On the
27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of October 2021, Sónar will present nearly
100 activities, spread between the programs of the new
AI and Music S+T+ARTS Festival (October 27th and 28th) and
SónarCCCB 2021 (October 29th and 30th).
Concerts, lectures, demonstrations, workshops, screenings and audiovisual capsules will fill the spaces of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona on each day, from Thursday 28 to Saturday 30, from 11:00h to 00:00h. All this in addition to other activities located in different spaces in Barcelona and other European cities.
The experience will be truly hybrid, with both face-to-face and digital events, and an abundance of content and formats designed to encourage
co-operation and knowledge exchange between creators, cultural incubators and scientific institutions.
Both festivals will act as a
hub, connecting ideas and projects and as a skills-multiplier, with the aim of
stimulating cultural innovation in the city and the country, as well as expanding its reach internationally.
The Sónar program for 2021 has involved institutions such as the
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the
Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the
Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC),
In-Edit festival,
IDEAL digital arts center, cultural incubators such as
Factory Berlin and
Somerset House and training centers such as
ESMUC, Eina, Taller de Músics, IED and
BAU.
New to Barcelona, the festival of artificial intelligence and music, organized in collaboration with the
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and
betevé, under the S+T+ARTS program of the European Commission will bring together experts, scientists, professionals and artists from around the world to
discuss, explore and demonstrate the interaction between humans and technology through an extensive and impactful program of concerts, conferences, demonstrations and hackathons.
A total of
21 musical shows integrating artificial intelligence will be presented, most of them produced expressly for the festival, including the unprecedented collaboration between
Holly Herndon, Maria Arnal and Tarta Relena or other artistic projects such as
Mouse on Mars, Hamill Industries & Kiani del Valle, AWWZ, Nabihah Iqbal and Libby Heaney or
Reiko Yamada. On Wednesday night, October 27th, L'Auditori de Barcelona will host the Inaugural Concert of the AI and Music Festival, with the pianist and composer
Marco Mezquida presenting ‘Piano + AI’.
For its part,
SónarCCCB will feature
40 shows and DJ sets, from international artists at the forefront of new music including
Koreless, Tirzah, Leon Vynehall Live, Space Afrika, Parrenin/Weinrich/Rollet, Object Blue A/V Live, Il Quadro di Troisi, Die Wilde Jagd or
DJ Nigga Fox, as well as a wide representation of current national and local talent such as
BFlecha, Rakky Ripper or
Cora Novoa & The Artifacts, among others.
The SónarCCCB program is rounded out by the talks and workshops of Sónar+D, and culminates with a
marathon of documentaries on electronic music on Sunday October 31st at Aribau Multicines in association with In-Edit festival. The day before, as part of the SónarCCCB talks program, a one-on-one conversation will take place between
Laurent Garnier and film director
J.A. Bayona.
Taking place previously, on
September 16th, 17th and 18th, will be the world premiere of
"Koraal-Magma", the new audiovisual show by
John Talabot and Desilence, which will open a new cycle of immersive concerts by local Sónar artists at Barcelona’s
IDEAL, Center for Digital Arts. Two sessions will take place each day at 20:00h and 22:00h. The second concert in the series,
Raül Refree & Pedro Vian feat. Pedro Maia A/V set has just been announced for October 7th and 8th, with more still to come.
All programmed
activities will take place in front of a physical audience, while the majority of the AI and Music Festival and SónarCCCB
will also be streamed online at
live.sonar.es and
beteve.cat, produced by béteve.
Capacity is limited to 1,000 people per day for both festivals at the CCCB. At IDEAL there will be a maximum capacity of 200 attendees per session.
Tickets for the
AI and Music and SónarCCCB 2021 festivals are on sale here (
AI and Music /
SónarCCCB) and the tickets for Sónar at IDEAL at
idealbarcelona.com.
Sónar's
international festivals also kick off in the coming days with the celebration of the fifth edition of
Sónar Istanbul (October 2 and 3). The
first edition of Sónar Lisbon takes place in
April 2022, and, in June -on the 16th, 17th and 18th-, the long-awaited date with
Sónar Barcelona.
