Wasteland

performance for pianist, piano objects, soundtrack and video text

concept, composition, direction, video: Falk Hübner

performance: Frederik Croene

co-produced by MORF vzw, DeSingel Antwerpen and November Music

commissioned by November Music, funded by Nederlands Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten (NFPK)

A pianist resides in the middle of the remainders of the remainders of his instrument. The instrument is deconstructed, destroyed, and what is left of it scattered across the stage. In the middle of this apocalyptic image a pianist is looking for his way through the wasteland. He stands for the last human being, looking for survivors in the possible final stage of human society, after the forests are burnt and the cities destroyed. He performs a musical choreography based on musical movements, both traditional piano playing and a diverse repertoire of extended piano techniques. Yet he does not produce any sound. Instead he looks for new ways of expressing and communicating within the realm of movement, surrounded by an electronic soundscape and projected text fragments, consisting of daily news.

2.9.2011 Pianofabriek Brussel (tryout)

30.9.2011 DeSingel Antwerpen (premiere)

9.10.2011 Concertgebouw Brugge (B)

11.11.2011 Artemis, Den Bosch, November Music festival

12.11.2011 Artemis, Den Bosch, November Music festival

4.7.2011 Royal Conservatory The Hague

9.11.-3.12.2011 Intro In Situ, Maastricht, NL (installation)

4.12.2011 Intro In Situ, Maastricht, NL

31.5.2013 Schouwburg Rotterdam, NL (as part of “Sounds of Absence)

1.6.2013 Schouwburg Rotterdam, NL (as part of “Sounds of Absence)

2.6.2013 Schouwburg Rotterdam, NL (as part of “Sounds of Absence)

8.11.2013 Artemis Den Bosch, November Music festival (as part of “Sounds of Absence”)

28.1.2015 Fort Blauwkapel, Utrecht (installation)