A journey through the works of composer Christophe Havard.

The project aims to create a region-wide listening experience centered on composer Christophe Havard and his unique approach as a composer working in the field. This experience is structured around four new works, their performances, and the accompanying outreach activities: 

— An immersive and overwhelming theatrical performance exploring the challenges facing a region—the Camargue in the face of rising sea levels—with Le Citron Jaune: *Delta*;

— A sound installation, in collaboration with the GMEM — National Center for Musical Creation: Why do you create? ;

— A lighthearted take on the rules of composition, blending sound design and object theater, with the Groupe n+1 team at the Vélo Théâtre: *Dans les règles de l’art*;

— The creation of a concert recounting the composer’s adventures and sonic explorations with the n+1 Group in various regions, at the Studio d’en Haut: n+1 The Band.

“There are places that are an integral part of my creative process. Of course, there’s my ‘everyday’ playground: the city of Saint-Nazaire, where I live, with its port, shipyards, petrochemical industry, protected wetlands, and the ocean… There’s also America, which I’ve often traveled through to perform, collect sounds, and find inspiration. And many other places I’ve only passed through—for a few days, a few weeks. And then there’s a little corner of Provence where I’ve often listened and recorded during the summer, and whose sounds I’ve incorporated into my work. But it’s more recently, as I’ve embarked on adventures with Groupe n+1, that I’ve discovered sun-drenched landscapes, mountains, and a new sea. It’s an immense privilege to be able to return to the same place, to try to understand it, to daydream through it, and perhaps to get to know it a little better. 

The projects presented below reflect, in one way or another, these explorations. They address rules and laws, the creative act, rising water levels in the Camargue, and living things. They are at once musical, narrative, and “sonographic,” performed as solos or in trios. Our tools include microphones, digital and analog tape recorders, sound-producing objects, the voice, the synthesizer, the guitar, and, of course, a variety of controllers for sensitively manipulating the collected sound materials.”
Christophe Havard