Other live highlights across the eleven days including the RSNO performing the Scottish premiere of John Luther Adams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean with kaleidoscopic live visuals from legendary coder Alba G. Corral; a pay-what-you-can live concert at the Burrell from Scottish Ensemble inspired by the art and architecture of the collection; the first ever UK performances from Myanmar’s cosmic electronic artist and genre film aficionado Heft and Dutch queer warped classical-pop duo No Plexus; a triple bill of Quebec artists from Montreal’s renowned MUTEK Festival; a cyborg pop concert of the future from Danish music ensemble NEKO3 and German multimedia composer Alexander Schubert; Harry Gorski-Brown exploring the limits of the bagpipes; Michael Begg reflecting on his time as musician in residence aboard the Royal Navy’s Antarctic ice patrol ship; Alex Smoke summoning the sounds of colliding worlds in Govanhill Baths and the return of Australian AV legend Robin Fox

Free installations across the city include the UK premiere of Celine Daemen’s Venice Film Festival Award-winning VR opera starring one headset wearer, a pack of wild dogs and a horse in trouble; Ukrainian artist Kseniia Shcherbakova exploring how interpersonal bonds are strengthened through the trauma of war; Quebeçois artist Bill Vorn creating an ICU for sickly robots; emigre Glasgow-based artist Andrey Chugunov attempting to erase the data of corruption and two new public artworks for Glasgow City Chambers, Ahmed El Shaer’s virtual reality tour inspired by the city’s cryptic crest and composer Amble Skuse’s new soundscape for the Lamp of Remembrance.

Sonica Festival 2024 is the culmination of a celebration of 30 years of Glasgow’s Cryptic as world-renowned award-winning producers of unique experiences.

The programme has been announced for the eighth edition of Sonica, Glasgow’s large-scale festival for curious minds and adventurous spirits. From 19th - 29th September, Sonica will bring some of the world’s top music and audiovisual artists to the city, alongside showcasing some of Scotland’s top homegrown talents. The festival offers a packed 11 days of city-wide live concerts, installations and events at vibrant venues ranging in scale from the IMAX (Scotland’s biggest screen), Tramway One and the Burrell Collection to the Glad Cafe and Govanhill’s Romalav and Offline, alongside Govanhill Baths, CCA, Glasgow City Chambers, the Goethe Institut, New Glasgow Institute and more. Sonica will also be bringing visual art back to the city centre Lighthouse venue since it closed in March 2020.

The festival will open on 19th September with the Scottish premiere of Nati Infiniti at Tramway, the new live audiovisual work created and performed by Nine Inch Nails touring member, sound artist and the first ever Italian inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of fame Alessandro Cortini. Moving from blissful drone music to skewed synthesiser melodies and towering slabs of noise, the one-off live event melds the almost familiar with the distinctly alien.

Cryptic’s founding Artistic Director Cathie Boyd said:

Sonica 2024 will be the culmination of our celebration of an incredible 30 years of Cryptic, which began life in Glasgow in 1994. It showcases everything that Cryptic has gone on to become known for: bringing cutting-edge, internationally-renowned artists to Scottish audiences and giving an ambitious platform for Scottish artists to stand alongside them.

Glasgow Life Senior Projects and Programmes Manager - Arts, Music and Cultural Venues, Katie Duffy, said:

The Sonica 2024 programme features an exciting, eclectic showcase of works by an incredible line-up of outstanding homegrown talent and some of the world’s most innovative music and audio-visual producers. Offering a wealth of unique multimedia experiences, stand-out performances, premieres, and international collaborations, the festival is set to be an unmissable highlight of Glasgow’s cultural calendar this year.