SÓNAR 2022. Barcelona finalises musical program with 30 new artists from across the globe and an injection of local talent.

99 days until Sónar 2022. Barcelona, 16th, 17th & 18th June. Sónar Barcelona 2022 finalises musical program with 30 new artists from across the globe and an injection of local talent. The diversity and freshness of dance music from across the globe is represented by both established and emerging names, with Jennifer Cardini b2b Perel, Anfisa Letyago and Paranoid London joined by Angola via Portugal’s Pongo, South Africa’s Scorpion Kings, Australia’s Partiboi69, New Zealand’s Lady Shaka and a British-Asian b2b from Yung Singh and SUCHI.

From the fringes, additions include percussionist Eli KeszlerQuayola/Seta’s audiovisual collaboration ‘Transient’ presented by ME by Meliá; and a percussive set from Italian selector Ehua.

Niño de Elche presents his new project ‘Concert de músika festera’ with Ylia and 40-piece band “La Valenciana”; Catalan duo Maria Arnal i Marcel Bagés will expand the sound of a choir using Artificial Intelligence; and Spanish queer phenomenon Samantha Hudson debuts a new ‘variety show’. Plus a host of local DJs, with AWWZAlbal b2b Rocio and Umami b2b CRKS290 and others showcasing the vibrancy of the current Spanish club scene. 

Sónar+D moves to new spaces, taking over the entire Palau de Congressos, and introducing new formats on the new SónarÁgora and +D stage. This new venue will be dedicated to presentations with a high audiovisual component and hybrid performances that are both conference and concert.  The 29th edition of Sónar, which will once again be held on its usual dates –16, 17 and 18 June – at its home in the Fira Montjuïc and Fira Gran Via, will this year include more than 100 shows, including new live performances from The Chemical Brothers, The Blaze, Moderat, C. Tangana, Arca, Eric Prydz, Headie One, Morad, Bonobo, Nathy Peluso, Overmono and DJ sets by Charlotte de Witte, Helena Hauff and The Blessed Madonna.

 Today is the last day to buy SónarPasses for Sónar Barcelona 2022 at their current price of 185€. All types of tickets for the festival are on sale now, from individual day and night tickets to 2-night tickets, SónarPasses, VIP passes and accreditations. More information available at sonar.es.
Sónar starts its international tour for 2022. The 6th edition of Sónar Istanbul will be held next week (18 and 19 March), with the 1st edition of Sónar Lisboa taking place next month (8, 9 and 10 April)This year Sónar will surpass 100 festivals, with editions held in 35 cities in over 20 countries to date.
 Sónar Barcelona closes its music programme today with a final batch of more than 30 names. Among them, the latest shows by Spanish talents such as Niño de Elche, Maria Arnal and Marcel Bagés or Samantha Hudson, an energetic new analogue AV live show from British duo Paranoid London and dance music from in emerging scenes across five continents: from the Australian internet phenomenon Partiboi69 to the house of South-African pair Kabza De Small x DJ Maphorisa (Scorpion Kings) or the sounds of the British-Asian duo Yung Singh b2b SUCHI.

 Niño de Elche + Ylia + Banda “La Valenciana” sees Niño de Elche return to Sónar once again with a premiere of an unreleased piece. In this case, it’s an exclusive new show entitled ‘Concert de músika festera’, with more than 40 musicians appearing on stage to reinterpret the sound of popular festivals with a staging never seen before at the festival.

 Catalans Maria Arnal and Marcel Bagés arrives at the festival to present ‘Hiperutopia’, a live version of their latest album Clamor, a reimagining specially prepared for Sónar, where Arnal’s vocal experimentation will be enhanced, incorporating both Artificial Intelligence and several backing singers. Singer, actress, performer and LGTBIQ+ activist Samantha Hudson will make her debut at the festival with a new live show designed especially for Sónar that promises to be as radical as it is spectacular. It will include her greatest hits and songs from ‘Liquidación Total’, her latest album.
 
The diversity and freshness of dance music from the five continents will be well-represented at Sónar 2022. Joining the lineup today is a 6-hour back-to-back in the SonarCar from Kabza De Small x DJ Maphorisa as Scorpion Kings, representing amapiano, the new style of house that’s emerged from the South African townships. Portuguese artist Pongo touches down with a combination of kuduro and electronic music that previously saw her shine as the vocalist of Buraka Som Sistema. UNIIQU3 will demonstrate why she is considered the standard bearer of the Jersey Club genre. The ghetto-house style of Australia’s Partiboi69 will feature in one of the most surprising shows of the festival and Yung Singh b2b SUCHI will represent the music that has put the South Asian diaspora on the global radar.

 The leading female DJs and stars of clubbing today will also be at Sónar 2022. The new Neapolitan sensation Anfisa Letyago and her powerful techno sound and the Franco-German meeting of Jennifer Cardini b2b Perel, an unprecedented offering of hedonism to close Friday night, join a line-up that already includes Charlotte de Witte, ANNA, The Blessed Madonna, La Fleur, Jayda G, Or:la, Avalon Emerson, Helena Hauff and Eris Drew b2b Octo Octa.
 The SonarLab by Resident Advisor at Sónar by Night will offer a global vision of what club music means in 2022: more diverse and varied than ever. Over two nights, it brings together underground stalwarts with local idols and rising stars: Headie One, Avalon Emerson, Helena Hauff, Nihiloxica, Midland b2b Shanti Celeste, Venus X, Batu, MBODJ, Tiga & Hudson Mohawke present Love Minus Zero, Conducta, Skee Mask, Critical Soundsystem, Ehua, GAZZI and Giant Swan.

 SonarPark by DICE will showcase Sónar by Day at its most radical and innovative. Live performances – from boundary-pushing rap to forward-thinking rave – will rub shoulders with the most unique and unpredictable DJ sets. Niño de Elche + Ylia + Banda “La Valenciana”: ‘Concert de músika festera’Partiboi69, Depresión Sonora, Albal b2b Rocío and Umami b2b CRKS290 join previously announced artists such as Morad, Overmono, Ms Nina, Rojuu, Juicy Bae, Vegyn, Mori & Rusowsky, Coucou Chloe, DJ Marcelle / Another Nice Mess, Yugen Kala, Lechuga Zafiro and others.
 
Sónar+D adds new venues, performances, merges with Sónar by DaySónar+D takes a leap forward this year, introducing new spaces, occupying the whole of the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona and inaugurating both a new debate area SonarÁgora and a new +D stage. This new venue will be dedicated to talks and presentations with an audiovisual element and hybrid performances that are part conference, part concert. Additionally, Sónar+D will include the SonarComplex stage, featuring music and shows with particularly strong scenographic, technological and audiovisual elements.

 Sónar+D is integrated into Sónar by Day, offering an exciting new journey that will encourage interaction, discovery and physical encounters between artists, researchers, scientists, thinkers and creative professionals. The main thematic axes will revolve around Web3 – digital economies, crypto-art, digital creative markets etc. -, Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and its artistic, technological, political, social and ethical implications – and Acoustic Ecology – the Earth, nature and human activity as observed through sound, itself a fundamental source for research and technological development.
 
The Sónar+D programme includes the Spanish premiere of the collaborative project ‘Transient’ presented by ME by Meliá by the Italian duo Quayola/Seta, presented both as an audiovisual show featuring two pianos and as a large-scale digital installation piece. two-piano audiovisual show and a large-scale digital installation. Accreditations for Sónar+D Barcelona 2022 are available now at sonarplusd.com.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
Airaboi (Es)
Albal B2B Rocío (Es)
Anfisa Letyago (It)
Awwz (Es)
B1n0 Live A/v (Es)
Depresión Sonora (Es)
Ehua (It)
Eli Keszler (Us)
Gela (Es)
Ivy Barkakati (Es)
Jennifer Cardini B2B Perel (De/fr)
Kabza De Small X Dj Maphorisa (Scorpion Kings) 6h Set (Za)
Lady Shaka (Nz)
Maria Arnal I Marcel Bagés present ‘hiperutopia’ (Es)
Miret Live (Es)
Niño De Elche + Ylia + Banda “la Valenciana”: ‘concert De Músika Festera’ (Es)
Paranoid London (Uk)
Partiboi69 (Au)
Pedro Vian & Mana (Es/It)
Pongo (Pt)
Quayola/seta: ‘transient’ performance presented by Me By Meliá (It)
Quayola/seta: ‘transient’ Installation presented by Me By Meliá (It)
Samantha Hudson: ‘liquidación Total’ (Es)
Santos Bacana (Es)
Umami B2B Crks290 (Es)
Uniiqu3 Live (Us)
Virginie (Es)
Vvv trippin’you
Yung Singh B2B Suchi (Uk)

Program Sónar Barcelona 2022
SÓNAR BY NIGHT – FRIDAY 17TH JUNE 2022
Moderat (De)
The Blaze (Fr)
C. Tangana (Es)
Nathy Peluso (Ar)
Bonobo (Uk)
Headie One (Uk)
Richie Hawtin (Ca)
Agoria (Fr)
Skee Mask (De)
Anna (Br)
Herrensauna Xxl 6h Set (De)
Avalon Emerson (Us)
Jennifer Cardini B2B Perel (Fr/De)
Tiga And Hudson Mohawke present Love Minus Zero (Ca/Uk)
Venus X (Us)
Poté Dj Set (Fr)
Or:la (Ie)
Critical Sound System (Uk)
Gazzi (Es)
Brava (Es)
Conducta (Uk)
Santos Bacana (Es)
Djohnston (Es)

SÓNAR BY NIGHT – SATURDAY 18TH JUNE 2022
The Chemical Brothers (Uk)
Eric Prydz (Se)
Arca (Ve)
The Blessed Madonna (Us)
Charlotte De Witte (Be)
Aj Tracey (Uk)
Helena Hauff (De)
Folamour: Power To The Ppl Av Show (Fr)
Joy Orbison (Uk)
Reinier Zonneveld Live (Nl)
Midland B2B Shanti Celeste (Uk)
Anfisa Letyago (It)
Kabza De Small X Dj Maphorisa (Scorpion Kings) 6h Set (Za)
Batu (Uk)
Nihiloxica (Ug)
La Fleur (Se)
Mbodj (Es)
Giant Swan (Uk)
Etm (Es)
Ehua (It)
Lucient (Es)

SÓNAR BY DAY – THURSDAY 16TH JUNE 2022
Oneohtrix Point Never (Us)
Pongo (Pt)
Paranoid London Live (Uk)
Sega Bodega (Uk)
Lafawndah (Fr)
Partiboi69 (Au)
Ms Nina (Es)
Jayda G (Ca)
Lady Shaka (Nz)
Coucou Chloe (Fr)
Chico Blanco (Es)
Rojuu (Es)
Uniiqu3 Live (Us)
Manara (Uk)
Tarta Relena (Es)
Simona (Ar)
Lechuga Zafiro (Uy)
B1n0 Live Av (Es)
Gela (Es)
Awwz (Es)
Depresión Sonora (Es)

SÓNAR BY DAY – FRIDAY 17TH JUNE 2022
Princess Nokia (Us)
Samantha Hudson: ‘liquidación Total’ (Es)
Polo & Pan (Fr)
Niño De Elche + Ylia + Banda “la Valenciana”: ‘concert De Músika Festera’ (Es)
Lyra Pramuk – Echoluminescence (Us)
Eris Drew B2B Octo Octa (Us)
Lsdxoxo Live (Us)
Quayola/seta – Transient performance presented by Me by Meliá (It)
Louisahhh Live (Fr)
Juicy Bae (Es)
VVV trippin’you
Scotch Rolex ft. MC Yallah & Lord Spikeheart (Jp/ug)
Yung Singh B2B Suchi (Uk)
Ihhh & Desilence Live Av (Ar/Es/Dk)
El Bobe (Es)
Dj Marcelle / Another Nice Mess (Nl)
Albal B2B Rocío (Es)
Yugen Kala (Es)
Jamz Supernova (Uk)
Miret Live (Es)
Ivy Barkakati (Es)

SÓNAR BY DAY – SATURDAY 18TH JUNE 2022
Overmono Live (Uk)
Serpentwithfeet (Us)
Morad (Es)
Jyoty (Uk)
Vegyn (Uk)
Kiddy Smile (Fr)
Dj Python (Us)
Tomm¥ €a$h (Ee)
For Those I Love (Uk)
Nu Genea Live Band (It)
Maria Arnal I Marcel Bagés present ‘hiperutopia’ (Es)
Pedro Vian & Mana (Es/it)
Mori, Rusowsky (Es)
Locoplaya (Es)
Eli Keszler (Us)
La Chica (Fr/Ve)
Recycled J (Es)
‘uncompressed’ with Hainbach, Look Mum No Computer and Cuckoo presented by Patreon (De/Uk/Se)
Virginie (Es)
Umami B2B Crks290 (Es)
Airaboi (Es)

Sónar+D leaps forward with new venues and event formats as part of Sónar by Day One of the biggest pieces of news for this year is that Sónar+D, Sónar’s creative technologies programme, will be organically integrated into the Sónar by Day programme.

The new Sónar+D will feature innovative formats, offering an exciting journey through its spaces and activities that will encourage interaction, discovery and physical encounters between artists, researchers, scientists, thinkers and creative professionals.

The three overarching themes for the programme have now been announced. Firstly, there’ll be a wide look at Web3, from digital economies and decentralisation through to crypto-art, creative markets and new ways of organising the internet. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be the second theme, building on the AI and Music Festival held in October 2021 and exploring the implications of these new technologies across art and society. Finally, the third part of the programme will be organised under Acoustic Ecology, examining the role of sound within the relationships between Earth, nature and humanity, and how it shapes research and development.

The +D stage and SonarÁgora, new venues for Sónar+D
Additionally, this year will introduce a new +D stage, designed specifically for unconventional performances of a multidisciplinary or collaborative nature, blurring the lines between research, thinking and performance. It will feature lectures with a particular focus on audiovisual aspects, and hybrid performances that are both conferences and concerts. A stage where the scenography of a concert merges with more informative and research-oriented proposals by professionals from different disciplines such as artists, designers and scientists.

Another new space introduced this year is SonarÁgora, which will host debates, either as masterclasses or as unconferences – horizontal discussions and conferences in which the public interacts and actively participates.

SonarComplex integrated into Sónar+D with increased audiovisual content
The SonarComplex auditorium will this year be the home of the most daring and sophisticated musical offerings at Sónar by Day. This stage will feature performances with a high level of technological or scenographic components, which experiment with audiovisual elements.   

Over three days, SonarComplex will present a multitude of projects that fulfill these criteria. One of the highlights will be Quayola/Seta: ‘Transient Performance’, presented by ME by Meliá, an immersive duo show in which machines are used to perform on two grand pianos and manipulate a large audiovisual canvas. A performance that will  immerse the spectator in painting and sound: from classical to avant-garde, from experimental to techno.

‘Uncompressed’ presented by Patreon by artists and youtubers Hainbach, Look Mum No Computer, and Cuckoo will be a mix of performance and live demo, showcasing their creative processes and experiments with synthesisers.

The lineup for the SonarComplex also includes the new announcement of experimental percussionist Eli Keszler, the vocal experiments of Tarta Relena and Lafwandah, an AV collaboration between IHHH & Desilence, and Lyra Pramuk’s ‘Echoluminescence’.

And of course, Sónar+D 2022 won’t lack an exhibition area designed to display content produced by different digital and creative artists, from virtual reality and the metaverse to NFTsonline culture and post-internet art.

Finally, the +D lounge will be exclusively accessible to Accreditation holders, a place where the Sónar+D community can meet again and connect after nearly three years apart. It will also be the venue for Q&A sessions with some of the most prominent participants of the program, and where tbec will be scheduled bringing together local and international creative communities.

Sónar kicks off its 2022 international tour.
The 6th edition of Sónar Istanbul will take place next week, (18th and 19th March) and the 1st edition of Sónar Lisboa next month (8th, 9th and 10th April).

Since being founded in 1994, Sónar has organised more than 100 festivals, with 76 editions taking place in 35 cities in over 20 countries, adapting the philosophy of the Barcelona festival to unique spaces and environments, showcasing international talent and the most important elements of the local scene in each case.

London (2002-2005/2009-2011) / Neuchatel (2002) / Hamburg (2002-2006) / Tokyo (2002, 2004, 2006, 2011-2013) / Rome (2003) / São Paulo (2004, 2012 y 2015) / Lyon (2004) / Guadalajara (2004) / Buenos Aires (2006, 2015-2018) / Seoul (2006) / Frankfurt (2007) / Washington (2009) / New York (2009 y 2012) / Chicago (2010 y 2012) / Capetown (2012 y 2014) / Toronto (2012) / Denver (2012) / Oakland (2012) / Boston (2012) / Montreal (2012) / Los Angeles (2012) / Osaka (2013) / Johannesburg (2014) / Reykjavík (2013-2018) / Copenhagen (2015) / Stockholm (2014-2016) / Santiago de Chile (2015) / Bogotá (2015-2018) / Hong Kong (2017-2019) / Mexico City (2018 y 2019) / Athens (2019) / Istanbul (2017-2022) / Lisboa (2022).

Institutional Partners and Sponsors
Sónar 2022 is an initiative of Advanced Music, supported by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya through the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC), the Ajuntament de Barcelona, Impost Turístic and the Ajuntament de l’Hospitalet.

Sónar 2022 is made possible by our principal partner Estrella Damm and with additional sponsorship from Thunder Bitch, DICE, MEDIAPRO, Desigual, Red Bull, ME by Meliá, Takis, Patreon and Coca-Cola. Supported by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB).

H/T Sónar festival.

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