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BATIDA, this "monster out of the cosmos", is an explosive cocktail, it is the constancy of the bass, it is the harmonic buzzing of the matter which propagates in vibrations.
Formed in 2010 in Geneva, theEnsemble Batida is a collective of five musicians, percussionists and pianists, eager to explore: Jeanne Larrouturou, Anne Briset, Viva Sanchez Reinoso, Raphaël Krajka, Alexandra Bellon. From project to project, their imaginations blend the acoustic strength of percussive instruments with the broader sound spectrum of electronic music. They are involved in both contemporary written music and improvisation, produce concerts or transdisciplinary stage objects, and set few limits on their experimentation.
Wood study, at the Ferme de la Chapelle, Geneva on November 1, 2020
Their concept concerts unfold like poetic architectures, generating singular installations, invented instruments and unusual configurations. "Virtuosos of the fusion of timbres¹, they know how to explore the infinitely small at the heart of sound, and practice state-of-the-art goldsmithing. In live performances, the audience is captivated by their energy on stage and their musical osmosis, qualities that they put at the service of pieces from the repertoire or of collaborative projects with other disciplines.
Their experience of collective composition of amplified music, at the crossroads of experimental and contemporary music, begins with the collaboration with the Belgian choreographer Jens van Daele (opening of the contemporary dance festival Jomba in South Africa in 2012, creation and tour of 26 dates of the show "Spring Tide" in Holland in 2013, re-creation of "Battre le Fer/Battre le Noir" at the Galpon theatre, Geneva in 2014). Rich of this experience, the group continues the transdisciplinary encounters and the creation of music for concerts or for the stage, like their diptych OBLIKVAJ/DIGITA (2017-2021), an artistic and human adventure with the collective of drawers Hécatombe.
DIGITA - Collective creation in September 2020 at the Cave 12, Geneva
Their new collaboration is a commission from the Ensemble Contrechamps, for ensemble and electronics, composed with Antye Greie-Ripatti (AGF), which was premiered on April 20, 2021 as part of the Archipel festival.
Their discography includes several albums: Monograph Martin Matalon (Editions VDE-Gallo, 2017); Jens Van Daele's Burning bridges - Spring Tide (2018), the result of their compositional work with rock musician Richard van Kruysdijk; OBLIKVAJ - Anthology (2019), a series of vinyls and flexi-discs dedicated to the band's compositions set to graphic scores by the collective Hécatombe; Sound Journeys: Switzerland (Nonclassical-2020 label), an album on which the group appears alongside other committed artists of the Swiss experimental music scene.
The Batida Ensemble has received several awards since its creation in 2010, including the Jean-François Chaponnière Chamber Music Prize, the 2nd prize of the Nicati competition dedicated to contemporary music, and was among the finalists of the Russolo Electroacoustic Composition Prize. The ensemble has been programmed in prestigious festivals and concert halls of various horizons in French-speaking Switzerland (Cave 12, SMC, Archipel festival, Aubes musicales, Jardins musicaux), in German-speaking Switzerland (Chamber Music Circle, Gare du Nord/IGNM Basel, ZeitRaüme festival) and abroad (ReMusik-St Petersburg, Why Note-Dijon, La Péniche-Chalon-sur-Saône festival)
Sandrine Maricot Despretz
