Nomadism

A spatial sound action by PHØNIX16 explores sound and its migration, the sounds of this migration, and the migration of these sounds. The program contrasts the rare work of Slovenian-French composer Vinko Globokar, Airs de voyages vers l'intérieur (Songs of the Journey to Oneself) — in which Slovenian rhythms break through the idioms of contemporary musical language, culminating in a ritual dance by the singers — with the sensual and poetic Marian Antiphons by Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets, who lives in Leipzig. Though written in Kyiv, the Antiphons have never been performed in their entirety in Europe.

Commissioned by the festival, the new piece by Tehran-born, Dresden-based Samir TimajChi for eight singers and transducer reflects a state of emptiness, loss, and — thanks to the transducer's live sound transformation — transforms the eight singers into a polyphonic, ephemeral choir. Finally, the program includes a collective composition, Transmission with Katalin, for three singers and electronics, based on the work of Serbian poet Katalin Ladik, who lives in Hungary and expanded the boundaries of poetic expression through extended vocal techniques and a recourse to archaic forms of folklore.