Rafael Anton Irrisari (USA) | Sabw | swanasa
The deeper layers of dark ambient, drone, and electronic music unfold in this seated, audiophile séance. Three outstanding electronic musicians take the stage: Rafael Anton Irisarri, a singular figure in the ambient scene, whose live performances are often described as sacred spatial experiences. His music is marked by slowly evolving textures, distorted symphonies, and the layered richness of contemporary classical music. Joining him are two remarkable local artists: Sabw, who dissects the anatomy of emotional disintegration through dense and dark compositions, and swanasa, who explores the relationship between spirituality and technology through organic field recordings and delicate synthetic veils, guiding the listener into meditative depths.
Schedule
Rafael Anton Irisarri (live) [Room40, A Strangely Isolated Place]
Sabw (live) [Free Sequence]
swanasa (live) [EXILES, A Strangely Isolated Place]
ⓘ This is a seated concert with a limited number of tickets available.
Rafael Anton Irisarri
Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, producer, and mastering engineer based in New York. A self-taught musician, he has released numerous albums on acclaimed labels such as Ghostly International, Room40, Morr Music, and A Strangely Isolated Place. His work exists at the intersection of ambient, drone, and experimental music, often blending elements of contemporary classical and electronic composition.
Irisarri’s soundworlds evoke melancholic, cinematic atmospheres where slowly unfolding sonic landscapes, deep tones, and dense textures dominate. His compositions often bear the influence of post-classical music, incorporating string instruments, piano, and finely tuned electronic manipulation to create an intimate, immersive auditory space.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated with notable musicians such as Lawrence English and Simon Scott (Slowdive). His meticulous approach to sound is evident both in his music and his mastering work, with clients including Terry Riley, William Basinski, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Grouper, MONO, Devendra Banhart, and Eluvium.
His best-known album, The North Bend (2010), evokes the atmosphere of the American Pacific Northwest, while Solastalgia (2019) captures the emotional imprint of climate anxiety and environmental change. Irisarri’s music is especially favored by creators in film and the visual arts, often used for meditative experiences, installations, or cinematic scoring. His artistry builds narrative through sound—quiet, yet profoundly moving sonic stories told with elemental force.
Sabw
Sabw (Bognár Csaba) explores the borders of abstract, atmospheric, and dark-toned electronic music. He has released works via ASAN Music Group, Free Sequence, and Pluto Sound, and is co-founder of the audiovisual studio and performance space N° Space.
Completed Disillusionment is his most cinematic and emotionally resonant work to date. Across its four movements—including Elephant and Dream Deferral—sound overwhelms physical limits, provoking strong bodily and emotional reactions. Beneath the thick textures and monumental soundscapes lies a surprisingly personal and passionate world, as though Sabw is mapping a survival guide to emotional collapse through sound. A fitting cosmic alignment: the album was mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri himself.
swanasa
swanasa is an electronic music artist known for crafting immersive soundscapes that combine ambient and drone aesthetics with deeply transcendent themes. His work weaves together organic field recordings and synthetic sound design to reveal the delicate interplay between nature and technology. His sound art emerges from a pursuit of “shaping time into space,” where analog and digital, ancient and contemporary elements merge.
His debut EP, when you need to rest, let the sounds hold you (2023, EXILES), included a track featured in Abul Mogard’s mix for Rinse.fr and received praise from The Quietus. His second EP was released in 2024 on A Strangely Isolated Place. These two albums form the foundation of his live performance Life, Death, Life.
In 2020, swanasa was one of the winners of the Telekom Electronic Beats contest and has since performed at several international festivals, including Blue Noise (Germany), INTONAL (Sweden), and Hungary’s O.Z.O.R.A., DAAD, UH Fest, and INOTA. He has shared stages with artists such as Abul Mogard and Rafael Anton Irisarri.
House of Music Hungary
A music education centre and concert venue in the heart of the City Park, behind the airy futuristic glass facade of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.