Assembly 2026: Hanne Lippard & Renato Grieco

28th Mar 2026 28th Mar 2026 19:15 23:00

Mark Fell & Mohammad Reza Mortazavi

00:00

Hanne Lippard & Renato Grieco

00:00

Somerset HouseTickets 20 £

Hanne Lippard presents a new work at Assembly 2026, developed during her Somerset House x Goethe-Insititut x CTM residency. The evening programme also includes a piece by Mark Fell & Mohammad Reza Mortazavi. Both works explore new instrumental dialogues from two collaborative duos foreground rhythm and the material conditions of sound.

Photo courtesy of the artists.

At Assembly 2026, Hanne Lippard and Renato Grieco present a newly commissioned performance work stemming from research into the field of language and voice; a shared interest between each of their individual practices as both artists and musicians. Developed during a three-month residency at Somerset House Studios with the support of Goethe-Institut London and CTM Festival, Lippard and Grieco’s Assembly performance expands their research into voice, particularly through polyphonic layering and tonal experimentation, aiming to find intersections between semantic logic and music, often diffusing the distinction. The new work takes form as a theatrical script of overlapping dialogues and monologues, interspersed with musical components and live viola da gamba, a Renaissance and Baroque era stringed instrument. Lippard and Grieco will go on to present a further development of their Assembly premiere at CTM Festival 2027.

Renowned for his rigorous and conceptual approach to electronic music and sound art, multidisciplinary artist, composer, and theorist Mark Fell’s electronic music and sound art explores the limits of structure, rhythm, and perception through a blend of computational systems, philosophical inquiry, and cultural critique. For Assembly, Fell plays alongside virtuoso percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi. Known for playing traditional Persian instruments such as the tombak and daf, Mortazavi is recognised as one of the most prominent players in Iran, recording and performing regular concerts the world over. Together, they present a UK debut performance of a complex and ecstatic rhythmic collaboration combining electronics and Persian percussion.

The Assembly series activates the Somerset House’s neoclassical spaces with live concerts, audio explorations and critical conversations from a range of leading practitioners working across contemporary art and music. Initiated in 2018, Assembly emerged from the recognition of sonic art and sound-based practices as a foundational pillar within the Somerset House Studios’ resident artist community. Now in its fifth edition, the series continues to support the development of new composition and performance works, bringing together artists in a programme dedicated to commissions and premieres.

Hanne Lippard and Renato Grieco's work is commissioned as part of the Goethe-Institut London x Somerset House Studios Residency in partnership with CTM Festival.