KöNG Duo; Hoi Tong Keung, percussion; Bevis Ng, percussion. Photo by Rita Taylor, Banff Centre 2022.

Join us for a multimedia presentation that showcases bold new approaches to classical music concert curation and production. Instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, and creators from all over the world meld tradition, innovation and new creation and showcase the evolving nature of classical music as a powerful, inspiring and engaging contemporary art form.

Whether you are a seasoned classical music enthusiast, or simply enjoy live music and are curious about the evolving landscape of classical music, this is a live music experience not to be missed.

PROGRAM

OBSIDIANA DUO
Camila Montefusco (vocals), Yolanda Tapia (piano)

Part 1
Cuba dentro de un piano -  X. Montsalvatge
Canto negro  -  X. Montsalvatge

Part 2
Ó Kinimbá  -   E. Bra
Triste  -  A. Ginastera

Part 3
Arrullo / Arrorró  -  B. Galindo / A. Ginastera
Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito  -  X. Montsalvatge

Part 4
Chacarera / Gato  -  A. Ginastera

CLAUDIA DO MINH (viola)

Improvisation # 1
With Marie Lévêque (Dancer) and Camila Montefusco (vocals)

Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều)  -  Benjamin Portzen, Claudia Do Minh
with Benjamin Portzen (Electronics)

Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008: Sarabande  -   J. S. Bach

Fuga libre  -  G. Knox

In manus tuas  -  C. Shaw

Artist note: The Japanese philosophical concept, ma, refers to the value of space, the ones that we can find between words, notes, movements, etc. This idea is the source of inspiration for this curation, which explores the blurred borders between culture, art, time, and musical style. The reflection on ambiguity and the resistance of category has led me to an exploration of my own roots, a mix of Spanish and Vietnamese. Being born and raised in Spain, I was more curious in understanding my Asian heritage. Through the Vietnamese poem The Tale of Kiều by Nguyễn Du and the melodies of the Vietnamese traditional music, I opened a part of myself and enjoyed the richness and beauty of this culture. This artistic exploration couldn't be done without the collaboration of all the mentors of this program, the technical staff, my colleagues, and especially Ben Portzen and Marie Lévêque. They all are part of this curation. Where the collective and individual work is fuzzy, we explore the gray zones; the ambiguity of life.

NOISE CATALOGUE
Madeline Hocking (violin), Dániel Matei (percussion)

Poem
Text from ‘Hajnali részegség’ (Dawnstruck) by Kosztolányi Dezső (translated by Peter Zollman)

Elmondanám ezt néked. Ha nem unnád.
Múlt éjszaka - háromkor – abbahagytam
a munkát.
Le is feküdtem. Ám a gép az agyban
zörgött tovább, kattogva-zúgva nagyban,
csak forgolódtam dühösen az ágyon,
nem jött az álom.
Hívtam pedig, így és úgy, balga szókkal,
százig olvasva, s mérges altatókkal.
Az, amit írtam, lázasan meredt rám.
Izgatta szívem negyven cigarettám.
Meg más egyéb is. A fekete. Minden.
Hát fölkelek, nem bánom az egészet,
sétálgatok szobámba, le-föl, ingben,
köröttem a családi fészek,
a szájakon lágy, álombeli mézek,
s amint botorkálok itt, mint a részeg,
az ablakon kinézek.

I'd like to tell you this, if you agree.
Last night I stayed up working late again,
until three.
I turn in, but the cog-wheels of the brain
go rattling on and on. Almost insane
I'm tossing, turning, even counting sheep,
but cannot sleep.
I try in vain the mantras and the cures,
the bitterest medicinal liqueurs,
my script still leers at me with grisly threats,
my heart still blames those forty cigarettes
and else. The lethal coffees, I presume.
I give up trying and admit defeat,
then slowly, in my shirt-sleeves, pace the room.
Inside the dreaming family retreat
half-open lips are moist with honey-sweet
saliva, and on drunk, staggering feet
I look out on the street.

‘3 am’   -  Madeline Hocking, Dániel Matei

‘3 years, 7 hours’ (world premiere)  -   Jemina Brechoire
Through distances that are un-spannable/these stars have watched the wars of Hannibal,/and now they see me, standing, barely dressed,/behind my window, here in Budapest.

‘4 am’   -  Madeline Hocking, Dániel Matei
The living souls/of silent stars unfurl their aureoles/to greet the warm/mid-autumn night that comes before the storm./What has happened to me, that's hard to know./It seems, a shadow flew above my head,/my childhood, that I'd given up for dead,/and buried long ago.

‘5 am’   -  Madeline Hocking, Dániel Matei
They sleep in there, the room is just a box,/but in their waking dreams it is a place/of beauty. Can't they see the paradox?/It is a cage that stares them in the face.

‘A Hajnali Csillag Ragyog’ (The Dawn Star Shines)  -  Traditional Hungarian
I cried and cried again in my delight:/"They have a ball in heaven, every night!"/There shone in that enchanted radiance/an ancient secret I could clearly sense:/the stars go home at dawn, along immense/bright boulevards of skyborne continents