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Nik Bärtsch & Sophie Clements: When The Clouds Clear

A Light and Sound Poem

Nik Bartsch playing solo piano on a pool of water, with a lit white backdrop

Pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch collaborates with visual artist Sophie Clements to explore the interplay of light, water and sound in a new audio-visual piece.

In the piece, inspired by a zen poem titled ‘The Moon in the Water’, light reflects on a body of water and we discover a serene beauty at their meeting point – still, yet full of movement. Balanced on seemingly infinite water and light, Bärtsch’s solo piano translates the elemental into sound.

After meeting at a festival in 2015, the pair found a mutual direction in their different practices – a focus on simple forms. Bärtsch’s minimalist approach to the piano, full of ritualistic melodies, mirrors the simple beauty found in Clements’s striking set design and hypnotic images of waves and skies.

This concert will start at the advertised start time and running times will be confirmed closer to the event

Produced by the Barbican. Part of EFG London Jazz Festival

Commissioned by Enjoy Jazz Festival and co-commissioned by the Barbican

Please note that this performance features some strobe effects and extensive haze. 

Programme

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