Abu Dhabi: The second season of New York University Abu Dhabi’s (NYUAD) art festival will start off on Thursday with a continuous 27-hour live concert performed by the swiss band MOBILE.
The concert will feature an array of different musical styles being performed by the band, including jazz, funk, and new music. The upcoming art festival which starts on Thursday marks its second year at NYUAD after its successful first season with several programmes being planned for throughout the year.
“It makes us very happy to perform in Abu Dhabi, to be able to present something that people may not have experienced before. Our performance will be a 27-hour concert that will work with a lot of musical patterns, pulsations, funk and jazz,” said Nik Bartsch, the lead pianist and composer of the band.
Explaining how the band prepares for a 27-hour concert, Bartsch said that it was much like how a sportsperson prepares for a sports events.
“Just like how a sportsperson prepares before they go on to a field — or in our case a stage — we have to eat in a good way, make sure we get enough sleep, and in general live a good healthy lifestyle. In my case I keep in physical shape by training in martial arts and doing other sport activities,” Bartsch explained.
Bartsch said that despite the training and readiness, a 27-hour performance would be both a physical and mental challenge.
“The physical challenge has a lot to do with posturing and making sure you don’t waste too much energy, and so this has to do with technique. The key is to play your instrument in a smooth way, and not play it in an exhausting way that drains your energy. It’s like in sports, if you don’t train or perform properly you can get injured,” he said.
“Mentally it can be tiring, but at the same time you get motivated to keep going o because of the music you hear — we as a band inspire each other and with that social energy among us it keeps our attitude high,” he added.
Batrsch also added that individual band members would take minimal breaks to eat and stretch, but that the music would be played consistently by the band for 27 hours.
Bill Bragin, executive artistic director of the Arts Centre at NYUAD, said he was confident that this year’s art festival would help contribute to the growing art scene in the country and Abu Dhabi.
“Excited by the enthusiastic response to our first season, we wanted to keep building with even more ambitious programmes by visionary artists who push the boundaries between forms and disciplines. Already, we’ve found that audiences are willing and eager to come on weekly artistic adventures to unfamiliar territory with us.
“It’s through these shared artistic experiences, and the resulting conversations, that we are working to build community in the UAE, and show the role that arts can play — sparking civic dialogue, inspiring, and entertaining,” he added.
