Riga, Latvia’s Skaņu Mežs festival for adventurous music hosted its 21st edition on October 6-8 at concert hall Hanzas Perons (16a Hanzas street). Its central events took place on October 6 and 7. 

The program on these two nights was as follows:

06.10

Violent Magic Orchestra (JP), Gnaw Their Tongues (NL), Phew (JP), Joe Morris – William Parker – Hamid Drake (USA), Debit (MX, USA), Coby Sey (UK), Maria Chavez & Jordi Wheeler (PE, USA), Grab (LV), Orbīta (LV)

07.10

Amnesia Scanner (FI, DE), Negativland with video by Sue-C (USA), Daniel Blumberg (UK), Mivos Quartet (USA), The Vex Collection (USA), Max Eilbacher (SHAPE+) (USA), Pūres Opera (LV)

Installations by Maria Chavez and Jordi Wheeler, and Orbīta – as well as a commissioned work from Biliana Voutchkova and Ieva Balode – were exhibited in the venue.

Photos from 6.10 are by Artūrs Pavlovs.

Photos from 7.10 are by Elīna Matvejeva.

Skaņu Mežs is a member of the SHAPE+ platform for innovative music and audiovisual art as well as the project tekhnē, supported by the European Union and the Latvian Ministry of Culture.

Max Eilbacher, Maya Shenfeld and the duo of Biliana Voutchkova and Ieva Balode participated in the festival as part of the SHAPE+ platform.

Hugo Esquinca, Maria Chavez, Jordi Wheeler and Orbīta participated in the festival as part of the project tekhnē. 

In 2023, Skaņu Mežs festival was supported by the State Cultural Capital Fund, Danish Cultural Institute, Riga City Council, the Latvian Ministry of Culture, Goethe-Institut Lettland, Danish Cultural Institue, Trust for Mutual Understanding, and the Nordic Culture Point. Sponsors of the festival are Valmiermuiža and Very Berry.

Media partners: TVNET, Satori, Mūzikas Saule, Kultūras Diena, Rīgas Laiks, Radio NABA, Ir, and Latvian Radio.

Skaņu Mežs is a member of the international network ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound) and the Northern European music festival network NERDS (North European Resonance and Dissonance Society). Media partners are TVNET, Rīgas Laiks and Mūzikas Saule.

The festival will also feature activities of LYRA, a project for kids and teens that is supported by the EEA Grants and Norway Grants funded by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.