Thierry de Mey

Work for Live Art Danmark
2023 “Musique de Tables”, performed by Athelas Sinfonietta at Life Art for Children 2023.

Musique de Tables
In Thierry de Mey’s piece Musique de tables from 1985, as the name suggests, the table is used as a musical instrument. The work is written for three percussionists who, equipped only with three small wooden tables and their hands, perform a tightly choreographed rhythmic ritual that is breathtaking in its complexity. For the concert, the musicians’ hands are projected onto a large screen, enabling the audience to witness the extreme precision behind every hit, stroke, clap and knock on the three table tops. For the 2023 edition of our festival “Licae Art for Kids”, Theirry’s score was performed by the Danish ensemble Althelas Sinfonietta.

About the Artist
Theirry studied film at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion, followed by composition and contemporary dance after meeting Fernand Schirren, for whose works he wrote original incidental music. Today he works regularly with dance copmpanies like Rosas & Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Wim Vandekeybus and Michèle Anne De Mey, his youngest sister.

He is the founder of the contemporary music ensemble Maximalist!, and has participated in other projects such as Musique Nouvelles and Ictus Ensemble, for which he composed several works. In 1993 he joined a class at IRCAM, where he developed his interest in electronic music. He was composer in residence at the Conservatory of Strasbourg and the Musica Festival in 2001 and 2002.

Read more about Thierry on Wikipedia, or listen to his music on Soundcloud.