March 2-3, 2013: MANTIS SPRING FESTIVAL FEATURES PERCUSSIONIST MIQUEL BERNAT
MANTIS presents a weekend of new electroacoustic music featuring works by composers based at the NOVARS Research Centre (University of Manchester) and invited guests. This edition features guest percussionist Miquel Bernat performing a unique 'key-percussion and electronics' concert for Timbila (xylophone-like instrument of Mozambique), marimba and vibraphone. Bernat's event comprises commissioned works with electronics for Ricardo Climent, Jose Manuel Lopez Lopez and music by Martin Wesley-Smith and traditional timbila music. The Mbila (plural timbila) is a xylophone-like instrument from Mozambique ancestor of the modern marimba, first mentioned by a Portuguese missionary in the 1300s. The Timbila's orchestras serve many purposes, ranging from religious to traditional ceremonies of the Chopi people. This hand-made instrument and its associated culture were close to extinction since the liberation from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, which was followed ...