Michel Risse & Elsa van der Linden

Michel Risse, multi-instrumentalist, electroacoustic composer, and artistic director of Décor Sonore, views the city as a sonic landscape for his music. From an early age, he experimented with harmonica, piano, homemade guitars, and recording devices, developing an intuitive and adventurous approach to sound. His studies at the Strasbourg Conservatory and his encounters with theatre and architecture led to innovative, multidisciplinary projects. Risse has collaborated with numerous artists, explored new recording and sound techniques, and developed, among other things, an octophonic spatializer. His compositions open up new ways of listening, in which urban and natural sounds create unusual and immersive experiences, bringing the work of Décor Sonore to life.

As a maker and performer, saxophonist and composer Elsa van der Linden explores how to capture “the moment” through listening, framing, adding, and responding. She creates music, plays tenor saxophone, and develops site- and moment-specific performances, often using improvisation and space as a co-performer. Her work focuses on sound and listening research, using materials such as polystyrene, cardboard, and sheet metal to generate feedback and resonances that are always unpredictable. She also works with analogue photography, cyanotype, and bookbinding as a tactile counterbalance to sound. Since 2017, she has organized improvisation sessions, ensembles, and site-specific performances through her foundation BUI, presented at festivals such as Gaudeamus and Oerol.