N’SO KYOTO is a Kyoto-based ensemble created by Yannick Paget in 2020. N’SO KYOTO reinvents the concept of an orchestra through immersive, multidimensional audio and visual performances. The abbreviation ‘N’SO’ is pronounced ‘en-so’ and has multiple layers of meaning. It connects the group’s name, ‘New Sound Orchestra,’ with the Japanese word “Enso,” which signifies both the circle image in Zen thought as well as the Japanese word for ‘performance.’
N’SO KYOTO explores various possibilities of immersive sound to develop new approaches to performing and experiencing music. The site-specific performances feature spatialized musicians, dancers, and video installations, moving the traditional boundaries between the audience and the stage, and uniquely emphasizing the spaces they perform in.
Initiating new artistic languages and exploring new possibilities of expression, N’SO KYOTO combines acoustic and electroacoustic music, directed improvisation, and written compositions. The ensemble breaks down genre boundaries in language and artistic expression, including those between electronic and acoustic instruments, and explores new performance environments both on stage and through the immersive experiences offered by VR technologies.
N’SO KYOTO has a passion for science and scientific research. Our creations are inspired by scientific theories and discoveries that feed our artistic language. N’SO KYOTO creates bridges between Science and Art, bringing abstract concepts to life and rendering the invisible visible through our performances.
N’SO KYOTO brings together Yannick Paget’s scores and musicians with an international team of eclectic artists, including those working with light, video, dance, sculpture, and poetry. This variety of transdisciplinary collaborations creates a continuous interfusion of new ideas and contributes to the group’s energy and creativity.
