Tickets: https://www.konzerthaus.de/de/programm/zafraan-ensemble/11738

“Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” This quote, attributed to Chief Si’ahl, describes on a larger scale processes that can be seen both in the compositions and in the chamber music performance itself.

A work of art never comes into being without its background. In “Arras,” Keiko Devaux draws on sound influences that represent her ancestors’ professions: the sound of the wind sweeping across farm fields, the sound of a mechanical loom, and the musical traditions (French chansons and American-Japanese folk music) with which her family members expressed their identity.

The spinning of the threads of life, a recurring motif in Indo-European mythology, forms the basis of the composition in Eres Holz’s work “Kataklothes”: the figurations of the 10 instruments are woven into a progressive “chorale” that becomes increasingly complex and playful in its rhythm. Ajtony Csaba’s new work “Taajuu” (Haida for “wind”) broadens the focus to the visual components of ensemble playing: the interconnection of coordinative gestures and sound-producing movements forms the starting point for the jointly developed composition.

Program

Zafraan Ensemble

Conductor: Miguel Perez Inesta

Funded by the Azrieli Foundation.

With the support of the representation of the government of Québec in Berlin.