ArCHIVE 2005-2024
SPOR 2024
View the programme book for SPOR Festival 2024 here
SPOR 2023
View the programme book for SPOR Festival 2023 here
SPOR 2022
View the programme book for SPOR Festival 2022 here
SPOR 2021
In 2021, SPOR Festival explored the diversity that characterizes our society today. Through journeys led by sound and contemporary music, audiences were introduced to diverse artistic universes that sparked curiosity, challenged conventional perceptions of the world, and inspired inner reflection.
The programme was curated by Anna Berit Asp Christensen and Anne Marqvardsen.
ProgramME and Artists
ANDREAS BORREGAARD (DK), BETWEEN MUSIC (DK), CHRISTIAN WINTHER CHRISTENSEN (DK), EVA REITER (AT), ICTUS (BE), KALAS – IMPROVISATION COLLECTIVE (DK), LOTTE HENRIKSEN (DK), LOUISE ALENIUS (DK), MADS EMIL DREYER (DK), MARCELA LUCATELLI (BR/DK), MARTIN STAUNING (DK), MARYANA LYSENKO (RU), NEKO3 (DK), PHILIP VENABLES (UK), REMY SIU (HK), SCENATET (DK), SØS GUNVER RYBERG (DK), TED HUFFMAN (US), THE NORWEGIAN OPERA (NO), TROND REINHOLDTSEN (NO), URSULA NISTRUP (DK), XAVIER BONFILL (ES).
View the programme book for SPOR Festival 2021 here.
SPOR 2020
This year’s SPOR Festival was entirely reimagined. Not only the works but the entire organization of the festival was restructured to adapt to the unpredictable times of COVID-19. With constant changes in guidelines and restrictions, planning was uncertain. Despite limitations on mobility and gathering, the festival succeeded in bridging the local and international through the contributions of artists worldwide.
The programme was curated by Anna Berit Asp Christensen and Anne Marqvardsen.
ProgramME and Artists
Alexandra Hallén (SE), Andreas Borregaard (DK), Anna Jalving (DK), Jakob Kullberg (DK), James Black (UK/DK), Jeppe Ernst (DK), Josefine Opsahl (DK), Julie Østengaard (DK), Kirstine Lindemann (DK), Martin Stauning (DK), Mette Nielsen (DK), New Music Orchestra (OMN) (PL), Niels Rønsholdt (DK), Oblivia (FI), Rosanna Lorenzen (DK/IR), SCENATET (DK), Simon Steen-Andersen (DK), Yiran Zhao (CH/DE).
View the program book for SPOR Festival 2020 here.
SPOR 2019
SPOR Festival celebrated its 15th anniversary in Aarhus with vibrant, colorful, and "fucked up" frequencies from May 9-11, 2019. The program featured six world premieres and seven Danish premieres, including six Tina Dickow look-alikes in a rococo-inspired dance concert, a “centrifugal operetta” about a singer on the brink of collapse, and a performance concert resembling a bizarre game of follow-the-leader. There was even a musical interpretation of human DNA.
The programme was curated by Anna Berit Asp Christensen and Anne Marqvardsen.
ProgramME and Artists
Iceland Dance Company: “No Tomorrow” (IS), Duncan/Primdahl: ”Up Close and Personal” (DK), Ryoko Akama: “Composition of Happiness” (JP), Marcela Lucatelli and Bastard Assignments: “Impossible Penetrations” (DK/BR/GB), Christian Winfeld: “Lykkebækken” (DK), Helmut Oehring/Stefanie Wördemann/Torsten Ottersberg: “Eurydike? volume 1” (DE), Davíð Brynjar Franzson: ”An Urban Archive as an English Garden” (IS/US), Lasse Schwanenflügel Piasecki & Duo Hellqvist/Munk: ”The Curtain” (DK), We Spoke: “Phenomena” (CH), Marcela Lucatelli: "Run run run" (BR/DK), Kaada (NO), Louise Vind Nielsen: “Menneskelig metronom” (DK), Concert with SPOR New Music School and Njyd (DK).
View the programme book for SPOR Festival 2019 here.
SPOR 2018
The 2018 SPOR Festival revolved around the theme “Here and Now” and focused on the relationship between art and its immediate surroundings. How do sound and contemporary art reflect and influence the time and place they inhabit? The festival program offered a unique combination of site-specific works, participatory projects, installations, performances, and concerts.
The program was curated by Anne Marqvardsen and Anna Berit Asp Christensen and guest curator for the exhibition programm was the Belgian/Dutch artist Cathy Van Eck.
Programme and Artists
ALESSANDRO PERINI (IT/SE), ANDERS VINTHER (DK), ANTONIUS KETTERER (DE), ANTONY MAIORANA (US), ARNE BJERHAGEN HERTZ (NO), CHRISTA FORSTER (DE), CIRCUIT (FR), CLARISSE CHOLOU (FR), DENMARK WANTS TO PLAY (DK), EVA LOFTS (DK), LÆNKØR (DK), HENNING LUNDKVIST (SE), ISABELLA FORSMAN (DK), JOELLE TUERLINCKX (BE), LARS GREVE (DK), LOUISE ALENIUS (DK), LUIS SEGREDO (ES), MAGDA MAYAS (DE), MARCELA LUCATELLI (DK/BR), MARIE BJØRN (DK), MAYA VERLAINE (DE), RASMUS JENSEN (DK), SCENATET (DK), SIEMENS (BE), SIMON LØVENDAHL (DK), SØS GUNVER RYBERG (DK), THE BIG NEIGHBORHOOD ORCHESTRA (INT).
View the program book for SPOR Festival 2018 here.
SPOR 2017: EPIPHANY
From 10 - 14 May 2017, the doors were opened again in Aarhus to SPOR festival's universe of new experimental music and sound art, this time framed by the theme EPIPHANY, which delved into the magic and mystery of everyday life. With the theme, SPOR wanted to investigate how everyday life unfolds on the border between private and public space, and how in this borderland and jumble of social and physical interactions (either slowly or) suddenly, magical surprises and revelations can arise.
The programme was curated by Anna Berit Asp Christensen and Anne Marqvardsen.
ProgramME & artists
Nico Sauer (DE), Brigitta Muntendorf (DE), Ensemble Garage (DE), Zeno van den Broek (NL), Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir (IS), Jagoda Szmytka (PL), Sandra Boss (DK), Ea Borre (DK), Manos Tsangaris (DE), Bent Sørensen (DK), Tomas Espedal (NO), POING (NO), Matthew Rogers (GB), Christian W. Christensen (DK), Leo Hofmann (CH/DE), Caroline Louise Miller (US), Alexander Khubeev (RU), Egyptian Females Experimental Music Session (EG), SCENATET (DK), Århus Sinfonietta (DK) og mange flere.
Find programme book. for SPOR festival 2017 here.
SPOR 2016: WYSI(N)WYG!
SPOR festival 2016 took place in Aarhus between the 8th and the 15th of May, presenting an abundant concert program, an ambitious exhibition program and a film program. Under the theme and acronym WYSI(N)WYG, the festival explored the connection and the boarder between the physical and the digital realities. A wide range of both national and international artists were presented and joined the exploration and rethinking of the connection between sound, video, performance and scenography, while the audience was invited to get lost in the extrasensory and contrasted works of music and art.
The guest curator of SPOR festival 2016 was the Belgian ensemble Nadar Ensemble.
Program og kunstnere
At SPOR festival 2016 a wide range of national as well as international artists were presented:
Lawrence Malstaff (BE), Agostiono Scipio (IT), Nadar Ensemble (BE), SCENATET (DK), asamisimasa (NO), Zachary Oberzan (US), Natacha Diels (US), Rama Gottfried (US), Christian Skjødt (DK), Allessandro Perini (IT), Leo Hofmann (CH), Jessie Marino (US), Stefan Prins (BE), Alexander Schubert (DE), Eva Reiter (AT), Kaj Duncan David (DK/GB), Michael Beil (DE), Jeppe Ernst (DK), Jennifer Walshe (IE), Mirela Ivicevic (HR/AT), Mathias Kranebitter (AT), Vitalija Glovackyte (LT/GB), Michael Cutting (UK) and many more.
SPOR 2015: STAGING THE SOUND!
2015 was the year where SPOR festival celebrated its 10-year anniversary. It was celebrated in Aarhus May 7-10th with a packed festival program, which that year was all about allowing artists to rethink and update opera, musical theatre and the history of music.
In 2015 we experienced music and art in brand new ways, when both Danish and international artists challenged and interpreted the traditional practices found within opera and musical drama; we discovered brand new scenographic instruments, 1800Century Lieder expressed in new ways and rewriting of the music history we thought, we knew.
The guest curator in 2015 was the danish composer Simon Steen-Andersen,
Program & artists
On the 10th year of SPOR festival, we had the pleasure to present both international and danish artists;
Ensemble Adapter (DE), Simon Steen-Andersen (DK), Francois Sarhan (FR), Eivind Buene (NO), Ning (NO), Jennifer Walshe/Grúpat (IR), Simon Løffler (DK), Phill Nilblock (US) & Loré Lixenberg, (UK), Matthew Shlomowitz (UK/AUS), Mette Nielsen (DK), Kammerelektronik (DE), Ensemble Ascolta (DE), Sisters Hope (DK), Niklas Seidl (DE), Christina Messner (DE), Jamie Hamilton (UK) and many more..
SPOR 2014: DO IT ANYWAY!
SPOR 2014: DO IT ANYWAY was inspired by the American music and art scene, with particular focus on New York, which for many years has been characterized by a wide variety of independent artists. Through concerts, sound installations, performances and workshops SPOR festival created a social space for exchange between audience and artists and a visionary platform that demonstrates the potential of new music on the contemporary art scene.
Composer and artist Jennifer Walshe (IR) was the guest curator of SPOR festival 2014.
Program & artists
SPOR 2014 presented both Danish and international artists; Christian Winther Christensen (DK), Cikada String Quartet (NO), David Bird (UK), James Andean (FI), James Saunders (UK), Jennifer Walshe (IR), Jens Peter Møller (DK), Jeppe Just Instituttet (DK), Jessie Marino (US), Jonathan Marmor (US), Juliana Hodkinson (UK), Kaj Duncan David (DK), Lasse Schwanenflügel Piasecki (DK), Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri (GR), Mark Knoop (AUS), Martins Baumanis (LV), Mimitabu (SE), Morten Riis (DK), Niels Rønsholdt (DK), Object Collection (US), Paul McGuire (IR), Pe Lang (CH), Regin Petersen (DK), SCENATET (DK), Serge Vuille (CH), Simon Løffler (DK), Tony Conrad (US), Ylva Lund Bergner (SE).
SPOR 2013: TACET!
I 2013 SPOR invited the audience to explore the peripheries of music. It was possible to hear musical fragments and listen to music with your teeth enjoying new works in brand new concert forms. The theme at SPOR 2013 is the relationship between sound and context - between sound, and those things that surround sound itself, such as silence. The audience experienced how silence and sound ruthlessly exposed their respective limits and sharpened their hearing.
The guest curator in 2013 was composer Juliana Hodkinson (UK/DK).
ProgramME & artists
SPOR 2013 presented Danish as well as international artists like Sarah Nemtsov (DE), Yannis Kyriakides (CY), Manos Tsangaris (DE) Simon Steen-Andersen (DK), Claudia Molitor (UK), Niels Rønsholdt (DK), Århus Sinfonietta (DK), Martyna Poznanska (PO), Enno Poppe (DE), Kirsten Reese (DE), Jacob Kirkegaard (DK), Crys Cole (CA), Kroger Kvartetten (DK), Erik Bünger (SE), Ernst Surberg (DE), Håkon Stene (NO), SCENATET 2013 (DK), Lula Romero (ES), Christian Winther Christensen (DK), Petteri Pitko (FIN), Abel Paúl (DE), Simon Løffler (DK), Matthias Schack-Arnott (AUS), Duo Cacio e Pepe (DK/ES), Karolina Öhman (SE), Klaus Lang (AU), Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri (GR), Wolfgang Heiniger (CH) mad Seth Kim-Cohen (US).
SPOR 2012: SPEAK UP
SPOR festival 2012 presented artists from all over the world, with compositions, installations and performances relating to this year’s theme: Folk culture. The festival reflected on cultural conceptions and ideological trends, and discusses topical societal issues within an art-musical optic. Contemporary trends were mixed with old – and perhaps forgotten – traditions, while concepts and phenomena such as protest demonstrations, passive consumerism and noise-art were given a close (loving) look.
The guest curator in 2012 was composer Lars Petter Hagen (NO).
ProgramME & artists
SPOR 2012 presented a great many works by recognised Danish and international artists – young talents as well as established artists – within new music and sound-art: Marina Rosenfeld (US), Bent Sørensen (DK), Johannes Kreidler (DE), Franck Leibovici (FR), Dreamers Circus (DK), Elle-Mie Ejdrup Hansen/Marie Højlund (DK), Simon Christensen (DK), S.L.Á.T.U.R. (IS), Eyvind Guldbrandsen/Jullie Hjetland (NO/DK), Hugo Morales (MX/NL), Hafdis Bjarnadottir (IS), Pascal Jardry (SE)/Anna Koch (SE)/Claudia Molitor (UK), Trio Gàman (DK), Kaj Aune (DK), Teitur (FO), Ensemble Zwischentöne (DE), Kundi Bombo (DK) Lina Lapelyte (LT/UK), Anat Ben-David (UK/IL), SCENATET (DK) and Valerie Tevere & Angel Nevarez (US).
SPOR 2011: TOUCH ME
SPOR 2011 was 4 days of sensuous musical challenges. We placed focus on physicality in contemporary art music and sound art and investigated relations between sound, movement, sensory perception and the body. The audience discovered the body becoming a resonant space and they saw how the body took on the form of a sound-sculpture. Musicians was pressed to physically impossible and uncontrollable actions.
The guest curators for SPOR 2011 was 3 leading institutions from Berlin: Kammerensemble Neue Musik, Singuhr Hörgalerie and Ausland.
ProgramME & artists
SPOR 2011 presented a range of works and experiences by recognized local and international as well as young talents within the fields of dance, music and sound art; amongst others: Benoit Maubrey (US/DE), Bent Sørensen (DK), Ellen Fellmann (DE), Joanna Bailie (UK/BE), Joel Cahen (IL/UK), Juliana Hodkinson (UK), Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin (DE), Lynn Pook (FR/DE), Mette Ingvartsen (DK), MoHa (NO), Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (DK), Simon Steen-Andersen (DK), Sven Åke Johansson (SE/DE), Voz Nueva (DK) and many more.
SPOR 2010: EXPLODED MUSIC
SPOR 2010 was a festival of 'exploded music'. Friday 7th May to Sunday 9th May the audience's could experience musical works, which dismantled and challenged the musical expression through other media: Movement, environment and the visual. The focus point was musical translations which not only mimed, but rather reinforced the musical expression through other practices.
SPOR 2010 was curated by the British composer Joanna Bailie.
ProgramME & artists
SPOR 2010 presented composers, ensembles and sound artists: Peter Ablinger (AT), Trond Reinholdtsen (NO), Mozart(!), Åsa Stjerna (SE), Jacob Kirkegaard (DK), Morten Riis (DK), Jana Winderen (NO), Aarhus Sinfonietta (DK), SCENATET (DK), Trio Aristos (DK), Tape That (BE/NE), David Helbich (DE), Páll Ivan Pálsson (IS), Christopher Fox (UK), Jonas Olesen (DK), Helmut Lachenmann (DE), Xavier Le Roy (FR/DE) among others.
SPOR 2009: PUBLIC DISTURBANCE
SPOR 2009 took place 7, 8, 9 May. The music was heard in Århus’ city-space and the three festival days presented street criers in the Old Town, works in the city-space, a Georgian male choir in the open and much more. With the human voice and public city-space as a point of departure the program presented both promising young and internationally recognized composers from locally and abroad.
SPOR 2009 was curated by the danish composer Bent Sørensen.
ProgramME & artists 2009
SPOR 2009 presented Georges Aperghis (Gr/Fr), Beat Furrer (Au), Helmut Oehring (De), Erik Bünger (S), Niels Rønsholdt (DK), Christian Winther Christensen (DK), Neue Vocalsolisten (D), Rustavi Choir (Ge), FIGURA (DK), Esbjerg Ensemble (DK), SCENATET (DK), Århus Symphony Orchestra, Jakob Kullberg and Lore Lixenberg amongst others.
SPOR 2008: THE 24HOUR EXPERIMENT
SPOR 2008 was a 24 Hour Experiment with concerts, sound installations, video art, workshops, eating and overnight accommodation. The festival started May 9th at 16:00 and ended precisly 24 hours later. It all happened in the Concert Hall Aarhus.
The festival was curated by Anna Berit Asp Christensen and Anne Marqvardsen.
ProgramME & artists
SPOR 2008 presented Vienna Vegetable Orchestra (Au), Staalplaat Soundsystem (NL), asamisimasa (N), Rebecca Saunders (UK), Hanna Hartmann (S), Curious Chambers Players (S), Brandon Labelle (US/DK), Carl Emil Carlsen (DK),DYGONG (DK), SCENATET (DK), Aarhus Symphonic Orchestra and many more.
SPOR 2007: COMPOSING WHAT?
SPOR 2007 took place from May 10th -13th and was curated by Anna Berit Asp Christensen and Anne Marqvardsen. With the title COMPOSING WHAT?, the festival challenged the traditional concert and sought after alternative forms of presentation. COMPOSING WHAT? focused on the performing composer and called for participation and commitment.
ProgramME & artists
The artists who took part were amongst the top international representatives of their fields: Christian Marclay (USA), Zeena Parkins (USA), Ikue Mori (USA) Natasha Barrett (No), Benedict Mason (UK), Cecile Babiole (F), Kaj Aune (No), djTRIO, Atau Tanaka (Ja), Ivo Nilsson (S), SENSORS_SONICS_SIGHTS (F/Ja), Frank Ollu (F), erikm (F) and Jennifer Walshe (Ir). Denmark was represented by Jacob Anderskov, Bjørn Svin, Juliana Hodkinson, Maria-Laurette Friis, Jonas Olesen, Jakob Riis, Henriette Groth, Braad Owe, The Ghettoblaster Ensemble, Ensemble 2000 and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.
SPOR 2006
SPOR 2006 took place from the 4th to 7th of May and was curated by the British composer Edward Jessen. SPOR festival 2006 focused on the ability of sound to tell its own story.
SPOR 2005
The first SPOR festival was curated by the Danish composer Niels Rønsholdt. It took place from the 4th to the 8th of May 2005.