Álvaro Ayuso
Percussion · Live Electronics · Sound Art
Coming from a classical percussion background, my first explorations with electronics emerged through tape in relation to existing repertoire: a tape for Elliott Carter's Figment V reinforcing its rhythmic modulations, and a layered version of Bach's Sarabande and its Double from the lute suite, where both textures interact (from 1:46).
A piece for tom, pedal and MIDI controller inspired by John Cage's ideas of indeterminacy and performer agency. The electronic system introduces controlled unpredictability, allowing the performer to influence the structure and evolution of the piece in real time.
For vibraphone and electronics, inspired by Stockhausen's Mantra and its use of ring modulation. The idea is translated to the vibraphone, exploring how modulation can transform the instrument's sound and harmonic character.
A hybrid setup combining percussion and live electronics — percussion instruments, MIDI controllers and custom Max for Live devices interacting through live processing in Ableton. It has become a central tool in my practice, used both for improvisation and across other projects, and I keep expanding it as I learn new tools.
Original soundtrack for an experimental documentary by filmmaker Alma Tejada about a cave in La Rioja (Spain). The film explores the textures and atmosphere of the space, focusing on the relationship between landscape, geology and sound; the music was created to accompany its visual rhythm.
A duo with trumpet player Carmen Llena focused on experimental performance and improvisation. The project moves between composed material and open forms, letting sound emerge through interaction and listening. Drawing from contemporary music, improvisation and jazz, we use live electronics to expand the acoustic instruments and allow real-time transformations.
I am a co-founder of the sound-creation collective Páramo 26005, together with Adrián Fuentes and Juls Ruiz. Within the project I perform as a musician and contribute to the compositional development of the pieces, as well as to the sonic conception of the work and the integration of live electronics.
A duo focused on free improvisation, working with my hybrid percussion and electronics setup and Tibor's modular synthesis system, generally moving towards slower, atmospheric and drone-oriented sound worlds. We also created SoL, a performance project combining sound, light and distorted visual imagery.
Álvaro Ayuso (Logroño, 2000) is a percussionist and composer based in Bern, Switzerland. He builds pieces for acoustic percussion, live electronics and sound installation, working mainly with Max/MSP, Ableton Live and Arduino, treating patches and circuits as instruments in their own right alongside skins and metal. He is drawn to duration and repetition: what happens when a single gesture is held, looped or left to decay, rather than pushed forward or developed.
He has premiered works by composers including Yido Chae (Possessed, À suivre, Bern, 2026), Altin Volaj (Echoes of the Past, for percussion trio, 2026), Tibor Kovács, María Amor and Lluís Pérez Villegas.
He completed a Master in Percussion Performance at the Hochschule der Künste Bern (HKB) under Brian Archinal, and is now pursuing a second Master's in Contemporary Arts Practice, specialising in Sound Arts, at HKB's Y Institut. He studied percussion at ESMUC, Barcelona, under Lorenzo Ferrándiz, Marc Aixà and Miquel Bernat, following earlier training at the Conservatorio Eliseo Pinedo de La Rioja under María Ángeles Dieste.
During his time at ESMUC he took part in the artistic residency of composer Luis Tabuenca at Fabra i Coats, Barcelona, for the project Naturstudium, and performed Kraft by Magnus Lindberg as soloist alongside the composer and the ESMUC orchestra (2023). He twice took part in the Joan Guinjoan International Composition Prize as an interpreter (2024, 2026), and performed Giacinto Scelsi's Hyxos with Duo Hyxos across Catalan institutional venues, including the Parlament de Catalunya, the Ajuntament de Barcelona and the Fundació Antoni Tàpies (2023–2024).
As a soloist, he has performed at La Lonja Art Gallery within Festival Actual, Logroño, at Forum3 Bern's Kolumbianische Nacht (2025), and appeared as a free improviser at À la pièce Dance Festival (2026).
He is co-founder of Páramo 26005, presented at the Barullo Festival, Logroño. With trumpeter Carmen Llena he leads the duo Marianito Rojo, performing at La Guarida, Bern, and the Troubadour, London.
He has also performed as percussionist at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and Les Jardins Musicaux festival, with the percussion ensemble Percu-Rioja at the Ágora International Percussion Festival, with the HKB electronic ensemble at Pop-Up Festival, Bern, and with Vivace, a group dedicated to traditional music from La Rioja with regular appearances at summer festivals and Festival Actual.
He has collaborated as principal timpanist with the Original Soundtrack Orquestra (2022–2023), and performed with ensembles including the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, Franz Schubert Filharmonia and the National Orchestra of Andorra in Spain, and the Orchester Solothurn, Stadtorchester Thun, Stadt- und Universitätsorchester Freiburg, the Bern Chamber Orchestra and Chor Syndicats Basel in Switzerland.
He is a member of PAKT Bern, and a recipient of the Albert Hänggi Scholarship and the Beca Inicia from the Logroño City Council, for his project El silencio de Valvanera.