The short version
- The 70th Biennale Musica in Venice runs until October 24 under the title “A Child of Sound,” directed by the composer Caterina Barbieri.
- It has 130 artists, more than 40 events and 18 world premieres, including a piece by Ennio Morricone.
- A room in the Arsenale’s Sala d’Armi is given over to deep listening, curated by the founder of a Tokyo listening bar.
The 70th Biennale Musica, the contemporary-music festival of La Biennale di Venezia, opened on October 10 and runs until October 24. Its director, the composer Caterina Barbieri, titled it “A Child of Sound” and wrote that “music is the childhood of the spirit: an experience that reconnects to a primordial state of openness, vitality and creative power.” The program lists 130 artists, more than 40 events and 23 new works, 18 of them world premieres, among them Ennio Morricone’s Musica per una fine.
Performances are spread across the Arsenale, Ca’ Giustinian, the Malibran and Goldoni theatres, Teatro Verde on San Giorgio Maggiore, two sites in Mestre and the women’s prison on the Giudecca. Keiji Haino receives the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement and the composer Sarah Davachi the Silver Lion. Laraaji, KMRU and the Tallis Scholars are also on the bill.
For listeners rather than concertgoers, the draw is Origine, a deep-listening room in the Arsenale’s Sala d’Armi curated by Masaru Hatanaka of Nightingale, a Tokyo listening bar. The Biennale’s page gives no prices; tickets and times are on its site.
