Georgia’s SOU contemporary music festival kicks off tomorrow

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 tomorrow.

Georgia's SOU festival 2017 for contemporary music and visual arts intends to open new and belated streams in Georgian cultural context.

Throughout 40 days of the 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 festival will run within the Check in Georgia governmental project through July 5.

Tickets to the SOU Festival area available at www.tkt.ge