Underskog

John Andrew Wilhite-Hannisdal has been working on a new production at Wrap with Maja Wilhite-Hannisdal. We are making the most of this visit from Oslo to bring you this edition of Audioglimt for which John Andrew has put together a trio with himself on double bass, plus Øyvind Torvund and Guoste Tamulynaite on synthesisers.
They have chosen to perform to Yakov Protazanov’s (Russian) 1924 film Aelita Queen of Mars.

Doors and bar open at 17:00
Concert starts at 17:30
Entrance: 80/60,-
Cash or VIPS (tickets and drinks)

Mars once represented otherness and hope. Outer space was a mirror that reflected only the potential of humanity, and not its weaknesses. Yakov Protazanov’s 1924 film Aelita Queen of Mars, with exquisite futurist costumes by Alexandra Ekster, is in many ways an embodiment of this vision. 
The Soviet Union’s early space program was more informed by Cosimism defence- the idea that eternal life brought by scientific advancement would necessitate immigration to colonies in space- than by any inkling of missile defence or spy satellites.  But there is already a darkness to this film; there is anxiety within the utopian dreams of outer space. The closer society came to the reality of space, the closer the mirror became, the easier it was to see our imperfections. 
John Andrew Wilhite-Hannisdal and Øyvind Torvund have made a new original score to reconceptualize the feeling of utopian potential, while reflecting upon the anxiety and claustrophobia that came with space exploration. Now with Bezos, Branson, and Musk, this mirror of space is right on our eyeball, and the inescapable caste system of late-capitalism becomes a pair of VR goggles where a dream is simultaneously the confirmation of its own inaccessibility.

John Andrew works with musicians and artists in both Europe and the Americas, performing and creating a variety of projects that both develop new techniques and reframe older and neglected material. J.A. is active in Oslo’s vibrant music scene both as a musician and arranger.
He works with composers such as Katt Hernandez, Derek Baron, Elliott Sharp and performing arts practitioners such as Finn Iunker and Carima Neusser.
J.A. draws inspiration from a wide variety of references, including the matting calls of codfish, children’s music written by philosophers, and American amateur-music composed in the 17 hundreds. His compositions and events have been presented at the Norwegian Opera House, Ultima Festival, Meteor Festival amongst others. His work has been performed by Trondheim Symphony Orchestra amongst other groups and individuals.
His has recently completed a commission for The Norwegian Opera and TOTAM which is due to be presented this year.

Øyvind Torvund is a composer and guitarist who studied composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music and Universität der Künste. He has ongoing relationship with groups such as asamisimasa, Oslo Sinfonietta and Plus-Minus ensemble, as well as the video artist Yorgos Sapountzis. He has received many awards for his work, such as Arne Nordheim’s Composer Award (2012), Edvard-award (2017) and a Spillemann award (together with BIT20 Ensemble, Trond Madsen, Kjetil Møster og Jørgen Træen for the The Exotica Album).

Guoste Tamulynaite is a musician and composer based in Oslo. She is a sought-after performer in both the contemporary music and improvisation scene, and is also active in the performing arts. She is a founding member of the composer collective Blomsterbed and is known for her work with PARA with Inga Aas, and Balconies, with amongst others Jan Martin Gismervik and Kristine Tjøgersen.