A hypnotizing aura wafted through the Berlin nightclub in Minneapolis’ North Loop district on Tuesday night, when Los Angeles-based harpist and contemporary classical performer-composer Lara Somogyi treated the crowd to her electro-acoustic music. Performing alongside local ensemble the Laurels String Quartet, Somogyi’s music traversed time and pondered nature through harp artistry enhanced by pedals and pickups that opened the instrument to new possibilities.
Somogyi elevated the vibrations intrinsic to the instrument into a dreamlike buzz, with complex rhythms and tempos that shifted, warped and settled into place again. The cozy venue’s acoustics gave the music room to pleasantly echo.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Somogyi demonstrated light-fingered playing throughout the evening. She also navigated electronic sound seamlessly through manipulation, repetition and layering. The ethereality she evoked with her harp found a lovely balance with the four string players of the Laurels String Quartet. The evening featured tunes from Somogyi’s 2026 album, “a [time] patterned,” as well as older work.
Opening for Somogyi was Minneapolis-based composer and keyboardist Jacob Pavek. With his analog synthesizer and laptop sitting on top of a grand piano, Pavek alternated freely between the two setups, often merging them together. Beginning with warm, enveloping synths, Pavek soon transitioned to the grand piano’s keyboard, where he played swirling circular patterns on the keys that suggested an ocean breeze. Soon, he was channeling wind and flute sounds alongside throbbing percussion.
While Pavek demonstrated his capability for building complex sonic layers with technology — including choral sounds and danceable beats — he was at his most raw when he stripped away the layers and focused on emotion-filled piano music. One piece, dedicated to his wife, struck a particularly poignant note.
Electronic music has been part of contemporary classical composition for decades, but advances in technology continue to expand what composers can do with sound. During Somogyi’s performance, she embraced those possibilities without letting the technology overshadow the harp itself. Her assured hands remained at the center of the music, giving the loops, effects and electronics a distinctly human presence.
Speaking to the crowd on Tuesday night, Somogyi said her latest music came out of a curiosity about how we experience time, and discovering that it happens often through the senses. “I’m able to really mark time based on how I feel with different things,” she said. “Like, how did last summer feel? Oh, you know, it smelled like fresh-cut grass. That’s what this record explores — little rooms of sensory experiences in time.”
Somogyi also played music from her previous albums, including a whimsical piece called “Aviary.” With its glissandos running up and down the instrument, the work created a sense of both wonder and waiting.
The Laurels String Quartet, a group that performs regularly at Berlin and elsewhere in the Twin Cities, counteracted her airy tones with a more earthy tenor. They explored the range of sounds their instruments could produce with an assured touch.
Tuesday’s performance grounded their tech-enhanced music in vulnerability and grace. Somogyi and Pavek showed that even as the tools of creativity evolve, connecting to the heart remains music’s most vital role.