse will give you ample opportunity to listen to the radio with loads of “Gioia”… Last year, REC Radiocentrum surprised its audience with its night radio. This year, they want to tackle joy. So don’t expect all-familiar reports and broadcasts—this is a “radio active” rendition of the chosen theme.

REC Radiocentrum is a platform for young, dynamic radio and media creators. REC’s wild, yet clever youngsters treat radio in a highly intelligent way and use it for creative purposes. It is REC Radiocentrum’s intention to transport Festival Made®! onto, below and inside both analogue and digital airwaves. Special thanks to Télévic.

The Song Company directed by Roland Peelman (Australia)
(Belgian premiere) Speaking in tongues

The inimitable Australian Song Company and its Flemish conductor Roland Peelman decided to literally speak in tongues during Festival Made®!, based on work by Ghent-born composer Frank Nuyts: “Old Airs” with lyrics by Les Murray and “Stay’n”, “Dodil” as well as “Nachtmusik” with lyrics by Jelle Meander. This will be complemented with three tongue-kissing gems: “Les Feuilles Mortes” (Kosma/Prévert), “Eve Blossom” by dada star Kurt Schwitters and “Chuck the Duck” by Saidah Rastam, set to lyrics by Kit Leee. This performance will change your understanding of what a vocal ensemble is and does.

William Barton (Australia)

William Barton is considered one of the most gifted didgeridoo players in the world. He was born at Mount Isa and taught by his uncle who has close ties with the Waanyi-, Lardil-, and Kalkadungatribes in Western Queensland. At the age of seventeen William Barton gave his first classical performance with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. William Barton never fails to demonstrate the virtuoso power of the didgeridoo and the wealth of his native culture. During Festival Made®!, he will show you the most surprising side of his instrument. Have a look on YouTube!

“William Barton is a young man with air in his lungs, tradition in his heart and the world at his feet.” Sydney Morning Herald 

Laughter Yoga

Can we learn to laugh? We most definitely can! Laughter yoga will put you in touch with unbridled joy. Laughter is infectious and contagious. We can laugh without reason and without jokes, simply because laughing together is fun. It also has several advantages: it reinforces your stamina and helps you to relax thanks to its happiness hormone endorphin. Laughing helps you to put things in perspective and encourages you to generate positive thoughts, feelings and situations. The more you practise the music of laughter, the better you will feel. Luc Van Imschoot and his laughter animators from East-Flanders province will hold a brief introductory laughing session. Would you like to start practising right now?  Have a look on YouTube!

DJs Rafael Severi & Michiel Vanden Broecke (Belgium)

DJs Rafael Severi (a.k.a. Sensu) and Michiel Vanden Broecke (a.k.a. 0106) use a host of inspiration sources: avant-garde, classical music, contemporary electronic music, reggae and techno. These sources help them sculpt their own standard—eclectism. Sensu and 0106 will demonstrate the immense power of vinyl and shake the entire centre of Ghent. Especially for Festival Made®!, these DJs devised a programme based almost entirely on the human voice. Fascinating, surprising, amazing.

'DJ Sensu uses an almost intellectual approach for his music, which allows him to get the crowd to dance to music that is both exciting and interesting!'   Radio 2