Celebrated contemporary musicians set for Georgia’s annual SOU festival

Enthusiasts of contemporary experimental music are set to flock to the second edition of Georgia’s newest Stream of Unconsciousness (SOU) festival featuring some of the most acclaimed local and foreign artists starting next month.

Throughout 40 days of the 2017 SOU Festival, composers and producers including Masayoshi Fujita, Ryo Murakami and Grischa Lichtenberger will entertain audiences in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi and other locations.

Launching on May 15, the event will be held at nearly all of Tbilisi’s concert halls and theatres and also involve local musical talent including Natalie Beridze, Tetenoise and Nika Machaidze.

See Japanese contemporary artist Masayoshi Fujita in a live performance at AV Picknick series of audiovisual concerts in Muenster, Germany below:

Some of the performance venues will be the St. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church on Javakhishvili Street in central Tbilisi as well as the Royal District Theatre and Tbilisi State Opera House.

On Monday festival organisers unveiled part of the roster involving dozens of artists, with 26 event dates on the program.

Beside artists working in experimental electronic music genres, the event will also showcase bands performing contemporary classical compositions.

German producer Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) photographed at the 2016 edition of SOU Festival in Tbilisi. Photo: SOU Festival. 

These will include music by celebrated composer Steve Reich performed by Ensemble Modern, and the Rondane Kwartet from the Netherlands in a rendition of Canto Ostinato by Simeon Ten Holt.

The full roster of participating artists will be unveiled on April 20, with the festival tickets also going on sale on the date.

SOU Festival is promoted as a "new audiovisual platform” for showcasing contemporary music "at cultural crossroad of East and West”.

Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda was part of the 2016 line-up of artists for the festival. Photo: SOU Festival. 

The annual event hosts "musicians and artists whose works have greatly influenced the formation and establishment of contemporary music and art”.

Launched in 2016, the maiden edition of the festival involved acclaimed artists including Alva Noto, Blixa Bargeld and Ryoji Ikeda performing for 10 days in Tbilisi.

This year’s SOU Festival will run through July 5.