SU Studio Talk 80: Eugene Ughetti – Pigeons and the Traps Machine: Musical instruments as collaborators

Eugene Ughetti is the co-artistic director of Speak Percussion. Eugene is known for tackling complex and ambitious art music projects whether as director, composer, performer or conductor. He has worked with some of the world’s guiding lights in new music including Pierre Boulez, Liza Lim, Steve Reich and John Zorn.Eugene’s works have been presented at Darmstadt (Germany), Roulette (New York), SONICA (UK), Ruhrtriennale (Germany), Mona Foma (Hobart), Arts Centre Melbourne, Sydney Festival, RISING, Transart (Italy), Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), Noordezon Festival (The Netherlands), PICA (Perth), SIPFest (Jakarta), National Museum (Singapore), George Town Festival (Malaysia) among others.

Eugene’s Sounds Unheard Studio Talk series, “What is a musical instrument?”, looks at his philosophy of musical instruments. Over 4 episodes Eugene explores how any object can be rendered a musical instrument through an inseparable combination of materials, semiotics, and practices, Where material refers to physical substance, including its form and structure; semiotics encompasses all the things an instrument refers to, points to, or symbolizes and practice refers to the physical actions and manipulations involved in producing sound.

In this episode, Pigeons & the Trap Machine: Musical instruments as collaborators, Eugene discusses his latest artistic project, Pigeons, as an example of how his philosophy of musical instruments informs his performance and composition works. Pigeons is a 75-minute theatrical music piece for two percussionists that is premiering at RISING Festival, 13 – 14 June, 2025

For more information on Pigeons, please visit: https://www.speakpercussion.com/work/pigeons/

To purchase tickets to the premiere of Pigeons, please visit: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/whats-on/current-productions/pigeons

Thank you for joining us for Eugene Ughetti’s Studio Talks Series, ‘What is a musical instrument?’. For more information on Eugene, please visit www.speakpercussion.com

[Photo © Jess Busby]