Performing with instrmnts

Many of Gama’s compositions are part of larger conceptual projects that explore social, historical, and environmental themes. He uses his music and instruments to tell stories of significant importance in regions as diverse as the deserts of Southern Africa, Antarctica or the rain forests of the Amazon, making his work not just musically compelling but engaging on many levels.

”I’m at the World New Music Days in South Africa and Victor gave a stand out performance earlier this afternoon at The Centre for the Less Good Idea (a space set up by William Kentridge) – a kind of media opera without singers, but powerfully charged (yet gently so) for our current times.”

Ed McKeon, Third Ear UK

 

tectonik.TOMBWA – pieces for acrux and toha

solo concert, Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Bloomington, Indiana

In tectonic.Tombwa, Victor Gama  develops a sound palette using his unique set of musical instruments as exclusive sound libraries, squaring the circle between Southern African polyrhythmic patterns and ostinato, particularly from Angola. Exploring the potential of electroacoustic music, blending acoustic sounds with electronic processing and manipulation, his experimentation with sound textures and timbres adds depth and complexity to his compositions.

The Acrux is celebrating twenty-five years in existence. It’s part of a broader theory that argues for the continuity of the same processes that gave us traditional musical instruments, now developed in the 21st century within the context of current digital technologies.


VELA 6911 – a Diary of Antarctica

ensemble concert for acrux, toha, dino

VELA 6911 is a piece written by Victor Gama based on the diary of Lindsey Rooke, an officer who was part of a secret nuclear test undertaken by South Africa in 1979. The piece was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and premiered at Harris Theater as part of the CSO’s MusicNOW concert series. It had its European premiere at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

Written for eight orchestral instruments and Victor Gama’s own instruments acrux, toha and dino, the piece was conducted in Chicago by Cliff Colnot and in Portugal by Rui Pinheiro with Portuguese harpist Salomé Pais Matos playing toha with Gama. The video component was shot by Gama in Antarctica on a research trip closely following Lindsey’s diary during January 2012.

The musical score, inspired by Lindsey’s diary, is accompanied by a series of video clips captured by Gama in Antarctica, which are projected during the performance. The video also features a collection of observations from scientific stations in Antarctica, showcasing what she might have witnessed along her journey, including the ocean, icebergs, whales, albatrosses, and various natural phenomena such as the aurora australis, storms, lightning, and thunder.


3 thousand RIVERS – Voices in the Forest

multimedia opera with ensemble, percussion and acrux, toha, dino.

3 thousand RIVERS is a multimedia opera that offers an insider’s perspective on the dramatic environmental and social impacts of the current wave of industrialization underway in the rain forests of the Amazon in Colombia and Brazil. Composed by Gama in collaboration with local communities and artists who live along some of the main rivers in the Putumayo, Caquetá, Chocó, Pará and developed in close cooperation and support from environmental and artist’s organizations PangeiArt, Amazon Conservation Team Colombia, Mas Arte Mas Acción and Flora ars+natura based in Bogotá. It was commissioned by the Prince Claus Fund and Gulbenkian Música.

Go to the opera

La Reina

Narrates the story of the Tucuruí hydroelectric dam in the Amazonian state of Pará Brazil. The dam flooded and swallowed an entire forest when it was built decades ago but today, many dead trees stand above the water, their bare branches testimony to how, year after year, the lake is gradually drying up.

Forest Diaries #2

Act 1 scene 6 & 7- A mother loses her child to the waters of the Cascabel river in the mountains of the Andes that feeds the Caquetá river leading to the Amazon basin. Scene 9 features maestro Genaro Torres at his workshop in the Guapi river on the Colombia Pacific coast.


If you are interested in any aspect of our exhibition, from details on specific instruments to booking options with concerts included or custom designs for museums or educational programs, talk to us.

  • victorgama@pangeiart.org
  • Loods 6, KNSM-laan 155
    Amsterdam 1019 LC

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A PangeiArt series of next generation musical instruments to inspire creativity, sharing and music for all.

 

 

 

Contact

Loods 6
KNSM-laan 155
Amsterdam 1019 LC
victorgama@pangeiart.org

www.pangeiart.org

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