Tomoko Sauvage

Over the past decade, Tomoko Sauvage (JP/FR) has been working on "natural synthesizer" of her invention – waterbowls – combining water, ceramics and hydrophones (underwater microphones). Porcelain bowls, water drops, waves and bubbles as well as hydrophonic feedback and electronics are the main ingredients of her instrument that generates the sculptural and fluid timbre. Her musical experimentation is grounded on a live-performance-based practice that investigates the improvisation and interaction with the environment – the acoustic space and medium affected by architecture, temperature, humidity and human presence. Through primordial elements augmented by technology, enlivened by ritualistic yet playful gestures, Sauvage's work contemplates, tunes and connects with both the material and the immaterial in keeping a fragile balance between hazard and mastery.

*Supported by La Pommerie/ CRAFT (creation of the porcelain bowls, Limousin, France) and Aquarian Audio (Hydrophones, USA)

Born and raised in Yokohama, Japan, Sauvage moved to Paris in 2003 after studying jazz piano in New York. Through listening to Alice Coltrane and Terry Riley, she became interested in Indian music and studied improvisation of Hindustani music. In 2006, she attended a concert of Aanayampatti Ganesan, a virtuoso of Jalatharangam – the traditional Carnatic music instrument with water-filled porcelain bowls. Fascinated by the simplicity of its device and sonority, Sauvage immediately started to hit China bowls with chopsticks in her kitchen. Soon her desire of immersing herself in the water engendered the idea of using an underwater microphone and led to the birth of the electro-aquatic instrument.

Sauvage has published two solo albums including "Musique Hydromantique" (Shelter Press, 2017) and her compositions have been diffused on radios and TV's such as BBC, France Musique, NPR and ORF. Sauvage's performances have been presented at international festivals and venues including: The Long Now – Maerz Musik (Berlin), Centre Popidou Metz, Roskilde Festival, Unsound Festival (Krakow), Nyege Nyege Festival (Uganda) and Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art. Her installation work has been exhibited at art centers and museums such as: Ex Teresa (Mexico City) and Empty Gallery (Hong Kong). In 2016, she was the artist in residence at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (Colorado).