Klavikon

Klavikon is Leon Michener’s prepared piano project. It develops an experimental approach to the piano, using bolts, screws and electric toys to alter the instrument’s sound and create percussive, haunting textures. The project reworks the idea of electronic music without using conventional electronic processes.

Its music draws on the American experimental tradition associated with John Cage and David Tudor, as well as postwar European composers including Karlheinz Stockhausen and György Ligeti. The project’s album presents a suite of new compositions built around these methods.

Michener studies classical piano and composition at Trinity College and the Royal Academy of Music. His recordings are broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and he performs at venues including Stockholm Museum of Modern Art, the Roundhouse and Kings Place.