By Lauren McNee as part of Liquid Music's Artists in Virtual Residence series
What do J.S. Bach, Bryce Dessner, György Ligeti and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead all have in common? No, they are not all alive. And no, they did not all play in an English rock band. Truth is, all of these famous names are composers who were programmed on s t a r g a z e's Weekender Festival at the Volksbühne in Berlin this past weekend, from Friday, December 11 to Sunday, December 13, 2015.
Formed out of André de Ridder's dream for a curated festival in the spirit of London's All Tomorrow's Parties, the Weekender inspired moments of epiphany, illumination and enlightenment. With the Volksbühne as its backbone, the festival presents innovative and unprecedented collaborations of revitalized classical music, electroacoustic pop and folk.
"Oscillating between the poles of revitalized classical music, electroacoustic pop and folk form the coordinates of a music festival that is so thrilling, so coherent and so much more up to date than the otherwise long-unquestioned mode of festivals that one can speak of a potentially groundbreaking musical event for Berlin." -Max Dax
Cantus Domus & s t a r g a z e by Annett Bonkowski
From themes of spirituality, Eastern European folk music and groundbreaking collaborations, the 2015 festival presented a killer lineup including compositions by Bryce Dessner (Liquid Music artist 2014.15), Nico Muhly, Iceage, David Lang, Jonny Greenwood, Grateful Dead and more.
"The festival managed to pull the listeners into a world full of suspenseful moments that demonstrated well how musical contrasts can be overcome to create innovative and yet accessible pieces. The context of classic and pop music skillfully intertwined, s t a r g a z e and all of the involved artists proved that it is more than worthwhile to explore the two genres in such a liberating environment like this." - Nothing But Hope and Passion
Iceage & s t a r g a z e by Annett Bonkowski
A behind the scenes look can be found on the festival blog. Stay tuned for more updates on Liquid Music's virtual residency with s t a r g a z e and Poliça...many more cool things to come!