A Musical Wunderkammer: Kircher's Sound Universe

About this event

Inspired by Kircher's celebrated cabinet of curiosities, this experimental musical salon brings his sonic imagination to life through performances, demonstrations, and encounters between historical instruments, mechanical devices, and contemporary technologies. Historical compositions will meet newly generated music, including experiments with Kircher's Arca musarithmica, his seventeenth-century system for algorithmic composition. A sound installation extends Kircher's world of marvels into the present, exploring natural phenomena, animal voices, cosmic harmonies, and the sounds of our technological surroundings. Together, these experiences invite audiences to question where music begins, who or what produces it, and how we listen. With Andrew Cashner, Annette Richards, David Yearsley, Federico Ercoli, Jacob Matthews, Marcos Krieger, Patricia García Gil, and Roger Moseley.