In the wings of the ABC, three places ... without wings
Music often plays in places that were not originally intended for it. What advantages do such spaces offer? Answers from the three halls of the ABC cultural center in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Music often plays in places that were not originally intended for it. What advantages do such spaces offer? Answers from the three halls of the ABC cultural center in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Before we delve into the virtual backdrops of the rooms that make up the ABC cultural center, we meet Yvan Cuche, the tireless and - like the rooms themselves - somewhat atypical director. A physicist by training, he has always been more interested in music that challenges and defies him than in disco music and "boum boum". He was a pioneer and president of the association for contemporary music CMC in La Chaux-de-Fonds. With the presidency of the ABC from 2008, he was given the opportunity to include other art forms while continuing to program the music whose unruliness he appreciates so much.
The Théâtre du Coq is not a henhouse
The former road construction warehouse has blossomed into an acoustic gem. The height of the wooden cube is surprising. This miniature theater for around fifty spectators is particularly suitable for concerts in an intimate setting: Solos, small ensembles, electro-acoustic projections that can be enjoyed in a deck chair. It is also regularly used as a recording venue. Thanks to these acoustics, the violist and composer Garth Knox was able to record pieces at the limits of audibility in his recital. Fritz Hauser, whose drum concert here was literally breathtaking, regretted not taking his huge gong with him, with which he produces very subtle sounds.
The German church - a cultic place becomes a place of worship
In the 19th century, La Chaux-de-Fonds was bilingual, and in 1853 a church was consecrated for the German-speakers. In 1982, jazz musicians took over the space, which had been stripped of its religious furnishings. Rather by chance, a theater performance took place - which turned out to be groundbreaking: this building, owned by the municipality, is an ideal alternative cultural space. The interior remains almost entirely as it was, with its creaking wooden gallery and pointed arched windows. The lighting system has been improved over the years and, as the operator, ABC borrows what it lacks in stage material from other theaters in the city. Gaël Chapuis, the technician, wrests unexpected qualities from the space. With a myriad of cloths and curtains, he creates tailor-made acoustics for every concert. This venue tempts the musicians to play with the space, for example by having a performer play in the gallery. Thierry Simonot simply placed his Acousmonium and an "audience" of loudspeakers in the rows of seats, while the audience sat down on the stage.
A movie for the eyes and ears
The blue and plush armchairs in this room absorb a lot of the noise. It is mainly used for projects that combine image and sound: Cinema concerts, films with live music. The innovative rock group SZ will soon be setting comic drawings to music for children aged 18 months and over.
