What does blue electricity smell like? The mystery remains. One thing is certain: Italian composer Vittorio Montalti drew on this line from Fahrenheit 451, the dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. Fascinated by the protagonist Guy Montag’s determination to change the course of time, he composes music brimming with tension. Underlying themes of mass technological surveillance and the resulting loss of freedom emerge. The omnipresence of raw metallic percussion (disc brakes, metal plates, frying pans) combined with electronic textures aims to recreate the suffocating, electric atmosphere unique to the book.

Through an exploration of sounds that blend percussion, everyday objects, and electronic devices, the piece blurs the boundaries between acoustic and processed sounds. Its technological dimension extends beyond sound processing: reactive lighting, directly linked to the beats, dynamics, and percussive gestures, accompanies the performance. It thus becomes a dramaturgical element in its own right, establishing a dialogue between the visible and the audible, between the performers’ bodies—four percussionists from Eklekto and the composer—and the stage space.

Presented in an industrial setting at the Arcoop building in Carouge, the raw, functional architecture interacts with the piece’s sound and lighting aesthetics. It invites the audience to an immersive collective experience.

Se faire jour (To Come to Light) is a new work by composer Denis Schuler, commissioned by the Ensemble Vide and developed over an extended period punctuated by three residencies. The piece brings together two singers and a violinist, who work closely with the composer.

The music unfolds in a continuous flow, composed of slow, repetitive melodic lines that evoke the trickling of water or the breath of the wind—perceptible, enveloping, yet invisible. The exchanges, narratives, and shared presence nourish a fragile yet persistent soundscape, attuned to the musical moment.

The inspiration draws on two vocal traditions separated by time and space. The voice of Beatritz de Dia, a 12th-century trobairitz, emerges subtly through “chantar m’ér de çò qu’eu no volria,” the only surviving song by a female troubadour that retains its melody, conveying a message of strength and independence. This medieval source resonates with the Neapolitan tammurriata, a collective practice based on repetition, improvisation, and a circular sense of time, inviting listeners to escape the everyday. Initiated by Denis Schuler bringing together Juliet Fraser, Clara Levy, and Marianne Schuppe—or perhaps born from their very meeting—Se faire jour engages these four protagonists from different generations in a process of deep listening, sharing, and focus on the present moment. The concert will allow the audience to immerse themselves in this exploration through a sensitive and open listening experience.

Cordes tressées (braided strings) brings together Iranian musician Neda Joukar—a composer and târ player accompanied by a Persian vocalist—and an Italian Baroque trio—featuring baroque guitar, lute, and theorbo (Matteo Mela, Lorenzo Micheli, and Massimo Lonardi)—along with soprano Renata Fusco. Here is a bundle of strings that intertwine and weave together.

The Baroque and Persian musical traditions are fundamentally rooted in oral transmission and improvisation, as well as in research into historical sources. Driven by sensitive listening and subtle work with sound—from the delicate plucking of the strings to melodies based on modes—these two musical worlds weave a vibrant dialogue with the present. All virtuosos on their instruments, the Italian musicians and Renata Fusco will perform folk songs drawn from various Italian regional dialects, while Neda Joukar will present her own compositions and a Persian repertoire currently in development. The melodies will resonate with contemporary Persian poetry set to music.

Presented at the Société des Arts, the concert will take place in the beautiful Salle Saint-Ours, where the audience will be seated close to the musicians to fully appreciate the delicacy of the strings.

This new work by Samuel Reinhard—a composition commissioned by Ensemble Vide—marks the artist’s first opportunity to work for percussion and voice, a configuration he has long wanted to explore. His reflections and initial ideas outline a structural framework and a dynamic unique to this upcoming work.

Samuel Reinhard works with motif cells of varying duration and scope, interspersed with moments of free improvisation that draw on each musician’s skills and experience. The question of choice is central to the performance here, and the artists’ decision-making abilities give rise to infinitely rich variations, within a timeframe that is nonetheless strictly defined by the composer.

The Ensemble Vide is already looking forward to the result and to working with the performers—students and established artists alike—and with Samuel: a project that is undoubtedly profound, demanding, and committed, to be generously shared with the public at the Archipel Festival in 2027.

Music often has secret connections to painting and sculpture. Many composers have drawn inspiration from works of art when writing music. These connections are sometimes audible, but often the trail is lost over time.

This project aims to juxtapose paintings and sculptures with music written specifically for the occasion. With Œuvres en regards, the concept takes on a unique twist: the performers are children, and the scores are written for them by young artists still training in the field of composition.

Seven composers currently studying in Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel, Zurich, Lucerne, or Lugano are each writing a new piece specifically inspired by a work on display at the Geneva Museum of Art and History.

Seven different groups of students from Geneva’s conservatories—strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and choir—are each preparing a composition.

The concert will take place during Museum Night 2027, in late May, directly in front of the artwork chosen by the composers and thus in various rooms of the MAH.