Opening night North Sea Round Town – RUNA BECOMES SUN (Première)

In RUNA BECOMES SUN AWICHAS ensemble explores the edges of storytelling. This piece is a new composition commissioned by North Sea Round Town Festival. Especially made for the Laurenskerk, utilising its specific acoustics and resonance. RUNA BECOMES SUN reflects on the liminal space when time relinquishes its linearity, and the interplay of listening intertwines with our physical and sensorial compass. A multimedia story about sheltering, resting and becoming human.

The public is invited to listen and be embalmed by this concert centred around Andean ritual technologies. Inspired by a mythical story that talks about how Runa (human) journeyed for centuries across the earth -named Chullparuna (protohuman)- without their senses fully developed. Until one day the Sun was born and they then learned how to see, smell, taste, feel and hear.

AWICHAS is a music project initiated by Bolivian/Brazilian multi-medium artist and performer Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti. AWICHAS draws from Andean ritual music to envision a giddy sound assembled from electronics, percussion, and voice. Stemming from a trip to Bolivia where she was invited in different rituals and teachings, Guardia Ferragutti took recordings and data from this journey and worked with sound artist and musician Jochem van Tol to translate them into electronic music – using the Buchla 100 and 200 synthesiser to form the skeleton of the project.

This skeleton was given flesh through an all-star ensemble of artists – including Frank Rosaly, Jacob Maskell-Key (of Nihiloxica), Lida Brouskari, Julia Werner, and van Tol – who composed the vibrant, jazz-inflected, drum-filled, and noisy devotional music one can expect at this performance of AWICHAS.

Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti – concept, compositie, performance, stem
Julia Werner – stem, percussie
Lida Brouskari – synthesizers, stem
Jochem van Tol – synthesizers, compositie, ontwikkeling lichtinstrument
Frank Rosaly – drums, elektronica, compositie
Jacob Maskell-Key – drums, elektronica

fotocredits by Maaike Ronhaar

North Sea Round Town is the fringe festival of NN North Sea Jazz Festival. 375+ concerts at 175+ locations throughout Rotterdam. From jazz and soul to hip–hop, electronic and everything in between. June 25 to July 12, 2026.