Umut Eldem

 

I am a composer and a musician based in Antwerp. I act as the musical director of the theatre group Mixed & United. Currently I am studying for my Master's degree in Choral Conducting and doing my research and PhD studies in Composition about using colour and light as a cross-sensory metaphor for musical language.


I would like to do a performance lasting about 30 minutes. It is based on (and the output) my Startproject in the Conservatoire of Antwerp: “Synaesthesia and Sound-colour Associations as An Interdisciplinary Metaphor”. It will have a musician and a narrator. I will be collaborating with Atilla Filiz for the narration and the text. The text is based on the ancient creation myths all throughout the world, a story told by many viewpoints across all continents, with the music, the soundscape, and the colour lights depicting the creation in tandem. The music and the soundscape composed and the colours used are from the results of my research, an amalgam of the experiences of artists with Synaesthesia, a condition which enabled them to see colours when they heard music. The idea is to create an atmospheric experience for multiple senses, based on a story that we all share no matter the culture. The performance makes use of a piano, 4 speakers, a laptop, and colour lighting.