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Max Cooper presents Seme

Electronic music producer, acclaimed musician, sound designer and creative Max Cooper will give the UK premiere performance of Seme – the latest project in the London-based audio-visual artist’s vast portfolio of work – on two dates in April 2024

Returning to the Barbican for the first time since 2019’s Yearning for the Infinite, Cooper’s new project Seme (or “Seed”) was developed originally for its world premiere at the Saltzburg Easter Festival directed by Sir Antonio Pappano, based around the passion and spirit of Italy. Working to this theme, Seme takes inspiration from, and centres around, an exploration of rich Italian foundational aesthetics. Combining historical Italian musical and visual elements with their counterparts from the history of science, philosophy and art, Cooper’s Seme mines Italy’s rich cultural past to create a meditation on the form which yields us, and the world we live in.

For this performance in London, Cooper will be joined by soprano Kim Sheehan, cellist Niels Orens, pianist Tom Hodge, with visuals by multi-disciplinary design studio Architecture Social Club, Yoshi Sodeoka, and Davide Quayola.

Max Cooper’s work explores the foundations of nature and society, informed by a PhD in computational biology and expressed through a range of artistic media including sound, music, film projection and immersive installations. While the presence of integrated thinking around releasing music has long distinguished his career, it is the notion of performance and entertainment grafted into his style which really admits Cooper to charge into new territory.

Generously supported by Trevor Fenwick and Jane Hindley.

Produced by the Barbican

On sale to Barbican patrons and members for priority booking on Wed 25 Oct

Artist presale opens at 10am on Thu 26 Oct

General on sale opens at 10am on Fri 27 Oct.

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