Qobuz is sponsoring the Mercury KX artist showcase at SXSW Online 2021, which sees contemporary Classical / Electronic music composers Sebastian Plano, Lambert, Luke Howard, and Sophie Hutchings performing a set to commence the SXSW music programme each day.

The sessions start at 5.30 pm GMT and run from March 17th through to March 20th.

This year’s new online format for SXSW sees artists perform at unique locations in their home countries and varies from a Norwegian cable car, Abbey Road Studios, a Brazilian greenhouse cafe, and a Taoist temple.

Qobuz is the only hi-res streaming service of SXSW and the world’s first hi-res music streaming service, founded in 2017 in Paris, France. The service was later launched into the US market in 2019 and is now available in 11 other countries worldwide.

Mercury KX is a London-based record label created in 2017 as a post-classical imprint of the Decca family. It features a diverse selection of genre-defying artists – such as Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers, Ólafur Arnalds, Anoushka Shankar, and Keaton Henson. All the talented people on the Mercury KX roster have one thing in common - they are crafting distinctive new music at the fringes of classical, alternative, and electronic music.

SWSW Online 2021 Mercury KX Set List:

Sebastian Plano – March 17th

Sebastian Plano is an Argentinian composer, producer and musician. His Grammy-nominated album Verve, released in 2019, was highly acclaimed internationally. Plano began playing the cello at age 7, and his approach to electronic music is intrinsically linked to his years of playing chamber and orchestral music.

Plano mixes electronics and acoustic instruments into large ensemble pieces to create his unique sound. Uncut noted, “Plano plucks heartstrings as effectively as his cello strings.”

Sophie Hutchings – March 18th

Composer and pianist Sophie Hutchings spent a lot of her childhood outdoors by the ocean. Sophie’s music, influenced by the almost otherworldly effect of that natural landscape on her psyche, is ruminative and dreamy and has been described by The Guardian as exuding “an intimate, contemplative quality; sometimes melancholic, often with an exhilarating beauty.” Scattered On The Wind, her first album for Mercury KX, released in April 2020, is an elegant and transcendent meditation on “surrendering to the unknown, trusting that things will align.”

Lambert – March 19th

Enigmatic composer and pianist Lambert always performs wearing a Sardinian bull mask. Lambert’s own sonic language is influenced as much by pop music and wider culture as it is by elements of contemporary classical music.

His latest album, False, released in November 2020, features 14 different collaborations and is his most diverse album yet. Clash noted, “False is one of those albums that manages to distil pop culture whilst taking elements from the classical world to create something mesmeric and enticing.”

Luke Howard – March 20th

Australian Music Prize long-listed composer Luke Howard has scored films and performed with artists as diverse as Lior and Jeff Mills. He released his third solo album, Open Heart Story, in 2018, which explores fragmented relationships, childhood memories and the passage of time.

Howard composed music for the short film The Sand That Ate The Sea (winner of the 2020 APRA/AGSC Award for Best Music for a Short Film), the theatre work The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes (Back To Back Theatre), and has also written pieces for The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden and Atlanta Ballet. His music has been described as “absolutely heavenly” by Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC Radio 6.

Why not check out the Qobuz SXSW Online 2021 playlist and discover more new music?

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