DRIFT

The SONIC MATTER Festival for experimental music in Zurich will take place for the fifth time from February 26 to March 1, 2026, under the motto DRIFT—an associative train of thought that creates space for current issues.

Chamber music is the focus of the festival: in the spirit of a relaxed performance, the opening concert will be designed as a Liquid Room+Plus. For one evening, contributions will be presented at various stations in a hall, flowing smoothly into one another. Flexible seating and admission times, as well as sensory cues for the various program sections, will allow the audience to tailor their concert experience to their own needs. In terms of content, the opening offers a preview of the festival days: with a solo for Paetzold flute and electronics by Anne Gillot, the Geneva ensemble Vortex, which will be represented with compositions on the theme of drift, and the Vietnamese-Swedish ensemble The Six Tones, which combines experimental approaches in Vietnamese and European music and provides insight into the work of Artist in Residence Nguyễn Thanh Thủy.

The program also includes a composers’ piano marathon and a concert by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. At Playground (working title), Zurich-based musician and composer Magda Drozd invites festival musicians to participate in a session format she has developed. Post-performance discussions and workshops on various events round out the program. The walk-in performance installation Schaufenster, created by sound artist Dimitri de Perrot and performed by the International Totem collective, offers insights into a psychological laboratory with changing role constellations during the festival, in which the audience can participate.

The SONIC MATTER Festival 2026 – DRIFT is made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
sonicmatter.ch

Dates

February 26 – March 1, 2026
Various locations, Zurich