I will be involved in a number of events at this year’s Transit New Music Festival in Leuven, exploring the idea of democracy in music. I’ll be leading two ‘sofa-moment’ public discussions with some of the festival’s composers and ensembles, exploring how and to what extent democratic principles inform contemporary music practice. And I’m collaborating with my CeReNeM colleague Bryn Harrison on a new collaborative work for (and with) the choir De Tweede Adem. We’re basing the work around the idea of ‘echo chambers’: closed circuits of repetition and obsessive amplification, whose ramifications for contemporary democracy are much discussed, and which invite musical treatment (but so far seem to have evaded it). The piece will be co-developed with the singers of the choir, with an initial workshop in June serving as a point of departure for Bryn’s elaboration of the work.

13 October 2018, 11:30, Soetezaal, Leuven: Premiere, new work by Bryn Harrison and De Tweede Adem

13 October 2018, 16:00, STUKcafé, Leuven: Sofa-moment 1: Robert Adlington discusses what democracy means for contemporary composers

14 October 2018, 16:00, STUKcafé, Leuven: Sofa-moment 2: Robert Adlington discusses what democracy means for new music ensembles