Synopsis
Based on the Heraclitean metaphor of water - a symbol of movement and impermanence - the project proposes a dialogue between augmented clarinet (MAD Clarinet) and malletstation, in a continuous interaction between instrumental gesture and visual flow.
The performers, Rui Travasso and Vasco Ramalho, explore the tension between the organic and the digital, the acoustic and the electronic, fusing the timbre of the clarinet processed in real time with the percussive and harmonic textures of the malletstation. The sound becomes a liquid body, reacting and interacting with projected images - captured by drone and edited from aquatic elements - on which poetic fragments inspired by Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BC) are inscribed.
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Biographies
Rui Travasso
He has a PhD in Digital Media Arts (UAb/UAlg), is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja, and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Open University. His research crosses performing arts, multimedia communication and interactive technology, with a focus on instrumental expansion and performance ecologies mediated by algorithms, as well as pedagogy related to Audiovisual and Media Production.
He has participated in projects funded by DGArtes and the GDA Foundation, integrating artistic production and applied research. His artistic practice includes a decade as head of the clarinet section in the Algarve Orchestra, interactive performances, audiovisual systems, sound experimentation with an emphasis on inclusion and cultural mediation, and he has published over a hundred tracks.
Vasco Ramalho
Born in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Vasco Ramalho holds a Master's Degree in Percussion/Interpretation (2024) and a Degree in Percussion/Teaching (2005) from the University of Évora in the class of Professor Eduardo Lopes. He completed a postgraduate course in solo marimba at the Royal Conservatory Antwerp - Belgium in the class of Dr Ludwig Albert (2008) and attended the PhD in Digital Media Art at the University of the Algarve / Universidade Aberta.
He is the artistic director of the Évora International Percussion Festival, the Portimão Percussion Days and the Artes S(em)Palco Festival. In July 2017 he recorded his first CD, Vasco Ramalho - Essências de Marimba, Fados & Choros.
As a teacher, he teaches at the Loulé Conservatory of Music and is a visiting assistant professor at the University of Évora. Since 2013 he has been an Adams artist, one of the world's leading percussion instrument brands. He is a PhD candidate in Music and Musicology at the University of Évora. In 2023 he was awarded the medal of cultural merit by the municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz.
