A full programme for this festival can be found here
‘THE SOUND OF SANCTUARY’, an installation will appear at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, throughout the festival.
Tropical rain forests hold a special place in our imaginations. They sustain myriad life forms yet retain a mysterious sense of presence. A place of marvels where we sometimes fear to tread. Chris Watson, one of the world’s greatest sound artists and sound recordists has produced, in real time, ‘The Sound of Sanctuary’, re-creating the sounds and atmosphere to be experienced at sunrise in the Amber Mountain rain forest of Northern Madagascar within the beautiful acoustics of Holy Trinity church at Goodramgate. This will be a contemplative installation which combines some of the common elements of these two very different sites to produce an inspiring and reflective soundscape. The internal architecture and sound of Holy Trinity has similarities to the deep forest acoustic of dense tropical rain forest. Specially recorded location surround sound will fill the space and immerse the listener in the slow drip of time. The sounds of one ancient place played in another. Come inside and take a walk in one of the most remarkable habitats on earth.
‘MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS’ – LIVE, at the Marquee in Parliament Street on 13th September 2007
The Kalahari desert is a vast open space where over 85% of the wildlife is nocturnal. After sunset the dunes, grasses and thorn bushes are patrolled by an alien empire – the insects. ‘Midnight at the Oasis’ presents an un-seen soundscape from a beautiful and hostile environment. In a live mixing Chris Watson, one of the world’s greatest sound artists and sound recordists, will create a 20 minute time compression from sunset to sunrise in South Africa’s Kalahari desert. Within the neutral acoustic space of a canvass marquee in the centre of York the listener will be transported and then surrounded by the unique and delicate nocturnal sonic detail recorded in this remote habitat.