Looking to beat the heat in a whole new way this weekend and get a dose of culture? On Saturday July 12 and Sunday July 13, the plage de l’Ange Gardien in Villefranche will be transformed into a liquid auditorium as Michel Redolfi presents “The Sea of Sound”.
Michel is the world pioneer in underwater music. “Like most free outdoor concerts, one difference is that some of the listeners will also be floating on their backs in the water,” says the French composer and sound artist.
Born in Marseille in 1951, Michel had classical training at the conservatoire before specialising in electroacoustic composition. At 18, he co-founded the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM), which today is a major studio and national centre.
Michel moved to the US in the early Seventies and for fifteen years conducted sound experiments. He was a guest composer-researcher in the studios of the University of Wisconsin, the California Institute of the Arts and Dartmouth College, where he took part in the emergence of the first digital synthesiser, the Synclavier.
The concept of underwater music in the sea and heated Olympic pools cames to him while living in San Diego, California. After a friend gave him an old underwater speaker from the navy surplus, Michel (pictured below) started experimenting.
“It was a fluke,” he says, discovering how certain timbres – what makes a musical note quality sound different from another one – work really well underwater. “The harp, flute and female voices sound wonderful” while “electric guitar and funky bass riffs do not.”
Michel became a specialist of musical cybernetics and sound design, performing large-scale underwater concerts in Europe, Brazil and Australia with his team of computer-savvy musicians and singers. “The sea is the next open space for art … We’ve already seen land art, but the ocean has yet to be explored.”
On Saturday, you can “dive in with the oceanic choirs”. Whales, dolphins and Mediterranean fish will be in dialogue with Michel’s sound textures in a large-scale marine concert: 20,000 sounds under the sea, for a planetary acoustic odyssey.
On Sunday, the voice of actor Jean-Marc Barr (best known for his role in Le Grand Bleu) will guide you through previously unpublished texts by Jean Cocteau, read on the open sea, against a backdrop of ambient soundscapes. “In front of you, the Saint-Pierre chapel, decorated by Cocteau himself. Behind you, the open sea. Inside you, words and music.”
No reservations or tickets necessary. All you need is a bathing suit; mask and snorkel are optional. As Michel says, “What makes the experience particularly tantalising is that the sounds are only audible once you put your head in the water. You don’t even have to get your ears wet, since it’s your bones and skull that vibrate and conduct the sound.
“It’s really cool – like you have earphones stuck all over your body.”
Access is free from Plage des Marinières, and times are flexible: Saturday: 1pm to 6pm and Sunday: 11am to 6pm. As parking is limited, and it’s a weekend in July, take the train or 600 bus.
Article first published July 11, 2025. Photo and video: Facebook Michel Redolfi. Feature image: Ri Butov from Pixabay.