Events
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Into the Open 2025: Embracing Rituals in a Sensory Odyssey

Germain Zambi.

Save The Date – 28 January – 2 February 2025, at Kühlhaus Berlin. Into the Open, the interdisciplinary festival uniting music, theatre, dance, and performance, invites you to an extraordinary interdisciplinary festival, redefining the classical music experience as it converges with diverse artistic forms. This immersive exploration weaves together electronic music, visual arts, multimedia installations, dance, light design, and experimental film, poised to resonate with art enthusiasts across various spectrums.

Tickets
www.intotheopen.eu

“Our vision is to reimagine classical music within exhilarating contexts, creating multimedia concert experiences that engage all senses,” says the festival curator. Spring 2025 marks the launch of the festival’s third edition in Berlin, promising an electrifying lineup. Six concerts will feature luminaries such as Francesco Tristano, the International Ensemble Modern Academy, Opus Klassik Award winner Martynas Levickis, and the Sokhumi State Drama Theatre, alongside vibrant voices from the independent art scene.

With international influences from Lithuania, France, Georgia, South Africa, and Luxembourg, this year’s festival will also unveil three world premieres of compositions crafted specifically for the event, showcasing its unique interdisciplinary essence. Each day, Kühlhaus Berlin will be transformed into a captivating arena, inviting audiences into a world of spectacular artistic expression.

Photo Hugo Van Rechem

The 2025 festival theme — Rituals — delves into the heart of human culture, celebrating connections to history, emotions, and spirituality. From ancient ceremonies to contemporary practices, rituals serve as powerful expressions of individual and collective identity. Through music and performance, Into the Open 2025 will investigate how rituals transcend the boundaries of time and space, fostering a dynamic playground where personal and communal experiences intertwine. This festival promises to be a space for celebration, exchange, and reflection on the vital role music plays in crafting and sustaining Rituals.

Day 1: Tuesday, 28.01.25, 7-9:30pm

OPENING – Martynas Levickis x Mikroorkéstra

Opening Act, 7pm: Transfigured – Cocoon-Performance for cello solo by Julia Biłat, cello
This performance is a journey of transformation, where the cello becomes a vessel for rebirth—unravelling from the depths of a cocoon, bridging worlds, and giving life to the body of music itself.

“In funerary rituals, wrapping the body in fabric symbolizes the passage from one world to another and the separation of the physical from the soul. After enduring minutes, I unravel from the depths of a cocoon, as if tangled in an umbilical cord—suffocating yet nurturing, much like classical music has always been for me. I reemerge through sound with a large-scale cello improvisation. I am not here to play a cello recital; I am here to give birth to the body of music.” – Julia Biłat

Concert, 7:30-9pm
Martynas Levickis: Rain
Johann Sebastian Bach: Adagio (BWV 974)
Philip Glass: Etude No. 6
Franck Angelis: Impasse I
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Hugo van Rechem: kollektive MAL(A)K(h)UT(h) – dream crafting for vocal ensemble, piano & percussion (World premiere, commissioned by ITO)

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Karl Jenkins: Palladio, 1st Movement (Arrangement by Martynas Levickis)
Martynas Levickis: Folk Song Suite
Antonio Vivaldi: Excerpts from the Seasons


Artists
Part 1

Part 2

Day 2: Wednesday, 29.01.25, 7:30

Special Event: To be announced soon

Alex Paxton. Photo. by Elischa Kaminer

Day 3: Thursday, 30.01.25, 7:30-9 pm

Yakish & Poupche – Sokhumi State Drama Theatre

In Hanoch Levin’s darkly comedic farce, directed and adapted by David Sakvarelidze, Yakish and Poupche, two misfits marked by fate, come together to fulfil their families’ wish for a “fruitful” marriage. However, it quickly becomes clear that the two are more than a little clumsy when it comes to matters of love and their obligations.

In the twisted world of “Yakish and Poupche,” fate plays matchmaker, but Cupid seems to have missed his aim! Yakish, a poor and rather peculiar fellow, is paired with Poupche, an equally unfortunate match in both looks and luck. As their families eagerly await the couple’s “fruitful” union, a little problem arises—they can’t quite figure out how to fulfil the divine commandment of multiplying!

What follows is a desperate, yet comical quest for answers, filled with absurd schemes and unexpected twists. Will Yakish and Poupche finally unlock the secrets of love, or will their journey end in even more chaos? Find out in this brilliant new production, where tragedy meets comedy most delightfully.

This version was written, adapted, and directed by David Sakvarelidze, based on Hanoch Levin’s original play. Sakvarelidze, a celebrated director, has received several national awards, and this production has been honoured with the prestigious Best Performance of the Year award.


Artists
Sokhumi State Drama Theatre, theatre ensemble
David Sakvarelidze, director

Narcose Band

Day 4: Friday, 3.01.25, 7:30-9 pm

Part 1: 7:30 – 8:30 pm: Bach & Beyond with Francesco Tristano (piano & electronics)

Works by Bach & Tristano

Part 2: 9:30 – 10 pm

Alex Paxton: Big Gay Cartoon Machine (World Premiere, commissioned by ITO) with Dreammusics (jazz trio)

In “Big Gay Cartoon Machine” Dreammusics plays as a trio with electronics featuring virtuosic jazz musicians Elliot Galvin on Keys/sampler, Jay Davis on Drums and Alex Paxton on Trombone.

Paxton’s distinctive compositional voice is explicit throughout the set, whilst all tunes celebrate the fiery creative identities of its three performers. Though the music is recognisably cut from the same “world-building” material of Alex’s orchestral music, Big Gay Cartoon Machine is a catalyst for groove and soloistic improvisation combined with his unique vocal trombone style.

With the addition of infinite midi synths, choirs, strings, samples, and drum machines, the trio contains a universe of multitudes. The music is earnest, sensual, desperate, and gay. It tells stories and represents smells in sound.

Artists
Part 1

Part 2

Sokhumi State Drama Theatre

Day 5: Saturday, 1.02.25, 7:30-9 pm

Part 1: 7:30 – 8:30 pm: International Ensemble Modern Academy

Works by Filidei, Tenney, Shlomowitz & Zara Ali

Part 2: 9-9:30 pm: All female band “Narcose” – A Pageant (world premiere, commissioned for ITO25)

with Raimonda Žiūkaitė (composer)

A Pageant is a satirical performative piece for a rock band lineup, inspired by the ritualistic allure of beauty pageants. It examines the cultural obsession with image, achievement, and conformity and is playing with mismatching expectations of the audience. Blending the raw energy of a rock band with the theatricality of beauty pageants, the performance explores themes of commodification, self-surveillance, and societal expectations with subtle absurdity and dark humour.

The piece is divided into five movements, inspired by beauty pageants: The Introduction, The Talent Competition (where we hear solos of band members, intentionally played to be awkward), The Interview/Q&A (Serious talk about world peace and hunger interrupted by glitch moments), The Evening Gown Parade, and The Crowning.


Artists
Part 1

Part 2

Day 6 – CLOSING: Sunday, 2.02.25, 6-8:30 pm

Part 1: 6-7 pm: VukuvukuPhila! – Embo, Gathering Healing (performance / installation)

The South African artist duo VukuvukuPhila! (Ivukuvuku and Philiswa Lila) create a ritual space in their performance and installation in which water takes centre stage as a symbol of healing, memory and transformation.


Part 2: 7-8 pm: Charles Baumstark: [Dis/re]-connecting with XTRO (Percussion collective) x Pelargos Quartet
[Dis/re]-connecting tells the story of The Woman, a character who retreats into isolation after feeling completely overwhelmed by her communication device. At first, this escape feels peaceful, almost like a ritual—a chance to disconnect and find calm. But as time passes, solitude begins to weigh on her, and she starts to realize that connection is a deep, essential part of her life.

Throughout the performance, video projections unfold as tableaux animés, illustrating The Woman’s inner journey through abstract imagery that embodies both her serene reflections and intense cognitive dissonance. This visual narrative echoes her ongoing push and pull between withdrawal and the need to connect.

Part 3: 8-9 pm: Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (version for piano duo)

with Germain Zambi (Krump-Tänzer, Paris) x Pavel Kolesnikov & Samson Tsoy (Klavierduo)
A new performance in connection with the dance style “Krumb”


Artists
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3