PLAYFUL CITY:
TÕNIS KRISTIAN KOPPEL & SOPHIA BAZALGETTE (EE/US)
installation programme
PLAYFUL CITY / August 13-17
8 installations / locations on map
With the theme "The City of Play", the 2025 festival invites you to discover the playful side of the urban environment. Play isn’t only for children – it’s a vital part of adult life too, nourishing our bodies, minds, and human relationships. Play in urban space brings freshness to routine, encourages spontaneous encounters, and sparks creativity. Eight artists and collectives from Estonia and beyond will create installations inspired by the theme "Playful City", spread throughout the town.
photo: private collection
Tõnis Kristian Koppel & Sophia Bazalgette (EE/US)
FERMATA
Location: in front of Vanemuise 48
August 13, 15.00-20.00
August 14-17, 12.00-20.00
Fermata is a movement-based synthesizer, which translates the positions of those in the installation space into sound. Each person becomes a single note, one they can control the pitch and timbre of by moving.
Built for 1-8 players, you can play this instrument on your own or collaborate with other people to create complex acoustic textures and harmonies. The number of people in the space, their position, and motions, all shape the sound being played.
In musical notation, the fermata is a symbol which indicates a pause – a suspension of time. We invite those passing by to suspend the moment, and enjoy the process of spontaneous (co)creation. No musical background needed.
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After a chance meeting at Möku bar in Tallinn, Tõnis and Sophia spontaneously decided to form an art duo.
Sophia Bazalgette (b. 1992) is a U.S.-born artist based in Tallinn, Estonia. Working across experimental film and animation, her practice explores themes of memory, lived environments, and how these elements shape personal identity.
Tõnis Kristian Koppel (b. 1994) is a bassist, composer, and installation artist from Jõgeva, Estonia. He studied at the Heino Eller Music College in Tartu and the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark. His installation work centers on sound spatialization and interactivity.
The project is supported by City of Tartu.