This event is part of the BRDCST series, where left-field artists meet curious ears. Expect sounds that challenge, surprise, and stay with you.

February 23 saw the passing, at age 94, of Éliane Radigue, one of the most important French composers of recent decades and one of the pioneers of electronic music. Her minimalist, meditative pieces – at first made using tape and feedback then later the synthesizer – inspired entire generations of artists.

In tribute, we present an artist talk, the screening of a documentary about Radigue and a live set by Julia Eckhardt & Yannick Guédon and a performance of one of Radigue’s acousmatic works by Caroline Profanter. Delve deeper into the life and work of Éliane Radigue via this biography, this article, this piece from The Quietus and also this The OCCAM Ocean Issue.

Artist talk by Julia Eckhardt
Julia Eckhardt (b. Berlin) is a violist, curator, and co-artistic director of Brussels’ Q-O2, where she is active in experimental music and sound art. She has worked internationally as a performer and has developed a broad artistic network within the field of contemporary music.
Eckhardt is best known for her long-standing and intensive collaboration with composer Éliane Radigue, with whom she has realized countless projects. She was among the first musicians to perform Radigue’s acoustic works from the Occam Ocean series, thereby helping to shape that new chapter in Radigue’s oeuvre.
Her in-depth knowledge of Radigue’s artistic practice led to the book Éliane Radigue – Intermediary Spaces, which she developed together with the composer. In addition to her work as a performer, Eckhardt publishes on music, gender, and listening practices and teaches at various institutions.
In this artist talk, Julia offers us a glimpse into the life and work of Éliane Radigue.

Screening: Éliane Radigue, l'Ecoute Virtuose / Virtuoso Listening (dir.: Anaïs Prosaïc, 2011, France, 61 min., ov, sub.: ENG)
This film paints an intimate portrait of Éliane Radigue, one of the most important female pioneers of electronic music. The film looks back on her early years in the 1960s and 1970s, when she worked with the ARP 2500 synthesizer and minimalists like Terry Riley and La Monte Young. Through interviews and archive footage, the documentary shows her patient, almost meditative way of working.

Most of the film follows the performance of her recent instrumental compositions during the Spitalfields Music Festival in London, performed by contemporary musicians and laptop collective The Lappetites. The film emphasises how Radigue, now of age but still curious and present, sees her oeuvre brought to life again by other artists.

Julia Eckhardt & Yannick Guédon, Occam River XIX for viola and baritone
Julia Eckhardt (°Berlin) is a violist, curator and co-artistic director of Brussels-based Q-O2, where she is active in experimental music and sound art. She works internationally as a performer and developed a broad artistic network within contemporary music.

Eckhardt is best known for her long-standing and intensive collaboration with composer Éliane Radigue, with whom she realised numerous projects. She was among the first musicians to perform Radigue’s acoustic work from the Occam Ocean series, thereby helping shape this new chapter in Radigue’s oeuvre.

Her deep knowledge of Radigue’s artistic practice led to the book Éliane Radigue – Intermediary Spaces, which she developed together with the composer. As well as performing, Eckhardt publishes on music, gender and listening practices and she teaches at various institutions.

Yannick Guédon is a composer, singer and performance artist born in France. His work focuses on subtle variations in timbre, as well as on subjective notions of time and silence. He creates listening environments in which the audience is invited to experience the time and context in which the musical act takes place, whereby the sound, visual and light elements are revealed.

The primary instrument in his projects is always sound, but this is often augmented by questions relating to the body and the performer’s presence within the specific context where the performance takes place. He has worked recently with Ensemble Dedalus, d'incise, Catherine Lamb, Karl Naegelen, Laurent Pichaud, Éliane Radigue, Sébastien Roux, Marc Sabat and Laura Steenberghe.

The work Occam River XIX for viola and baritone is a part of the Occam series, a long-running project of Éliane Radigue’s (since 2011) in which she works exclusively with acoustic musicians. It consists of a growing number of solo works (Océan), duo works (River) and ensemble works (Delta), all developed in close one-on-one collaboration with individual performers.

Radigue composes without a written score: each musician brings their own techniques, sound research and material, which (under her guidance) are moulded into a unique piece that can only be performed by that(those) specific performer(s). sources describe this as a series of works in which duration, micro-variations, the role of overtones and the space itself are focal.

We regret to inform you that the broadcast of “Danse des Dakinis”, at the request of INA-GRM and the heirs of Éliane Radigue, cannot take place.