Musicians’ Standoff
The musician fights began at the Sansusī festival in 2015, then gradually started “coming out” beyond the festival as part of the evenings organized by Sansusī. In 2022, however, a fighting tournament took place! The fights gained new “rules” and a much more vivid dynamic.
This unique format, where musicians alternately “battle” each other, allows them to do so alone or with a support team. During breaks, poetry readings take place, and avant-garde performances of academic chamber music enrich the cultural offering, granting participants absolute freedom of expression. Each battle usually lasts up to an hour.
Visitors are provided with unprecedented experiences of musical instrument sounds, alongside surprises brought by the artists’ personas or created atmospheres. The Sansusī musician battle format stipulates that the instrument played by the musician is not of crucial importance, as professional musicians are selected during the competition, and the main requirement is to “compete” in attractiveness, musical wit, and verbal sharpness. This format promotes the growth of professional musicians, fosters creativity, and enhances public performance skills in atypical performance settings.
The winner of each battle is determined by five votes – a jury represented by two arts professionals, one randomly selected audience member before each pair, the Sansusī team, and the audience’s vote at the end of the battle.
The battles have their own regulations. To apply for a battle, a call is announced, requiring participants to submit a video application and description, after which they can check its compliance with the battle format. Pair variations for the battles will be created based on the recommendations of the artistic director, Armanda Siliņa-Bergmanis, to form the most interesting and harmonious combinations of participants.
The Sansusī team, while organizing battle tournaments, examines each time its strengths and weaknesses to make it appealing to more musicians and showcase their professional skills and personal charisma, as well as attract an ever-growing audience.
The Sansusī musician battles and tournaments are a unique phenomenon in the landscape of Latvian performing arts. Sansusī also ensures the preservation of good practices – the battles are documented in high quality (video, photo, audio), which is later used for creating and preserving concert video content for the future.
Call for Musicians
Academic musicians — cast off the stage shackles forged over centuries and come take part in the Sansusī Musicians’ Battle Tournament!
This is a place where your musical and technical mastery may be only a relative measure, where wit, musical energy, or a subtle jab at a fellow musician can become your strongest weapon. Here, a professor faces off against a high school student, a seasoned master — against a rising star.
Battle dates: 16 June / 7 July / 8 September / 29 September Venue: Hanzas Perons, Riga Grand prize: 2000 EUR
To apply, send a brief overview of your musical experience and a video (filmed on a phone is fine) in which you perform a musical piece and introduce yourself verbally.
We are accepting applications until 4 May at kauslis@sansusi.lvFull competition rules: https://sansusi.lv/kauslis/
