An evening of contemporary experimental music and sound art at Somerset House, featuring two commissioned works exploring instrumental dialogues and rhythm.

Hanne Lippard & Renato Grieco present a new work developed during their three-month residency at Somerset House Studios, supported by Goethe-Institut London and CTM Festival. Their performance stems from research into language and voice, featuring polyphonic vocal layering and tonal experimentation alongside the viola da gamba, a Renaissance stringed instrument. The work takes form as a theatrical script of overlapping dialogues and monologues interspersed with musical components.

Mark Fell & Mohammad Reza Mortazavi perform a UK debut of their collaborative work combining electronics with traditional Persian percussion. Fell, a renowned conceptual artist and composer, works with virtuoso percussionist Mortazavi, known for playing the tombak and daf and recognized as one of Iran's most prominent percussionists.

Assembly 2026 is part of Somerset House's ongoing series activating their neoclassical spaces with live concerts and audio explorations from leading practitioners in contemporary art and sound. Both performances explore the boundaries between semantic logic and rhythm, foregrounding the material conditions of sound.

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