Asamisimasa was founded in 2002 by musicians sharing a passion and interest in avant-garde music and its history. Since then, the ensemble has premiered numerous cross-media works especially written for them, often contextualised with classical repertoire and historical avant-garde work. Their first recording, with music by Simon Steen-Andersen, was awarded the Spellemann (“Norwegian Grammy”) in 2012 for best contemporary music record. The Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund has been among Asamismasa’s most significant collaborators. This new record, “Neon Forest Space”, marks Torvund’s first release, and is characterised by a personal and playful blend of elements from folk music, punk rock, baroque ornamentation, video game soundscapes and samples of field recordings featuring animals, forests and cars. The second part of this concert will feature the British composer Laurence Crane’s meditative work “John White in Berlin”. Asamisimasa has collaborated closely with Crane since 2008, and their first collaborative recording, “Sound of Horse”, will be released on the Belgian label Sub Rosa in January 2016. Asamisimasa is supported by Arts Council Norway.
