Musicians and artists from around the world are set to descend on Glasgow this September as an “unmissable highlight” on the city’s “cultural calendar”.
Sonica 2024 will kick off on 19 September and run for a total of 11 days, featuring a range of Scottish talent at various venues around the city, as well as artists from countries such as Australia, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The event will kick off with a performance from Alessandro Cortini, touring member of American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, giving the Scottish premiere of his Nati Infiniti project.
Other live highlights across the 11 days include a free-entry live concert at the Burrell Collection, where the RSNO will present the Scottish premiere of John Luther Adams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Become Ocean”, accompanied by kaleidoscopic live footage from legendary programmer Alba G Corral.
The festival will also feature first UK performances from Myanmar spacey electronic artist and genre film enthusiast Heft and Dutch queer, warped classical pop duo No Plexus.
There will also be three Quebec artists from Montreal’s renowned MUTEK festival, as well as a futuristic cyborg pop concert by Danish music ensemble NEKO3 and German multimedia composer Alexander Schubert.
According to organisers, the festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of Cryptic, a Glasgow-based creative company known for its audiovisual art.
Cryptic’s founding artistic director Cathy Boyd said: “Sonica 2024 will be the culmination of Cryptic’s incredible 30th anniversary, which began in Glasgow in 1994.”
“The event will showcase everything Cryptic has become known for – introducing cutting edge internationally renowned artists to Scottish audiences and providing an ambitious platform for Scottish artists to rub shoulders with them.”
She added: “All festival installations are completely free to experience and some live events can be paid for as much as you like, so we encourage everyone to come along, experience Sonica 2024 and celebrate 30 years of Cryptic in Glasgow for themselves.”
“From a virtual reality tour that shows Glasgow’s history from a whole new perspective, to a sideways grand piano that plays itself using passing traffic, to a visual journey that expands your horizons on the biggest screen in Scotland, this is a unique opportunity to see some of the world’s most original artists up close and personal.”
Katie Duffy, senior projects and programmes manager at Glasgow Life, said: “Sonica 2024’s programme is a showcase of exciting and diverse work from some of the world’s most innovative music and audiovisual producers, along with some of our best home-grown talent.”
“Offering a wealth of unique multimedia experiences, outstanding performances, premieres and international collaborations, the festival is set to be an unmissable highlight of Glasgow’s cultural calendar this year.”
All installations are free and no ticket is required, but other live events will require you to pay what you can afford, ranging from £8 to £30.
Book online at sonic-a.co.uk or in person at City Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Tramway or by calling 0845 330 3501.
The full list can be found at sonic-a.co.uk