We invite you to the first edition of the concert event series pssst, curated by Združenie ooo as part of Trenčín 2026.
pssst is a series of concert events dedicated to contemporary and experimental music performed by artists who relentlessly explore the peripheries of musical thinking. We live in an era of the greatest musical, compositional, and instrumental diversity in history. So:
How many ways are there to play the guitar?
Where do the boundaries of experimentation and improvisation reach?
Where to go beyond the European tradition, grand concert halls, and the order of the quintachord?
The event will take place on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 15:00 to 22:00. Free entry, subject to registration. Capacity is limited.
The event takes place partially under the open sky.
VOJTĚCH ŠEMBERA PRESENTS KURT SCHWITTERS (CZ/DE): URSONATE
Vojtěch Šembera is an experimental vocalist, composer, and opera singer. He is one of the few performers in the (Central) European context capable of interpreting the greatest sound poem – and at the same time one of the greatest vocal works of the 20th century – the legendary Ursonate (1932) by German Dadaist Kurt Schwitters.
The three-quarter-hour Ursonate, or Sonata in Primal Sounds, is a challenge for the performer and an unforgettable experience for the audience. It is a composition made of “non-existent words” and phonetic expressions organized into rhythmic and melodic structures that are extraordinarily demanding to perform but equally captivating to the ear. The opportunity to experience it live doesn’t come often – even for the most devoted music lovers. We advise: don’t miss it!
MICHAL MATEJKA & ŠTEFAN SZABÓ (SK)
The artistic paths of guitarists and improvisers, friends and colleagues Štefan Szabó and Michal Matejka, occasionally cross on stage as a duo with electric and/or acoustic guitars. Their concert at pssst will be a free continuation of an open conversation between two personalities exploring the possibilities, limitations, boundaries, and corners of their instruments and their preparations.
This exceptional meeting will take place in a historical boiler room building from World War II in the Letecké opravovne Trenčín area.
Michal Matejka plays in bands Ankramu, Škvíry a Spoje, VENI ensemble, and others, focusing on extended techniques for electric guitar, free improvisation, and contemporary song-based music.
Štefan Szabó is the author of music for various theatre and dance performances. He performs solo as well as an improviser and composer in the duo Ranjevš & Óbas and the trio KIN. He is behind the experimental music festival n:ear in Banská Štiavnica and the BIO – Bratislava Improvisation Orchestra.
MATEJ SLOBODA (SK): RELATIVELY LONG. RELATIVELY QUIET. GOING. SLIDING. STEPPING. SKIPPING. STILL. AROUND. CLAMORING. RATTLING. (CONCERT)
Slovak composer and conductor Matej Sloboda will present a solo performance at the first edition of pssst titled Relatively Quiet. Going. Sliding. Stepping. Skipping. Still. Around. Clamoring. Rattling., for string instruments and e-bow.
This meditative piece, which expresses his interest in music that “doesn’t need contrast, drama, or tones”—just sound, harmony, multi-sound and their slow evolution—was premiered at the JAMA – 76th Edition of Milan Adamčiak (2022). This time, the piece will be situated in the orchard of the Letecké opravovne Trenčín, among old walnut and fruit trees in an almost summer afternoon.
Matej Sloboda is a central figure of the chamber orchestra EnsembleSpectrum, focusing on 20th-century music interpretation. He is also one-third of the experimental music collective Critical Band. In his solo projects, he explores the basic essence of sound and experiments with creating sonic environments on the border of concert and installation. He studied composition in Bratislava, Graz, and Vienna, and completed exchanges at Universität der Künste in Berlin and the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita, USA.
Zrruženie ooo (SK)
Združenie ooo was founded in spring 2020 out of the need to create a dedicated space for exploring the world through sound art, contemporary music, and intermedia art. Founding members are musician, educator, and intermedia artist Fero Király and dramaturge, cultural manager, and performer Eva Vozárová. The association’s artistic and curatorial interest focuses on projects that dive into complex relationships between human and non-human beings, covering areas such as acoustic ecology, deep listening, environmental and social topics, and disciplines like anthropology, philosophy, mathematics, and other fields of knowledge. The association prefers considerate artistic interventions. // www.zdruzenie.ooo
The pssst series is an activity of the project New New Music, which is part of Trenčín 2026. Trenčín 2026 is financially supported by the City of Trenčín, the Trenčín Self-Governing Region, and the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. The partner is the European Union.
Audio-visual recordings will be made at the event.
Visual: Matej Lacko
