Minimalist Chapel Festival

Before it became a lifestyle based on keeping your apartment as clutter-free as possible, minimalism was first used by visual artists who were sensitive to architect Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe's slogan: less is more. The word took hold in music in the mid-1980s, to label the success of American composers who had emerged from the Sixties avant-garde: Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley in particular. A label they all rejected, preferring to speak of repetitive music, phase music or, more suggestively, trance music.

What did they have in common? Erik Satie, John Cage and John Coltrane. Music from India, West Africa and Bali. Drugs, Hendrix, the Beatles and a glimpse into the evolution of Western art music. Three days to rediscover the extraordinary vitality of minimalist music through the prism of Philip Glass, Hildegard von Bingen, Pauline Oliveros, Tristan Perich, Coltrane, Steve Reich and Bach! A festival dedicated to the brilliant Erik Satie, who certainly knew a thing or two about furnishing the living room.