Mutefest 2026: The Control Unit

Tudor Continuum.

The Control Unit: Tudor Continuum brings together four experimental musicians exploring the legacy of American avant-garde composer David Tudor (1926–1996), whose pioneering work with live electronics, unconventional sound sources, and experimental performance continues to resonate today.

The Control Unit is a collective consisting of Mats Lindström, director of Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm; Joachim Nordwall, founder of iDEAL Recordings; Argentinian bandoneonist and composer Mercedes Krapovickas; and British artist and musician Paul Purgas, known for his work with Emptyset.

Developed through performances and collaborations at WELD and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and Café OTO in London, Tudor Continuum is an evolving performance exploring collective improvisation through analogue and electroacoustic means. Working with live electronics, found objects, circuitry, transmission, and feedback, the musicians create an unpredictable sonic environment in which sounds and relationships continuously emerge, transform, and dissolve.
Inspired by Tudor’s experimental approach, the performance explores the space between order and chaos, intention and chance, and the shifting relationships between materials, electronics, performers, and the surrounding space.

Artists

Mats Lindström(SE)

has worked with electro-acoustic music, mainly live electronics since the 1980s. Formerly an engineer in the electronics industry, Lindström has designed and constructed a number of unique electronic musical instruments and apparatuses. He has worked with intermedia art and music for theatre and dance as well as improvised music. In 1993 he worked as the producer for David Tudors last concerts in Sweden at the Fylkingen 60-years anniversary festival. Lindström has since then counted this event as a major reference and claims Tudor to be partly responsible for his own artistic practice today. Over the years Lindström has regularly but rarely done projects abroad, both in Europe and worldwide. Since 2004 he is the Studio Director of EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm.

Paul Purgas (GB)

is a British artist and musician working with sound, performance, and installation. His research explores the interwoven histories of design, music, and spiritual philosophy, and he is one half of the electronic music project Emptyset. Paul has developed several documentaries for BBC Radio including Electronic India (BBC Radio, 2020) and Recording on the Nomads Trail (BBC Radio, 2023) and he is the editor of the essay collection Subcontinental Synthesis (Strange Attractor/MIT Press 2024). Recent multimedia exhibitions include In the Temple of the Earth (Southwark Park Gallery, London 2024) and We Found Our Own Reality (CTM/Transmediale, Berlin 2023).

paulpurgas.com

Joachim Nordwall (SE)

is based in Gothenburg, Sweden. He has a long background in the Swedish experimental music scene, starting out with recordings with the psych-drone duo Alvars Orkester as a teenager in 1988. His early interest in psychic tension created by sound is now as ever present in his music. His ”Soul Music” albums for Entr’acte shows his deep interest in circular rhythms, analogue synth loops and mind expanding experiments. Nordwall has also released his music on labels like Ash International, Thrill Jockey and Hospital Productions. From 1999-2005 he was sweating with the avant punk rock trio Kid Commando and when that stopped he created the ritual drone rock group The Skull Defekts. Nowadays he is part of the tape and synth trio Organ of Corti. Nordwall also runs iDEAL Recordings since 1998 and has been collaborating with artists like Aaron Dilloway, Mika Vainio, Aaron Turner, Kevin Drumm, Mats Gustafsson, Leif Elggren, Gabi Losoncy, Mark Wastell and Christine Abdelnour, and he is a busy organizer of festivals and concert nights in Sweden and abroad. He is also working as an agent for his iDEAL Agency.

idealrecordings.com

Mercedes Krapovickas (AR/FI)

born and raised in Argentina and currently based in Finland, is a composer, performer, and sound artist whose passion lies at the intersection of composition, performance, and improvisation. With a background as a bandoneonist, pianist, and composer, Mercedes brings a wealth of experience and innovation to her creative projects. For over two decades, Mercedes has been performing across Europe and Argentina as a soloist, pushing the boundaries of traditional bandoneon playing while exploring forgotten avant-garde compositions from the 1960s. Her journey led her to delve into electro-acoustic music composition at the University of Quilmes in Argentina, followed by studies in Musicology at the University of Helsinki, and piano and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. She further honed her skills with a degree in Sound in New Media from Aalto University. Mercedes’ work is characterized by a relentless spirit of experimentation, as she continuously seeks to defy the confines of traditional genres and improvises in her own unique language. She explores new technologies and platforms to expand the performing possibilities of the bandoneon, often collaborating with interdisciplinary artists such as dancers, stage designers, and light.

mekrapov.com

Changes are possible.

Further information: Janne Ikäheimo, janne.ikaheimo@uniarts.fi

Mutefest

Mutefest is a biennial festival showcasing the artistic work of the Sibelius Academy’s Music Technology department. Admission to the festival is free.

See the whole programme