Sónar Reaffirms Its Commitment As A Cultural Laboratory

Katie Morris | 30th June 2016

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The 23 rd Sónar Barcelona closes with over 115.000 visitorsfrom 101 countries and incorporates Hong Kong andIstanbul in its international editions.
The festival’s diverse and daring musical offering coexists with exposition, business and outreach activities. Experimentation, innovation and interaction converge in thematic lines running through the entire content of Sónar and Sónar+D.

From a musical perspective, Sónar 2016 has been marked by the amalgamation of huge audio-visual show premieres from James Blake and Jean Michel Jarre; the dynamic energy of urban beats from Skepta, Lady Leshurr and Stormzy; and rhythmic and melodic diversity from Latin American and African latitudes, with Nicola Cruz, Las Hermanas and Ata Kak.
In terms of club music, highlights include: the 7-hour sets experience at the new SónarCar stage; new artists filling the stages at Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night: SónarDome with Club Cheval, Homesick, Hiele o Jacob Korn: and SónarLab in withMura Masa, Bicep and the duos of Ben UFO & Helena Hauff and DVS1 & Rødhåd.

On the SónarComplex stage, experimentation has been forefront in the radical concepts and aesthetics on show in the performances of Niño de Elche + Los Voluble, Gazelle Twin and Cyclo; and Kode9 together with Lawrence Lek, King Midas Sound + Fennesz, Oneohtrix Point Never, Strand and Kelela in SonarHall.
Sónar+D further consolidates its congress format and positions itself as the new beating heart of Sónar’s activity, gathering more than 4700 professionals from more than 2.600 companies from the world of culture, technology, science, education and business.
Sónar Hong Kong (1 of April, 2017), and Sónar Istanbul (24 and 25 of March 2017) are the new cities joining the Sónar international calendar for 2016-2017. The festival returns to Reykjavik in February and Stockholm in March. The confirmed dates for the Latin American festivals in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and Bogota will be announced in the coming weeks.
In addition, this year Sónar presents and commissions content for the TodaysArt festivals (September 22-25 in The Hague, Netherlands) and Insomnia (October 26-28 in Tromso, Norway) as part of the European Union creative program We Are Europe.
This coming Wednesday, June 22, starting from 10:00 500 Sónar 2017 passes will go on sale at the special promotional price of 115 euros, at www.sonar.es
The 24th edition of Sónar Barcelona will be held on 15, 16 and 17 of June, 2017.

Sónar 2016 received 115.500 visitors from 101 countries

53% of the Sónar audience has been international, with 47% Spanish. Sónar by Day brought together 46.500 attendees, while Sónar by Night gathered 69.000.

The 23rd Sónar festival has consolidated its commitment to exploring new formats and content, both in its musical offering and in the activity of Sónar+D.

From a musical standpoint, the festival has presented a total of 130 performances showcasing a wide-ranging sound spectrum. These have included the most experimental approaches to the latest generation of dance music; also delving into global and conceptual dance, the current trends in urban music, new minimalism and even the most recent forms of classical symphonic music.

This year’s festival has seen a special relevance for shows and the voices of artists with a social critique.This is certainly the case for the performances and discourse of contrasting artists, including: Anohni, John Luther Adams, Niño de elche + Los Voluble, Kode9, Brian Eno, Jean Michel Jarre and Lady Leshurr; discussing issues such as climate change, border policies, the transgender struggle and mass surveillance.
The fourth Sónar+D has celebrated its most successful edition to date, with 4.700 delegates from more than 60 countries

Sónar+D has far exceeded participation expectations with a non-stop stream of people at the MarketLab stands and in the virtual reality dedicated Realities+D area. The programmed conferences and workshops have seen more than 3.800 attendees, with close to 584 scheduled meetings between experts, creators, entrepreneurs and investors, in the networking areas.

The Start-up Garden by RICOH, the new format created bySónar+D this year for entrepreneurs and business, has brought together projects and investors from 12 countries, culminating in 46 investment funds.

Among the highlights at MarketLab were music technology projects, and those promoting the combination of science and social entrepreneurship. Also remarkable were the many social and participative projects arising in Barcelona, ??including those developed by Repte Canòdrom, which will continue throughout the coming months.

Over the coming months, Sónar+D will unveil much of the content scheduled over the three days of the festival at www.sonarplusd.com. This will become an agora and digital town square for the progress of projects and ideas that emerged during the event, and for the most relevant initiatives and digital culture callings, with special attention paid to local industry.The Congress for creativity, technology and business consolidates itself as a meeting point for artists, companies, research and innovation centres, universities and investors. Digital platforms, maker and hacker communities, talks and workshops from leaders in digital culture, and constant networking activities have raised the bar at the third year of Sónar+D.Starting from next Wednesday, 22nd of June Delegate Passes for Sónar+D 2017 will go on sale at the special price of 155€.

Sónar continues its global expansion with 8 events scheduled over the next 365 days, in Europe, Asia and Latin America, including, of course, Sónar Barcelona 2017.
The  festival touches down for the first time in Istanbul and Hong Kong, while continuing its Northern European undertaking, with the 5thSónar Reykjavik, and the 4th Sónar Stockholm.

The dates for the Latin American festivals in Bogota, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile will be announced in the coming weeks
These are the upcoming dates for Sónar around the world:

Sónar Reykjavík
16,17 and 18 of February 2017
Harpa
www.sonarreykjavik.com

Sónar Istambul
24 and 25 of March 2017
Zorlu Performing Arts Centre
www.sonaristanbul.com

Sónar Stockholm
31 of March and 1 of April 2017
Nobelberget
www.sonarstockholm.com

Sónar Hong Kong
1 of April 2017
Venue to be confirmed soon
www.sonarhongkong.com

Sónar Barcelona
15, 16 and 17 of June 2017
Fira Montjuïc y Fira Gran Via L’Hospitalet
www.sonar.es

Sónar International Media & PR Department:

Press Manager: Enrichetta Cardinale press@sonar.es
Head of the Dept.: Georgia Taglietti

Pls head to our Media Intranet for more materials press.sonar.es
More info at www.sonar.es

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