Noche insular

Havana

Co-creation of an immersive concert between the creative cities of La Havana (music) and Enghien-les-bains (media arts)

“Noche insular” is a great example of dynamic interdisciplinary cooperation between cities. The concert, magnified by immersive technology, is the fruit of a collaboration between two creative cities: Havana (Cuba), a creative city in the field of music, and Enghien-les-bains (France), a creative city in the field of media arts.

José Maria Vitier, a renowned Cuban pianist and composer, and French documentary filmmaker Dominique Roland, also director of the Centre des arts of Enghien-les-bains, a city located near Paris, teamed up on this project. “I think the word ‘immersion’ is perfect to describe the concert,” explains José Maria Vitier. Thanks to digital technology, “we work with effects that are created in real time and that ultimately interact visually with the performance” of the musicians on stage, adds Domine Roland.

Installed between two canvases onto which images are projected and which also react to the movements of the music thanks to sensors, the quartet formed by the pianist and three musicians seems totally immersed in a multi-dimensional dreamlike reality celebrating Cuba and Havana. By closely linking images and music, the aim is to provoke a “new lyricism” in the spectator, adds José Maria Vitier.

The concert premiered on November 10, 2023 at the Centre des arts d’Enghien-les-Bains, and was then presented at the Havana Jazz Festival on January 20 and 21, 2024.