Musical Utopias #9: Laura Bowler, Zubin Kanga

During the 9th edition of our ‘Musical Utopias’ festival, we’ll be moving from The Hague city centre to the dunes, and from a riot of sound and sight to a sound that draws ever closer to our roots as Klang and to those of the natural world around us.

Three evenings, each with its own character, but all forming a sonic journey of discovery in true Klang style.

This first evening of Musical Utopias revolves around the theme of ‘excess’. Central is the world premiere of Laura Bowler’s work of the same name, she says: “Excess will be joyous, violent and grotesque all in a single breath.” Written for CyberPiano keyboard virtuoso Zubin Kanga and Ensemble Klang, the work’s technological tools are a metaphor for humanity’s insatiability and our excess consumption of resources. Kanga’s technological extensions turn the human body into a tool feeding into the technology. The work is, from one perspective, the musical embodiment of capitalism, and from another, it will be a direct challenge of the insatiable greed that fuels a capitalist mind set.”

Laura Bowler, described as “a triple threat composer-performer provocatrice” (The Art Desk), is a composer and vocalist specialising in multidisciplinary works and music theatre. Bowler has been commissioned by world leading ensembles and orchestras including the Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Pianist Zubin Kanga is a fearless advocate of the new and unknown. For over a decade, he has been at the forefront of curating and creating interdisciplinary musical programmes which seek to explore and redefine what it means to be a performer through interactions with new technologies including his ongoing CyberPiano project, of which Excess is a part.