DARA Strings meets Chuchchepati Orchestra

DARA Strings is a collective of string players who first came together at the annual DARA String Festival in Berlin, founded and curated by Biliana Voutchkova. The festival showcases a wide spectrum of innovative, genre-crossing music for string instruments – from contemporary classical to experimental and improvised sound. DARA breaks down genre boundaries, bringing together international artists from diverse musical backgrounds for a series of encounters that inspire fresh thinking and spark new individual and collective artistic projects.

The Chuchchepati Orchestra is a sound system based in Kathmandu, consisting of up to 32 horn loudspeakers. These speakers are used in a polyphonic sound installation that interacts with different instrumental ensembles. The orchestra was founded by Patrick Kessler. The name Chuchchepati, meaning “horizon” in Nepali and also the name of a district in Kathmandu, refers to the origin of the loudspeakers, which were transported to St. Gallen – now the orchestra’s home. The line-up of musicians changes regularly.

For this collaboration, the Chuchchepati Orchestra joins forces with musicians from the DARA String Festival Berlin to develop a new multichannel spatial composition. This first joint project brings together artists from varied backgrounds, mainly based in Germany and Switzerland, fostering rich exchanges of culture and experience. Their sounds are spatially diffused through loudspeakers carefully placed throughout the venue, enhanced with electronics to create an immersive sonic environment.

Participating artists are based across the globe: Merche Blasco (Barcelona & Berlin), Elisabeth Coudoux (Cologne), Isidora Edwards (London), gabby fluke-mogul (New York), Patrick Kessler (Gais), Paula Sanchez (Geneva), Grégoire Simon (Berlin & Paris) and Biliana Voutchkova (Berlin & Bern).