Black Box Music

EVENT DESCRIPTION

HKNME is thrilled to present Simon Steen-Andersen’s Black Box Music as a cornerstone of our GAME\PLAY initiative. This innovative work typifies Steen-Andersen’s interdisciplinary approach, blending various artistic expressions and defying conventional genre boundaries. Conducted by a percussionist via a live video feed, Black Box Music critiques and reimagines the act of conducting as a form of puppet theatre, humorously deconstructing traditional hierarchical dynamics between conductor and musicians.

This performance marks a significant premiere, bringing Steen-Andersen’s vision to Hong Kong and fostering a dialogue between Western avant-garde practices and the region’s rich cultural backdrop. Accompanying this, curator Daniel Lo will present a newly commissioned piece that resonates with Steen-Andersen’s themes, further exploring the relationship between the music produced and the musicians’ performing gestures, as well as the connection between the audience’s sonic and visual experiences.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Founded in 2008 by William Lane, the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (HKNME) is one of Asia's leading new music groups. The Ensemble has led world and regional premieres of important contemporary works at prestigious music festivals and venues around the world, such as: the Hong Kong Arts Festival, New Vision Arts Festival (HK), Tongyeong International Music Festival / ISCM (South Korea), ECHOFLUXX Festival of New Media (Czech Republic), CYCLE Music and Art Festival (Iceland), Shanghai New Music Week (CN), Beijing Music Festival (CN), Hong Kong Week (TW), MONA FOMA (Australia), Hong Kong Music Series (London), Angel Orensanz Center (New York City) and Wilsey Center for Opera (San Francisco).