Festival & Friends is delighted to present the full version of SOUND by Lil Lacy. Lil Lacy is our composer-in-residence for 2025–2026, and during this time, we have gathered reflections and statements from musicians and singers around the world, including those connected to the festival. SOUND utilises these statements and is a sonic celebration of the passion and dedication of musicians everywhere — without you, there would be no music. The work is performed by the vocal ensemble ÆTLA, accompanied by strings and percussion.

Stravinsky’s Les Noces (“The Wedding”) combines folk-inspired melodies and irregular rhythms in a way not dissimilar to his seminal Le Sacre du Printemps, but in an altogether more comedic style. The work is scored for an unusual ensemble: four vocal soloists, mixed choir, four pianists (meaning there will be four grand pianos on stage!), and percussion, omitting traditional orchestral instruments such as strings or winds. This sparse, percussive instrumentation creates a sharp, rhythmic energy. The music’s fragmented, repetitive structures, with recurring patterns and dramatic rhythms, give a ceremonial, almost dance-like quality that feels both timeless and modernist. Les Noces can be seen as a musical ritual, where rhythm, text, and voices merge into an intense musical experience.