The Last Piece
an immersive syncretic concert
for chamber ensemble, conductor, violin soloist, mime artist, actors, and 360° video projections
2025
MINA Museum, Bucharest, RO
September 18-19, 2025
Composition: Constantin Basica
Visual concept: Simona Fitcal
Immersive concept: orb.ro and Adrian Ciglenean
Text: William Shakespeare (adapted by Adrian Ciglenean)
Poem: Alexandru Berceanu
Sound installation: Grigore Burloiu
AI + EEG Systems: Prateek Verma, Constantin Basica, Alexandru Berceanu
Performers: SonoMania Ensemble
Simona Strungaru, conductor
Olga Berar violin, soloist
Tamara Dica, viola
Valentin Ghita, oboe
Flaviu Ludușan, clarinet
Maria Diana Petrache, piano
Eugen-Bogdan Popa, cello
Special guest: Teodor-Emanuel Basica, horn
Pantomime: Alexandru Pribeagu
With the participation of actors: Alexandru Pribeagu, Smaranda Găbudean, Luiza Ghindă, Mihai Dulea, Adrian Ciglenean, Mihai Oancea și a tinerilor Anda Kreuziger, Robert Avram, David Jighirgiu, Alexandru Păun, Tudor Oancea și Luminița Cercel
Four centuries after the publication of Shakespeare's The Tempest in the First Folio, The Last Play revisits some of the themes used by the "Bard of Avon": illusion, power, transformation, as well as the role of art in the tension between the earthly and the spiritual. If Shakespeare's style amazes with the variety of dramatic techniques used to "bewitch" the audience—poetically subjugating dance, music, and acting to address diverse audiences alike—Constantin Basica's concert seeks a similar effect through interdisciplinarity, immersion, and technology.
The composer's brain activity, recorded by electroencephalogram, is transformed into digital signals that form the basis of the musical score and are used to train Artificial Intelligence systems. Thus, music is no longer just written on notes, but imagined by the composer and generated by creative algorithms. The creative process thus becomes programming code, and the magic of art and technology materializes into an experience of the senses and the mind.
You can expect a musical cruise where, once the boarding formalities are complete, the shores of concert convention disappear. On the journey to the subconscious, the boundaries between reality and imagination become fragile. You are invited not only to listen and watch, but to immerse yourself in a world where presence and perception are in a continuous flow and where the question remains open: who is in control and who is controlled?
Organized by: ARTEXIM, București
Co-organized by: The Art Production Foundation, Bucharest
Partners:
• Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University, CA
• International Center for Research and Education in Innovative and Creative Technologies (CINETic), I.L. Caragiale National University of Theatre and Cinematography, Bucharest, RO
• The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Society
Many thanks:
• MINA – Museum of Immersive New Art, Bucharest
• Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), California
• EMOTIV, California
