Llorenç Barber, the master of bells

Even in Catania, Llorenç Barber has managed to work his “magic art”: to “play” the city and, with it, to vibrate the heartstrings of citizens seeing his show from the port, from the squares and steeples. Collaborator of John Cage and spanish composer of contemporary music, he is considered the introducer of the Spanish minimalism. Around the world he has made more than 150 concerts, symphonies building through scrupulous musical scores designed in accordance with choirs, bells, sirens, and the host city fires. At the event chorus, we interviewed  Llorenç to ask him to reveal the secret of a prodigy who, once again, has materialized. Even in our wonderful city.

Llorenç, why did he choose the bells to develop your art?
The bell is the transit instrument and it’s placed between heaven and earth, connecting known and unknown. A storage container that renews and expands with each chime. It is one of elevation tool that contains the essence of art.

Why have you thought of Catania as a city for her concert?
Catania is a magnificent emblem of the Mediterranean baroque era that has developed the idea of ​​Europe which still aspire.

What is the church that most struck you in town?
Those that we have left to play their bells, as San Biagio or the Madonna dell’Aiuto, which responded negatively to the question of rebirth of this city by closing the doors to the desire to be again at the center of the story.

What other Catanese places have fascinated you?
Certainly the port, origin of this extraordinary city, its gateway to the Mediterranean, the scope of the meeting between peoples and cultures.

What are the other “sounds” of Catania that struck you?
The market, the fair where everything is mixed in a vital symphony that happily embraces the church that contains the oldest bell we found.

If you were to assign a melody to the city of Catania, which would it be?
Not a melody, a Naumachia, a meeting of land and sea, an embrace that unites people. Few cities have this opportunity with a great volcano behind.

You consulted our map CityMap, is it useful to explore the city?
Certainly. I appreciate the people who make it and their desire to improve the place where they live.