Sleep Concert
The main purpose of a Sleep Concert is to access the border between sleep and wakefulness to reach that intermediate stage in which the perceptions of the brain veer towards the inner world. Running uninterrupted for seven hours, this performance is dedicated to a sleeping or semi-awake audience.
Counting electric sheeps
Although Terry Riley had already started this practice in 1970, it was Robert Rich who formally defined it in 1982. Composer and ambient musician, Rich was interested in investigating the REM phases of sleep and the possibility of influencing them through sound stimuli. The first Sleep Concert was performed in the Stanford University dormitory where Rich was staying; it began at 11pm and continued until 8am welcoming friends of the composer, colleagues and students equipped with sleeping bags. The public was invited to fully experience the physical experience, the community, the scientific experiment, the mystical ritual.
​
L'Impero della Luce proposes a concert that begins at midnight and continues until 7:30 in the morning. Spectators are invited to bring their own sleeping bag, pillows, mattresses, blankets and everything necessary to settle down for the night. In the morning, at the end of the concert, during breakfast, audience can participate in "Public Dream": a group talk to recount and share the oneiric and perceptive experiences that occurred during the Sleep Concert.
​
Would you like to to organize a Sleep Concert in your city's theater or museum?
Write to: imperodellaluce@gmail.com