Сoncert by Ansis Bētiņs and Artūrs Čukurs on April 23 at the contemporary space for art TUR

On Wednesday April 23rd at 19:00 Ansis Bētiņš & Artūrs Čukurs will perform the fifteenth Artist Talk Concert at TUR in response to the exhibition Thawing by Voldemārs Johansons.

For the fifteenth Artist Talk Concert TUR is excited to welcome vocal duo Ansis Bētiņš & Artūrs Čukurs, who will perform in response to the current exhibition: Thawing, a sound installation by artist and composer Voldemārs Johansons.

Bētiņš and Čukurs work with vocal traditions from different periods and regions, with a particular focus on folk and early music. Their practice combines research into historical and regional singing styles with contemporary interpretation. Their debut release, Slavic Folk Songs (XKatedral, 2025), is a collection of sacred chants and folk songs from various Slavic regions, with a special emphasis on Ukrainian songs from occupied areas. The pieces are performed a cappella in the traditional “white voice” style – a powerful singing technique that requires no significant amplification or accompaniment. 

At TUR, the duo will adapt and reinterpret this material in direct response to Johansons’ Thawing, which reimagines the organ as a sculptural and immersive sonic environment. Built from steel pipes and controlled electronically, the installation produces low, resonant tones that fill the space and shift in real time. As visitors move through the room, the acoustic experience changes with them. Rather than projecting sound outward, Thawing disperses it spatially, creating a constantly evolving atmosphere.

The concert will take place within the installation itself, making Johansons’ sculptural sound environment both the setting and an active element of the performance. The unique acoustics of TUR – shaped by the architecture and the installation – will further influence the texture and resonance of the duo’s unamplified vocals. Bētiņš and Čukurs will treat the space as a collaborator, allowing the sounds, acoustics, and physical presence of the installation to shape their vocal delivery. This immersive setting opens new possibilities for exploring the songs’ structures, focusing on timbre, resonance, and the dialogue between live voice and ambient sound. The result will be a departure from their usual concert format, shaped by the spatial and conceptual logic of Johansons’ work.

This concert is the fifteenth of TUR’s Artist Talk Concert series. A concept by TUR artistic director Edd Schouten developed from the format of the artist talk, the series begins with a private conversation between the exhibiting artist and musician, facilitated by TUR’s music curator and pianist Robert Fleitz. Instead of presenting this conversation to the public, the musicians create a one-night-only performance in response to the exchange and the exhibition. Each Artist Talk Concert is shaped by the specific ideas and context of the show it accompanies, offering a new way to experience both the visual and the musical work. By inviting musicians to respond directly to the concepts behind a given exhibition, the series creates a platform for cross-disciplinary dialogue and artistic exchange.

Tickets to the concert are 10€ and can be reserved at [email protected]

The concert is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation.