Uchronia – „non-time“; the time that never actually happened.

UCHRONIA opens a window onto possible musical worlds in times that never existed. Two compositional concepts emerging from hypothetical historical divergences – Monkpunk and HyperRhythmicon – take root within St Stephen’s Cathedral for the duration of the performance, transforming it into a resonant vessel of decolonial speculation. Gregorian chant and the giant organ form the sonic core of the work. Synthesiser and electronic organ sounds, techno-pulsing drum machines, Afro-Caribbean drumming traditions and voices altered by Auto-Tune coexist with the cathedral’s historical sound sources.

The audience moves through different listening perspectives – sometimes walking, sitting or lying down, shifting between a monumental, all-encompassing soundscape and intimate moments in the side aisles and chapels. This creates a choreographed composition that invites the audience to engage and listen in different ways.

Monkpunk describes a variation on Gregorian chant developed by Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, in which the originally monastic chant is detached from its liturgical function. Through engagement with diverse cultural traditions, this practice is transformed into an open vocal form. The chant loses its connection to Latin texts. Syllables are elongated, merging with other sounds; rhythmic structures dissolve and are guided by natural processes such as breath, biorhythms or cosmic cycles.

In HyperRhythmicon Time branches out in the 19th century: European musical automata and sound machines that reached the Caribbean coast were adopted by Afro-Latin American cultures and further developed in line with their rhythmic practices. The metrical time of the metronome encounters polyrhythmic and cyclical models of time.