Diffusion: Ruby Singh + Stefan Maier

The Diffusion programme consists of listening sessions that feature spatial works specifically arranged for the state-of-the-art 4DSOUND
system. For the live performances programme you can visit: https://www.stonenest.org/events

Ruby Singh | Vox.Infold

Composer and sound designer Ruby Singh manages to transgress outside of the bounds of music, poetry, visual art, photography, and film. Celebrated for his creativity, Singhs’ ability to express himself takes him to a place where the surreal can shatter the boundaries of the real.

Singh’s Vox.Infold is a critically acclaimed album; an a cappella offering, composed and (remarkably) recorded at a time when singing together was something that could kill us. Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and amidst potent social unrest, this powerhouse vocal ensemble of Indigenous, Inuit, Black, and South Asian voices, reimagined how to sing together. The resulting work is so much more than a convergence of diverse vocal traditions but a complex rendering of what’s possible when we can hold each other's humanity. The album dives into a full bodied, resonant and sensuous expression housed in polyrhythm, lush harmonies, mimicry, and polyphonic poetry.

Stefan Maier | Tractatus de Umbra Manus

Stefan Maier is an artist and composer based in Vancouver, Canada — the unceded, traditional territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. His installations, performances, writings, and compositions examine emergent and historical sound technologies. Highlighting material instability and unruliness, his work explores the flows of sonic matter through sound systems, instruments, software, and bodies, to uncover alternate modes of authorship and listening possible within specific technologically-mediated situations.

Tractatus de Umbra manus (1447): The Fifth Hammer — (for prerecorded Organ, Cornetto, Recorders, Theorbo, Renaissance Trombone, Choir and Percussion) examines the history of mystical spatial composition during the turn of the renaissance. From the Venetian polychoral tradition, to the implied divine spatialities in the work of Guillaume DuFay’s Nuper Rosarum Flores, the work implicitly draws on this lineage through the use of musical instruments and temperaments from the pre-modern era. It is a part of a larger ongoing project in speculative medievalism, that consists of a growing body of forged compositions that explore magical and occult musical practices originating in the pre-modern era. Above all, the series is inspired by conductor-musicologist Björn Schmelzer’s proclamation of the monstrosity of early music — that its practice might be best understood as a form of sounding necromancy.

These works were spatialised at Lobe Studio, Vancouver.

Seating is unreserved. There will be a mixture of seating, cushions and standing room available - please contact us if you have any specific requirements.

Stone Nest is an arts organisation and performance venue in the heart of London's West End, bringing exceptional and experimental art to a wide audience. A hidden gem nestled amidst the bright lights of theatreland, it offers a platform for bold, visionary artists and a space where audiences can encounter an eclectic programme of contemporary performance.

Stone Nest is an old building and unfortunately cannot currently accommodate electric wheelchairs. We can accommodate manually operated wheelchairs via a temporary ramp; please let us know that you are a wheelchair user when booking and whether a Companion will be accompanying you, and we will arrange a Companion ticket for you.