Event: MONOM x Epidaurus Athens Festival x KPISN
Dates: June 6th – 12th
Where: Dome of KPISN (SNFCC), Athens
What: Listening sessions + live performances
Who: MONOM, Suzanne Ciani, Cinna Peyghami, Evita Manji, Andrea Belfi, Sofianna Theofanos, Spyros Polychronopoulos & Ben Frost
Tickets: 5EUR
From June 6th to 12th, 2025, the Athens Epidaurus Festival and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) will join forces to present a groundbreaking collaboration featuring the innovative 4DSOUND technology by Berlin’s renowned MONOM studio.
This marks the first time Greek audiences will encounter 4DSOUND. Installed inside the SNFCC Dome, the system transforms the space into a living sonic architecture, where sound moves freely in all directions, creating an immersive field of perception.
Over the course of the week, the installation will unfold as both a dynamic sound environment and a stage for a series of live performances. Each session invites audiences to explore the boundaries between body, space, and sound—where listening becomes a fully embodied experience, and sound is not just heard, but inhabited.
Through this collaboration, MONOM continues its mission to bring 4DSOUND into dialogue with unique architectural contexts, cultivating new ways of encountering sound—not as something external, but as something lived.
Program:
June 6th
10.00 – 14.00
The Family Project: The King of Gray and Silence
Presented by Sofianna Theofanos, in collaboration with MONOM.
About the work:
In a city where silence reigned and all color had vanished, a fearless child rose to sing, their every step, a spark of forgotten melodies. Dancing through shadows and riddles, they awakened hues long lost to the world. And deep within the palace of quiet, the King of Grey and Silence was about to meet the brilliance of hope.
Premiering during the Athens Epidaurus Festival, this newly commissioned work for children and adults invites the audience into a poetic journey through sonic light and shadow — a world where silence is not absence, but the prelude to wonder. With spatial sound production by MONOM and text and dramaturgy by Sofianna Theofanous, the piece weaves storytelling and sound into a living, breathing landscape.
Set within the Dome of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) and presented by the Athens Epidaurus Festival and the SNFCC, the work unfolds as a multidimensional narrative experience. Harnessing the 4DSOUND instrument — a groundbreaking spatial sound system — MONOM transforms the architecture into a resonant field, where sound shapes, colors, and carries the story across invisible planes.
Produced by MONOM | Text and Dramaturgy: Sofianna Theofanous | Composition & 4DSOUND Spatialization: William Russell & Louis McGuire | 4DSOUND Engineer: Shehryar Ahmad | Studio Coordinator: Alejandra Ríos
Suitable for the whole family
Duration: 30 mins
Free entry
17:30 – 18:30
The Elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Aether
5 Sonic Films by MONOM
About the work:
The Elements is a unique, purely sonic experience that invites listeners into an immersive journey through the elemental forces that shape our world and ourselves. Drawing from humanity's long-standing fascination with the elements—scientific, philosophical, and cultural—the piece offers a space to reflect on our deep, embodied connection to these forces. Through sound, visitors are encouraged to surrender to the experience, resonating with the elements not just as external phenomena, but as integral parts of our very being.
Produced by MONOM | Director: William Russell | Spatial Sound Design: William Russell & Shehryar Ahmad | Spatial Sound Mixing: Shehryar Ahmad
18:30 – 23:00
MONOM Archive:
SuzanneCiani, Improvisation on Four Sequences
Evita Manji, Echo(location) chamber
Cinna Peyghamy, Live at MONOM (25.05.24)
Andrea Belfi, Above my Door, There Is Knocking
June 10th
Spyros Polychronopoulos LIVE, presenting: Nearfield
June 12th
Ben Frost LIVE, presenting: The Light Mistaken for Morning
About the artists:
Suzanne Ciani
Suzanne Ciani is a five-time Grammy-nominated composer, electronic music pioneer, and neo-classical artist known for her groundbreaking work with the Buchla modular synthesizer. With over 20 solo albums—including the iconic Seven Waves, The Velocity of Love, and the quadraphonic LIVE Quadraphonic—her music has shaped the sonic landscape of film, games, and advertising. A trailblazer in her field, Ciani was inducted into Keyboard Magazine’s Hall of Fame alongside legends like Bob Moog and Don Buchla, received the Moog Innovation Award, and most recently, the Independent Icon Award from A2IM.
Her legacy includes designing the sound for Bally’s “Xenon” pinball machine, Coca-Cola’s iconic pop-and-pour effect, and sonic identities for Fortune 500 companies. A Life in Waves, the acclaimed documentary on her life and work, premiered at SXSW and is available on all major platforms. She holds degrees from Wellesley College and UC Berkeley, where she earned her Master’s in Music Composition.
sevwave.com
About the work:
In Improvisation On Four Sequences, Suzanne Ciani brings the legacy of electronic music vividly to life, weaving decades of sonic evolution into a single, breathtaking performance. From the roots of the American avant-garde to the pulse of modern electronic culture, her improvisation traces a lineage of sound shaped by an intimate dialogue between artist and machine. Spatialized with 4DSOUND at MONOM Studios in Berlin, this iteration amplifies Ciani’s signature precision and sensitivity, transforming her performance into an emotionally charged, multidimensional experience.
Produced by MONOM | Composition by Suzanne Ciani | 4DSOUND Spatialization: Shehryar Ahmad
Evita Manji
Athens-based musician and vocalist Evita Manji explores the intersections of human experience, climate change, quantum physics, and mortality through choir-inspired vocals and immersive sound design. Since launching their platform myxoxym in 2021, they’ve released impactful singles and curated environmental fundraising projects. Evita has performed widely across Europe and internationally at major festivals like Unsound, Mutek, and Elektra BIAN, collaborating with diverse artists and exhibiting sound installations in prominent galleries. Upcoming projects include a new album, an elaborate live show, and continued collaborations with the research duo Dmstfctn.
About the work:
Echo(location) Chamber is a spatial composition that delves into internal landscapes, where echoes sketch the contours of space in darkness and music speaks what words cannot. This haunting soundtrack meditates on the resonance of space and the rhythmic pulse of sound, binding the ephemeral to the profound. In this piece, the echo chamber evolves beyond a loop of repetition—becoming a dynamic environment where soundwaves rebound and return, gradually revealing the emotional terrain hidden within the void.
Echo(location) Chamber was composed and developed in January 2024, during a 2-week residency at MONOM Studios, and previewed at Het Concertgebouw in December 2024.
Produced by MONOM | Composition by Evita Manji | 4DSOUND Spatialization: Shehryar Ahmad & Evita Manji
Cinna Peyghami
Paris-based French-Iranian percussionist, composer, and producer Cinna Peyghamy (formerly known as Cikkun) blends fragmented rhythms and abrasive melodies rooted in IDM and bass music. Emerging from the Paris experimental noise scene, he crafts unique DIY instruments that merge acoustic and electronic sounds, with a focus on real-time transformation. Central to his performances is the tombak, a traditional percussion instrument, which he fuses with modular synthesizers to explore continuous improvisation and the dialogue between traditional and contemporary sonic worlds.
About the work:
Live at MONOM - 25/05/24
Cinna Peyghamy took us on a mesmerizing journey with his live act that marries the traditional resonance of tombak with the avant-garde possibilities of a modular synthesizer. His improvised sequences unfold seamlessly, intertwining Persian percussion and electronic innovation. Peyghamy’s mastery of the tombak provides a rhythmic foundation that resonates with cultural depth, while the modular synthesizer adds an ethereal, futuristic layer, creating a harmonious blend that defies genre boundaries. This session was a back-to-back with MONOM’s creative director and spatial artist, William Russell, enhancing the live performance with real-time spatialization. This session was recorded, capturing an ephemeral moment in time, which will then become a permanent sound installation.
Produced by MONOM | Composition by Cinna Peyghami | 4DSOUND Live Spatialization: William Russell | 4DSOUND Engineer: Shehryar Ahmad
Andrea Belfi:
Italian-born Andrea Belfi is a drummer, composer, and experimental musician based in Berlin. Over the years Belfi has built a sound world blending the complex timbres of the acoustic with the endless possibilities of the electronic. Belfi has a strong live reputation internationally and his performances are known to be energetic and hypnotic, featuring long-arching immersive soundscapes. He was invited by Thom Yorke to open for his solo show on an international tour in 2019. His last releases Ore and Strata gained Belfi many new fans including tastemakers Mary Anne Hobbs, Gilles Peterson, and Sasha Frere-Jones among others.
Over the last few years, he’s been collaborating and touring with artists such as Nils Frahm, Mouse on Mars, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Mike Watt, Circuit des Yeux, David Grubbs. He has been on stage at Philharmonie de Paris, Montreux Jazz Festival, The Greek Theater (Los Angeles), Unsound Festival (Krakow), Barbican Center (London), Issue Project Room (New York), and CTM Festival (Berlin).
About the work:
Andrea Belfi’s Above My Door, There Is Knocking is a 28-minute spatial composition centered on bass drum and cymbal, blending acoustic percussion with electronic textures to create an expansive, orchestral sound world. Developed during a residency at MONOM in Berlin using the 4DSOUND system, the piece explores shifting dynamics of vulnerability and force, drawing listeners into an immersive narrative of breath-like rhythms and spatial resonance. It premiered at SPATIAL festival in Berlin and later at Lobe Studio in Vancouver.
Disclaimer: This composition is in no way related to or inspired by the song ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ by Bob Dylan.
Produced by MONOM | Composition by Andrea Belfi | 4DSOUND Spatialization: Shehryar Ahmad
Spyros Polychronopoulos
Spyros Polychronopoulos, formerly known as Spyweirdos, is based in Athens, Greece, and deeply immersed in the world of sound, exploring its multifaceted nature as both a scientific phenomenon and an artistic expression. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Music Technology & Acoustics at HMU, with academic interests in acoustic levitation, musical acoustics, acoustic holography, and room acoustics. Further, he has been passionately engaged in the aesthetic aspects of sound since the late 90s, resulting in the release of 20 albums, collaborations with various musicians, and numerous concerts worldwide. His innovative creations, such as Live Electronic Music (LEM, Room40, 2016) and Nyfida (Room40, 2024), have revolutionized the distribution and listening to music, offering a dynamic and interactive experience.
www.spyrospolychronopoulos.com
About the work:
A 4DSOUND experience where boundaries between natural and synthetic blur. Fragmented field recordings, sharp percussive strikes, resonant string drones, and shifting modular synth textures collide and dissolve through layers of custom digital processing. Moving through the extremes of the audible spectrum, from piercing high frequencies to dense, tactile lows, Nearfield invites audiences into an intimate auditory landscape, where attention magnifies the smallest gestures and hidden details pulse just beneath the surface.
Produced by MONOM | Composition: Spyros Polychronopoulos | 4DSOUND Spatialization: William Russell, Spyros Polychronopoulos | Spatial Sound Engineer: Shehryar Ahmad
Ben Frost
Ben Frost is an Australian composer and producer based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Frost composes minimalist, instrumental and experimental music, with influences ranging from classical minimalism to punk rock and black metal. Ben fuses intensely structured sound art with militant post-classical electronic music. He shape-shifts physical power with immersively melodic minimalism and rupturing metal.
About the work:
A brief, but immersive new work by Ben Frost with MONOM
Ben Frost presents a brand-new work, tailor-made for MONOM’s groundbreaking 4DSOUND system — a brief but intensely immersive sonic experience that pushes the boundaries of spatial composition. Known for his visceral and uncompromising sound world, Frost here delves into the architecture of sound itself, sculpting an environment that envelops the listener in shifting layers of texture, energy, and space.
Produced by MONOM | Composition: Ben Frost | 4DSOUND Spatialization: Ben Frost | Lead 4DSOUND Engineer: William Russell | Second 4DSOUND Engineer: Shehryar Ahmad
About MONOM
MONOM is a spatial sound studio and multidisciplinary creative lab working at the intersection of music, art, technology, ceremony and ritual. Our projects range from sound art and music to theatre, dance, and the immersive realms of virtual and augmented reality. MONOM’s mission is to provide space and time for artists to expand the dimensions of their creative practice and to enrich communal and individual experiences of sound and art.
Founded in 2017, MONOM’s studio is home to the original 4DSOUND system. This technology is an intuitive instrument for composing virtual sonic realities. These new worlds of sound are designed not only to be heard but also to be felt with the whole body.
MONOM aims to foster a multicultural and cross-disciplinary movement centered around spatial sound and listening-based practices and experiences. MONOM believes in the potential of this emerging art form to transcend cultural divides through a common language of sound and space.
About the Athens Epidaurus Festival:
The Athens Epidaurus Festival is Greece’s leading cultural organisation and one of the oldest continuously running festivals in Europe. Spanning 70 years, the Festival has welcomed some of the greatest music, dance, and theatre artists of the international and local scene, in collaboration with the most prestigious Greek and international organisations, attracting large audiences from around the world.
https://aefestival.gr/schedule/?lang=en
About the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center:
The SNFCC was created at the initiative of and with an exclusive grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which delivered it to the Greek state upon completion in 2017. Designed by Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), it is a public space, where everyone has free access and can participate in a multitude of cultural, educational, athletic, environmental and recreational activities and events. The SNFCC hosts the new premises of the Greek National Opera (GNO) and the National Library of Greece (NLG), and at the heart of this public domain lies the Stavros Niarchos Park, the largest public Mediterranean garden in the world.
Ticket change and cancellation policy:
Cancellations are not allowed.
Changes are not allowed (on another day, time or position).
The organizer of this event is the company BUSINESS ATHENS FESTIVA, and it is the only ticketing platform of the event. The policy of change and cancellation is defined by the organizer.