Drummer and sound artist Tatu Rönkkö plays a solo concert in EMMA on a prepared drum set, the sound of which has been taken as far from the traditional as possible. He is fascinated by the melodiousness of the drums, alternative tuning and playing techniques, taking the concert outside the traditional stage and bringing the audience and the performer closer together. In the concert in EMMA the audience gathers at close range around Rönkkö.

Drums are one of the oldest instruments in the world and yet a modern drum kit always sounds the same, ‘nicely tuned’ etc. Maybe this is a way for me to look for new sound worlds from this ancient instrument and renew my own relationship with it. When someone is watching a meter away and you hear them breathing, the performance has a different intensity and palpability.

Tatu Rönkkö (b. 1983, Kuopio) has performed solo around the world, e.g. in people’s kitchens, in the forest, on the stairs of the metro station and in medieval cathedrals and used everyday objects and electronics as instruments. Rönkkö has also worked as a drummer in e.g. with the following artists: Verneri Pohjola, Raoul Björkenheim, Yona, Nils Frahm, K-X-P, Efterklang and Lampen.