This year's Organ Sound Art Festival took place over three days in December in the imposing yet intimate setting of Nørrebro’s KoncertKirken. It boasted perhaps its strongest line-up yet, with Japanese sound artist Fuji||||||||||ta, Ellen Arkbro's new collaboration with Hanne Lippard and Hampus Lindwall, and French quintet Pancrace topping the bill. Having featured the likes of Kali Malone, Lucy Railton, Kit Downes, and Judith Hamann in previous editions – alongside a host of mostly local talent – the festival has enjoyed a steady, organic (no pun intended) growth from a regional niche event to one of Copenhagen's most forward-thinking festivals.
Although the church organ is the main feature of the venue – as well as the festival – not all artists necessarily used it. On the first day of Organ Sound Art, we had the opportunity to experience a couple of self-built organs. Composer and sound artist Sandra Boss, a household name in the Danish experimental music scene, presented her peculiar collaboration with ceramist Katrine Würtz. Consisting of a series of colorful, bird-shaped ceramic water jugs, The Bird Organ produces the sound of an uncanny bird choir that insists on its artifice rather than attempting to transport the listener to the referenced natural environment. Swedish composer – and instrument maker – Amina Hocine's organ, called The Instrument, achieves an imposing sound regardless of its disjointed incarnation. At the end of the first evening, Robert Curgenven took to the grand church organ after explaining the three pieces he was going to perform with the added four-channel diffusion. Curgenven's powerful set could perhaps best be described as a colossal sound bath that engulfed every nook and cranny of KoncertKirken. To say it was an impressive performance is an understatement.
The second day of the festival seemed to focus more on conceptual approaches to sound art that involve the organ, at least to some degree. Hampus Lindwall performed a piece of his own as well as pieces by Phill Niblock and Cory Arcangel on the church organ before the stage was cleared for a commissioned piece. Matt Choboter's composition “And Then There Were the Sounds of Birds” came to life as a group performance including organ, prepared piano, percussion, live sound design, and choreography. While it was interesting to see such a show take over the space of KoncertKirken, with the audience pushed to the sides of the hall, the collaboration didn't feel cohesive and thought-out enough to make a lasting impression.
It was another collaboration that completely stole the show that night - that between composer Ellen Arkbro, organist Hampus Lindwall, and text-based artist Hanne Lippard. They began with Lippard intervening in Arkbro's and Lindwall's musical background by commanding (or pretending to command) the chord changes. Through several songs, the trio explored the relationship between music and the spoken word from different angles. Their cover of Robert Wyatt's classic “At Last I Am Free” – which, probably not coincidentally, was the last song played in the bar during the break before the performance – demonstrated how to recite lyrics in a way that isn't singing but still follows the logic and intonation of singing. An organ take on “Modern Spanking Bolero” from Lippard's exquisite 2020 release Work seemed to really amuse the audience.
Although a festival dedicated to A) the organ and B) sound art might seem pretentious or heady on paper, the organizers made sure to offset this by creating a more relaxed atmosphere than in some previous editions of the festival. A short introduction before each performance probably helped as well. And thanks to some daring bookings and adventurous performances, this year's Organ Sound Art Festival was perhaps the boldest step yet in carving out a niche for itself.
Photo: Daniel Oxenhandler