Riccardo is making sound from silence

“I was visiting Russia and Ukraine where I witnessed a monastic choir sing, and I was very touched by it. I wasn't familiar with that kind of music before,” says Riccardo Fortunato, who did the Master's course Sound of Innovation. In the video below, we hear him talk about his experiences during this course as well as about his finals. He explains how his visit to Russia and Ukraine influenced his finals: “I did a lot of research about this kind of music and tried to see if I could learn from it. I felt some type of inner stillness. That’s where the idea of silence comes from. This is why I spent the last two years trying to find out how I can compose with silence.”

Before he started this study, Riccardo visited ArtEZ in Enschede to have a look. It was a place where a lot of people from different backgrounds came together, which he liked. Now that he’s graduating, he looks back and reflects: “I got to learn about a lot of new music. And for a composer, this is gold. Because it opened up a completely new sonic world. I also learned from great composers. And what I really value is that I now know that there’s a lot of organisation involved with setting up a performance.” Riccardo doesn’t see his finals as an ending point; rather, he sees it as a place to start. He says that he’s planning to do more research, learning, and creating.

You can watch Riccardo’s final concert here.

About the Master Sound of Innovation

During the two-year Master The Sound of Innovation in Enschede, you learn to innovate with music in the arts and creative industries, but also within the technological, health care, and educational sectors. You get plenty of space to experiment, you work with experts from various fields, and you discover how to have an impact as a game-changer. 

Within the master's programme, cooperation between the various ArtEZ conservatoires in Enschede, Zwolle and Arnhem is encouraged, and students with different musical backgrounds work together. After you graduate, you collaborate with other professionals within and outside the music field to create things that haven’t been created before. Think of new instruments, notation systems, sound design for museums, and more.