In this special concert, GBSR Duo give the World Premiere of a newly commissioned work by Sarah Davachi, presented in partnership with d&b audiotechnik’s en-space technology.

Artists-in-Residence GBSR Duo join forces for the very first time with acclaimed Canadian composer Sarah Davachi, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music today. Known internationally for her immersive and contemplative sound worlds, Davachi’s work explores the subtle intricacies of timbre and the perception of time, drawing listeners into states of heightened attention and deep listening.

d&b audiotechnik‘s pioneering system allows acoustic environments to be shaped and transformed in real time, opening up a completely new dimension of listening in Hall Two.

About GBSR Duo

Kings Place Artists in Residence GBSR Duo – George Barton (percussion) and Siwan Rhys (piano) – combines two of the UK’s finest contemporary chamber instrumentalists.

Their work ranges from the twentieth-century modernism of Stockhausen and Ustvolskaya to music by Brian Eno and Aphex Twin; from the delicacy of Eva-Maria Houben and Barbara Monk Feldman to the cracked virtuosity of Alex Paxton and Arne Gieshoff.

Regular performers at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Bold Tendencies, other recent performances include Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, ROH Linbury Theatre, Walt Disney Hall, Stadtcasino Basel, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, sound festival Aberdeen and Darmstadt Festival.

GBSR’s recordings are praised for their exceptional fidelity and variety, whether bringing new depths of appreciation to existing repertoire through benchmark recordings of Stockhausen and Barbara Monk Feldman, or highlighting new works in premiere recordings of Oliver Leith, Eva-Maria Houben, Lisa Illean, Alex Paxton and others.

Their year as Kings Place Artists in Residence takes in celebrations of Morton Feldman and Steve Martland and exciting new large-scale works by Beatrice Dillon and Sarah Davachi. GBSR are the winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2025 Young Artist award.

About Sarah Davachi

Sarah Davachi (b. 1987, Canada) is a composer and performer whose work is concerned with the close intricacies of timbral and temporal space, utilising extended durations and considered harmonic structures that emphasise gradual variations in texture, overtone complexity, psychoacoustic phenomena, and tuning and intonation. Her compositions span solo, chamber ensemble, and acousmatic formats, incorporating a wide range of acoustic and electronic instrumentation. Similarly informed by minimalist and longform tenets, early music concepts of form and affect, as well as experimental production practices of the studio environment, in her sound is an intimate and patient experience that lessens perceptions of the familiar and the distant.

In addition to her acclaimed recorded output, Davachi has toured and performed extensively; her work has been presented internationally by Southbank Centre (London UK), Barbican Centre (London UK), INA grm (Paris FR), Kontraklang (Berlin DE), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg DE), Organ Reframed (London UK), The Museum of Modern Art (New York USA), The Getty Museum (Los Angeles USA), The Academy Museum (Los Angeles USA) to name a few.

Commissioned and ensemble projects include works for The London Contemporary Orchestra, Quatuor Bozzini, Harmonic Space Orchestra, Apartment House, Ghost Ensemble and Wild Up, In 2020, she founded Late Music, an imprint within the partner labels division of Warp Records.

For over a decade, Davachi had the unique opportunity to work for the National Music Centre in Canada as an interpreter and content developer of their collection of acoustic and electronic keyboard instruments. She holds a master’s degree in electronic music from Mills College and a doctoral degree in musicology from UCLA (with a dissertation on timbre, phenomenology, and critical organology), and is based in Los Angeles, California, USA.