Over 19,000 visitors to the Biennale Musica 2023 / Micro-Music

A total of 19,000 visitors (almost double the number in 2022) crowded the events of Micro Music, the 67^th International Festival of Contemporary Music of La Biennale di Venezia, which from the 16^th to 30^th of October, under the artistic direction of Lucia Ronchetti, brought to Venice the best, the new, the remarkable in electronic music of the digital age. Starting with Ships by and with Brian Eno and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, for which Biennale Musica was the leader of an international project which from Venice set sail for the European cities of Berlin, Paris, Utrecht and London, where it will close today, October 30^th, at the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre.

A “bold and highly original” edition (Il Corriere della Sera), “the watershed year”, marked by an “enthusiastic success which has confirmed the felicitous choice of the director Lucia Ronchetti to organize a Biennale Musica with no ideological preclusions, investigating the vital and extensive archipelago of contemporary electronic music” (Il Giornale). And more: a “change of pace” (il manifesto), “a seductive liveliness” (Die Zeit), a Biennale Musica which “will remain in the annals of the event as a point of reference” (RSI). These are just some of the opinions that summarise an edition that was memorable in many ways, starting with the presence of an exceptionally ample and transverse audience and press corps.

The Festival ends today, October 30th, in Sala delle colonne at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale, with the award ceremony for the Best Production and Best Performance of the 67^th International Festival of Contemporary Music. The award will be attributed by the Jury of Italian Conservatoire students from across Italy led by the composer and musicologist Jacopo Caneva. Now in its third edition, the Jury responds “to the need – according to Lucia Ronchetti – to come into contact with the audiences of the new generations, actively involving them in the discussion about the current musical scene presented by Biennale Musica in encounters, debates and discussions that will make the Festival a more fertile and dynamic platform”.

The prize for Best Production is awarded to CBM 8032 AV  by Robert Henke “for the ways in which the artist handled a complex and deliberately archaic orchestration, drawing from it a composition that is both contemporary and convincing in terms of construction and sound treatment. The project stands out in particular for sending a considerably inspired and significant message, with great communicative power, to today’s world of music: believe in yourself and in your personal creativity, to the point of transfiguring the technical limits of the means you are using, an apparent flaw, into an infinite network of possibilities and musical expressions”.

The prize for Best Performance is awarded to the Ictus Ensemble, “the protagonist of the performance of 1979 by Joanna Bailie and Professor Bad Trip by Fausto Romitelli. During the performance of the latter in particular, the ensemble demonstrated absolute technical precision and full expressive mastery; furthermore, the electronics by Jean-Luc Plouvier merged flawlessly with the sound of the instrumental ensemble, doing full justice to the compositional and aesthetic complexity of Romitelli’s music and offering the audience of La Biennale a concert they will always remember”.

We would like to thank the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities for its important contribution and the Regione del Veneto for the support they provide to the programmes of the Music Department of La Biennale di Venezia.

We would like to thank for their collaboration the City of Venice – Culture Department, the Fondazione Teatro La Fenice, the Conservatorio B. Marcello, the Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi, IRCCS Ospedale San Camillo del Lido di Venezia, the Parishes of San Trovaso and San Salvador, the Basilica di San Pietro di Castello, the Fondazione Forte Marghera.

Rai is the Festival’s Media Partner. Through its news channels and Rai Cultura – in particular channel Rai 5 and especially Radio3 with its radio shows Lezioni di musica, Radio Tre Suite, Battiti – it has reported on and will continue to report in the future on the activities of Biennale Musica 2023.

The established collaboration with Vela – VeneziaUnica, mobility and marketing company of the City of Venice, continues with an agreement aimed at a mutual exchange in terms of promotion and visibility.