Close Encounters Innovative Music Festival Held for the 6th Time in Georgia

The Close Encounters festival took place for the sixth time this year in Tbilisi. Established in 2005 by cerebrated Georgian pianist Tamriko Kordzaia, the festival has annually offered the audience various types of old, contemporary and experimental music as well as brought together professional and fledgling musicians both from Georgia and Switzerland.

The festival consists of two parts: the first takes place in Georgia and then it continues in Switzerland in February –March. From the very beginning, the festival’s primary focus was the representation of contemporary and old music in an interesting format. The festival aims to merge tradition and avant-garde and showcase these as one entity. In comparison with previous years, this year, apart from Georgian and Swiss musicians, Austrian and German musicians were also presented in the program.

Close Encounters opened on September 29 in Tbilisi with its first free concert in Ilia’s Garden, where everyone was welcome to attend. Some of the most iconic names of the Georgian musical scene: Zagareli & Strings (GEO), Alex Kordzaia aka Kordz(CH/GEO),Giorgi Zagareli (GEO), Natalia Beridze GEO), Nika Machaidze aka Nikakoi (GEO) and foreign artist Frederic Robinson (CH/D), took to the stage.

The concerts took place in different venues throughout the park, as well as in Mtkvarze club, Tbilisi Conservatoire, and elsewhere. In total, seven musical events were held, five in Tbilisi and two in the regions: one in Telavi and the second in Kavtiskhevi village. The festival encompassed an array of concerts, educational activities and workshops.

In 2018, the honorary guest of the festival was Peter Zumthor, a world-renowned Swiss architect notable for his minimalist and uncompromising works. The acclaimed architect held interesting meetings that were also free to attend.

On October 2, Tbilisi Conservatoire hosted the fifth concert of the festival, named ‘Leap in Time.’ The grandiose concert featured local talent as well as celebrated invited musicians, who gifted the audience an unforgettable evening and an amazing experience.

GEORGIA TODAY talked with the founder of the festival, Tamriko Kordzaia.

“The idea of establishing such a festival in Georgia came to me many years ago. When I moved to Switzerland in 1997 to continue my studies and got involved in the contemporary music scene, I wanted to share the novelties and my experience with the Georgian audience and my colleagues. In the 1990s there were hard times in Georgia and there was no place for experiments and avant-garde here; musicians even had to warm up their hands before starting to play. So I started by organizing piano concerts and little by little introducing electronic music elements. Nikakoi, a celebrated Georgian musician, and I teamed up and delivered a few concerts. Later, we decided to establish a bigger music festival that would involve both Georgian and foreign musicians. As part of the festival, Georgian musicians would be able to perform in Switzerland and vice versa. This was kind of a cultural exchange that triggered some good metastases and enabled musicians to discover novelties in the field. In the beginning, it was very difficult to organize the festival and there were many obstacles. Two years ago, the festival achieved its final form, since interaction between the audience and musicians finally happened, and we understood how to approach the listeners. Today’s concert demonstrated how old and contemporary music are linked to each other and that there is no need to put any margins between them. The audience listened to old classical pieces as well as novel compositions by talented young composers and established musicians,” she told us.

Alexandre Kordzaia, a young contemporary musician, together with Peter Zumthor, who is also a celebrated drummer, gave a thrilling show and left the Conservatoire audience speechless, while conservatoire student Mako Gviniashvili, who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Norway, premiered her new electronic piece made with ambient sounds. The concert was concluded with a beautiful show from Zagareli & Strings. The first part of the festival ended in the village of Kavtiskhevi, dedicated to the local population.

“The main thing about the festival is that it brings together performers from various genres who have different approaches to music and possess distinct performing techniques. The festival closed in my village Kavtiskhevi on October 4,” Alexandre Kordzaia told GEORGIA TODAY. “This place means a lot to me, I spent my childhood years there. No such event has ever been held there so it also meant a lot to the locals. When I was a little boy, I always wanted to organize theater plays and concerts to entertain the local inhabitants, and now I’m happy to have made my dream a reality. The concert took place in my neighbor’s yard and saw local musicians joining in a jam session with folk music.”

By Lika Chigladze