Concierto: The Acousmatic Project [Austria]

The Acousmatic Project, founded by Thomas Gorbach, is an arts organization dedicated to promoting acousmatic music—a form of sound art that places listening, in all its facets, at its core. Acousmatic compositions create sound worlds whose sources remain unseen, producing a unique, virtual listening experience. The Acousmatic Project is renowned for its exceptional multichannel loudspeaker orchestra, the Vienna Acousmonium, which makes it possible to spatially present acousmatic compositions in concert performances and installations.

Thomas Gorbach

Thomas Gorbach was born in West Austria in 1966 under the sonic influence of the enigmatic sounds from his brother’s accordion, natural sounds from his environment and the variable sounds from a synthesizer. He undertook traditional classical music studies in Switzerland specialising in oboe, composition and conducting. In 1996, he moved to Vienna to study analysis, interpretation and composition of electroacoustic music at the Electronic Music Department of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Since 2006, he has been teaching Electroacoustic Music at the TU Wien. In 2007, he started to develop Austria’s first multi-loudspeaker environment for acousmatic music – The Vienna Acousmonium – and, since then, has performed 50 corresponding concerts. In 2015, he developed the ephemeral dynamic-motion soundsculptures technique for the interpretation of acousmatic works on the acousmonium.

Martina Claussen

The composer and vocalist Martina Claussen explores and interweaves sounds from voices, sound objects, analog and digital electronics, delving into spatiality and performativity as she continuously develops her unique “sound script.” She studied computer music and electronic media at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, vocal performance at MUK Vienna, and composition at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz.

Building on her background as a classically trained singer (with performances at the Vienna Volksoper, the Musikverein, and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, among others), she has, over the past 10 years, shifted her artistic focus to electroacoustic composition and experimental vocal performance. Her work has been featured at international festivals and venues, including Ars Electronica in Linz, Wien Modern in Vienna, Musikprotokoll in Graz, Fylkingen in Stockholm, Iklectik in London, Km28 in Berlin, Festival Futura in Crest, France, the Acousmatic Festival in St. Petersburg, Musrara Mix Festival in Jerusalem, and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival.

Martina Claussen received the 2020 Publicity Award from SKE / Austro Mechana, as well as composition grants from the Austrian Federal Government in 2022 and 2023. Since 2009, she has held an associate professorship in classical voice at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.