NEXT 2025 – Day 1: The Acousmonium

The opening of the NEXT 2025 festival will be spectacular – 60 loudspeakers will play the Great Hall of Slovak Radio. Drew McDowall, Félicia Atkinson, Michaela Turcerová, BJ Nilsen and others will present exceptional concerts on the prestigious Acousmonium sound system.

The placement of sound in the space – in front of, next to and behind the audience – offers a deep, immersive experience. Acousmonium was developed by the legendary Parisian studio Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM), which operates within the INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel) and is one of the world's most important centers of research and creation in the field of electronic music.

Line-up:

• Drew McDowall – An artist who refuses to conform and explores the spaces between reality and transcendence in his music. His meditations in sound combine modular landscapes with cut-up sampling and break down sound into its essence. This creates ambient mirages full of dread, melancholy and ethereal beauty.
• Félicia Atkinson – She draws her inspiration from the work of the painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Atkinson evokes and celebrates the mystery of art in a poetic and holistic way. Combining fragmented voices, piano strums, electronic textures and patterns, as well as field recordings, Atkinson creates music that offers a unique way of approaching the world.
• Michaela Turcerová – Musician and composer from Banská Bystrica, currently living in Copenhagen. He plays alto/soprano saxophone and bass clarinet and composes in the field of semi-open scores, (un)conventional notations, conceptual ideas and minimalism. In his work, he often deals with physical space as part of the musical experience.
• BJ Nilsen – Swedish sound artist and composer living in Amsterdam. In his work, he focuses on the intersection of field recordings, sound, space and perception. Using subtle electronic manipulations and precise editing, he transforms environmental recordings into layered, immersive soundscapes that straddle the border between reality and imagination.