Floss der Medusa

On March 21, 2026, 19-year-old percussionist and composer Noah Gessner-Lipp will bring his first completely self-composed and staged percussion show “Das Floß der Medusa” to the stage. The innovative symphony of light and sound by the Styrian-born composer combines a live musical performance with a large percussion and choir ensemble with synchronized video installations to create a bombastic work of art. The world premiere in Graz’s “Dom im Berg” also takes place in an exceptionally harmonious location: The hall is reminiscent of the gloomy interior of a ship’s hull and thus also atmospherically underlines the abysmal mood of the piece.

Historical survival story
The starting point for “The Raft of the Medusa” is a true story: In 1816, the ship “Méduse” runs aground. There are too few lifeboats and the remaining people are set adrift on a raft in the middle of the ocean. What follows is a hellish struggle for survival. Inspired by a painting and the novel of the same name by Austrian bestselling author Franzobel, Noah Gessner-Lipp dramatically stages the historical survival story – powerful, stirring and deeply shocking.

Concert meets cinema
Gessner-Lipp’s work prepares a performance of international caliber for a wide audience. The performance is a percussion
show in five movements lasting around one and a half hours – with a large live cast of percussion instruments and choir, complemented by the use of cinematic sound effects. Artistic video projections on a large-format LED curved screen accompany the dramatic action in sync with the music, merging time, space, sound and image into a powerful multi-sensory whole.