Ibon RG and Enrike Hurtado will play at Mengi

On April 6th, musicians Ibon RG and Enrike Hurtado invite you to a unique concert in Mengi where they will bring together tradition and experimentation. They use piano, voice, computer and txalaparta. For those who don’t know, the txalaparta is a wooden Basque percussion instrument often used in celebrations. The name of the instrument is believed to refer to “racket”, which relates to the sound of the instrument.

Ibon and Enrike are a part of the local experimental music scene in the Basque Country and together they collaborated on an album called “oMOrruMUbaMAt” in 2021. They have continued to make music using the txalaparta with the spirit of free improv and experimental music, and are planning on performing new pieces at the Mengi concert.

See a live performance on Basque TV here

The oMOrruMUbaMAt album is based on the artistic work of the basque poet and musician Joxan Artze and in addition to using poems from Artze’s most experimental period, the authors have mixed electronics and traditional instruments and singing to produce several pieces that live in between tradition and experimentation.

Listen to an experimental “prepared txalaparta” track here

Doors open at 7:30 PM

Concert starts at 8:00 PM

Tickets at door: 2.500 kr.

1.000 kr. for students, elderly and disabled

The IIL is also hosting a Reykjavik workshop about the txalaparta on April 11th. https://iil.is/news/txalaparta_dynjandi