about
Hildegard 26 is a tiny music festival channeling the spirit of 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen through experimental & ethereal sound.
Hildegard von Bingen (b. 1098) was a mystic, herbalist, poet, abbess, and composer. Hildegard melded voice-energy, sound, and meaning in undeniably powerful compositions for the voice, that she entitled The Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations. In addition to her music, her creations include: a trilogy of visions with accompanying visual art; several volumes of natural history; writings on the feminine divine and herb-based healing; and many letters to lay-people, ladies of importance, kings, popes, and monks. A unique and incredibly fascinating figure, who insisted throughout her life that she was but a fragile creature with no real education, Hildegard's works continue to inspire spiritual contemplation and the production of new works from experimental artists all over the world.
Hildegard Fest was begun to celebrate Hildegard's works and create a joyful space to present these new works that exist within her creative legacy.
artists
Whether performing solo with amplified clarinet, voice & electronics, leading rock bands and blindfolded chamber ensembles, or conducting a full theater house as a beat-boxing choir, American improviser Crystal Beth (aka: Beth Fleenor) has a penchant for surprising audiences into fully embracing that magic is real.
Crystal Beth's Boom Revival is a hyper-electrified, catharsis rock ritual. Part spell, part fever-dream, and part pleasure eruption, the band transforms into a living altar of sweat, surrender, and exaltation. This is not a concert, it’s a cleansing. Featuring Crystal Beth (voice, clarinet, electronics) with Alex Faide (guitar), Julie Slick (bass), and Chris Icasiano (drums).
Leeni is an avant synth-pop producer and singer based in Seattle, WA. A pioneering chiptune artist creating original music using Gameboys, Leeni is one of the only creators in that genre performing vocals over her 8-bit creations. Leeni has been performing electronic music since 2006 and has completed 4 full-length self-produced albums: "8-bit Heart" (2007), "Labyrinth"(2008), "The Only Now"(2011) -and ‘Violet’ (2022) as well as 2 EPs "Headphones On Your Heart"(2012) and "Lovefool"(2018). You can also find more music from Leeni under her band names "Prom Queen" and “Stargazr”.
A conscious mycelial network, Seattle trio Mt Fog conjures "bewitching synth-pop with an exploratory edge" (KEXP). Their record Every Stone is Green, heavily influenced by Hildegard's concept of viriditas, has been called "magical stuff" (Bandcamp Daily). Mt Fog is Carolyn b, Andy Sells and Casey Rosebridge.
Alice Does Computer Music compiles and constructs field recordings and electronic sounds to create their own sonic ecosystems. Their approach transforms fleeting moments of transcendence and disintegration into a cohesive sonic expedition. Bliss has been praised as “an idiosyncratic sonic travelogue” (Nina Protocol) and was named an Album of the Day by Bandcamp Daily.
Old Man of the Woods is the dark ethereal mycelial electro solo project of multimedia artist Miranda Elliott. Spinning webs of intricately layered live-looped vocals between limbs of rhythm, she’s composed in caves, forests, sanatoriums, and bedrooms, inviting audiences into a singular dreamscape: entrancing, intimate, and organic.
“Pulsing synths, vocal hypnosis, and cinematic atmosphere that builds like a storm...mesmerizing, spiritual, carnal...not just an album, a sensory portal” - Expansión Radial
questions
How do I find tickets? Are you on Instagram?
Tickets are available on Eventbrite. Due to the limited number of tickets we recommend buying one in advance.
Yes, we also have an instagram page.
Do you have merch this year?
Kind of! we are selling the remaining Hildegard 25 shirts! You can order one with your ticket, or get one at the show, but we can't promise there will be any left or in your size.
Who is Hildegard von Bingen?
Born in 1098, Hildegard von Bingen joined a cloister of women led by Jutta, also a visionary, early in life. In her youth she learned about plants, music, and healing from Jutta and Volmar, a monk at the monastary. When she was 38, she became Abbess of the monastary in Disibodenberg. During her long life, she was a prolific writer and a sought after philosopher; she advised popes, church leaders, and kings, never pulling punches to avoid “shaking the boat.” She invented her own language called Lingua Ignota. She believed in this green spark within everything, and wrote about healing like a plant. Her music is one of the most sacred gifts she gave the universe. With her own unique approach to composition, it transcends time, space and cultures, and encourages sublime contemplation. She believed that greater truths could be revealed through the bodily vibrations that we experience when we sing. Her best known works are perhaps her “Ordo Virtutum” a sort of proto-opera about an Earthly soul’s journey as well as her “Scivias,” a collection of illustrated, fairly psychedelic visions that she created in her 50s. Hildegard died in 1179 on September 17th. This is her feast day (she is now Saint Hildegard). We love Hildegard!
Will there be a place to sit? or a place to park?
Yes, Vermillion has many chairs and benches upon which to rest, as well as ample room to stand and move about if that is more your speed.
Parking can be a little challenging in Capitol Hill. Expect to pay for street parking in this neighborhood and give yourself a few extra minutes to find a spot. The light rail and several bus lines have stops very close to Vermillion, so this is a good option if it is accessible to you.
When does music start and when can I arrive?
Doors are at 7 PM. Arrive early to check out (and maybe purchase!) the merch from the performing artists, get a drink, and grab a seat (or claim your movement area)! Music will begin at 7:30 PM.
Help! I just really want to know more about this really specific thing and and...
Don't worry! (well, not about this...) If you have a dire question or something please email us at mt.fog.band@gmail.com and we'll try and work it out. Do note that we don't do returns.