We Spoke is a new-music company based in Switzerland, created by Serge Vuille and directed today by the pianist Gwen Rouger and the percussionist Julien Annoni. The name “We Spoke” merges “we speak” – our desire to communicate both the complexity and beauty of new music – with “bespoke”, reflecting our wish to put it in context within the wider performing arts landscape.
Inspired by the thoughtful, rigorous tradition of classical chamber music, we perform adventurous interpretations of new works, collaborative creations and repertoire from the new-music canon. Since 2009 we have developed a varied body of productions, as well as partnerships with composers, performers, artists, dancers, stage directors, scientists and designers including Hana Hartman, Simon Steen-Andersen, Fritz Hauser, Jessie Marino, Jacques Demierre, Christian Kesten, Simon Løffler, Pascal Auberson, Matthew Shlomowitz, Juliet Fraser, Mark Knoop, Ezko Kikouchi, Øyvind Torvund, Kevin Juillerat, Anne-Sylvie Henchoz, Tancredo Tavares (École Rudra-Béjart), Nefeli Skarmea, Martin Creed, Jean-Pierre Luminet or the biohacking Laboratory Hackuarium.
We Spoke has performed extensively in Switzerland, the UK and South America, at festivals and venues including Lucerne Festival; Festival de la Cité and Le Bourg, Lausanne; Cabaret Voltaire, Zürich; Gare du Nord, Basel; Dampfzentrale Bern; Espace Forde, Geneva; Cité Universitaire, Paris; Unerhörte Musik, Berlin; Firenze Suona Contemporanea, Florence; the Lima Contemporary Music Festival; SESC São Paulo; Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro; Turner Sims, Southampton; and Cafe OTO, Kings Place, the London Ear Festival and the Royal College of Music in London.