There are artistic and human encounters that have a strong and lasting impact on the course and evolution of an ensemble. Such is the case here, between the composer Francesca Verunelli and the Ensemble C Barré.
When the Ensemble premiered its 2018 piece for instrumental ensemble, which will now become the first installment of Songs and Voices (Kafka's Sirens), the musicians at the concert felt transported into an unprecedented artistic dimension that went beyond their conscious engagement as performers.
Francesca Verunelli has signed here one of her most beautiful works, and her approach to composition, which she dares to develop over a long period of writing, her multiple individual meetings with the musicians of the Ensemble C Barré, and the relationship of trust and understanding so fluid with the director of computer music Charles Bascou who signs here a work of great finesse, have contributed to the total success of this adventure.
After having performed the work several times in concert, it became obvious to the Ensemble that we should continue this path together, not by writing other pieces, but by continuing to develop the poetic idea of this premiere to the point of realizing a total work of about one hour. Its theme, which philosophically echoes Kafka's Silence of the Sirens and questions the very notion of "song", prompted C Barré to join forces with the Neue Vocalsolisten from Stuttgart, who have been working together for several years.
Neue Vocalsolisten
ensemble
Researchers, inventors, idealists. They work with specialist ensembles and radio orchestras, with opera houses, independent theaters, electronic studios, festival and concert organisers of modern music in Europe.
The Neue Vocalsolisten - an ensemble for contemporary vocal music founded in 1984 within the framework of Musik der Jahrhunderte - has been an artistically independent vocal chamber music ensemble since the year 2000. The seven soloists, ranging from coloratura soprano to countertenor and deep bass, devote all their creative power to their chamber music work in collaboration with composers and other performers.
A group of specialized singers completes the core team, depending on the cast. Research is at the center of their interests, searching for new tonalities, vocal techniques and forms of articulation; dialogue with composers has a prominent place. Each year, they ensure the creation of nearly 20 new works. Opera and interdisciplinary work involving electronics, video, visual arts and literature are part of the group's artistic project, as are collages that contrast elements of early and modern music.
Francesca Verunelli
composer
She studied composition with Rosario Mirigliano and piano with Stefano Fiuzzi at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence where she graduated with honors. In 2005 she joined the advanced course of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome where she studied with Azio Corghi and graduated in 2007. The same year, her piece 4e48 (intavolature for Sarah Kane) is selected by the CEMAT to appear in its cd of electroacoustic works. In November, Luminal was premiered at the Auditorium of Rome by the Freon ensemble and En Mouvement (espace double), at the Arsenal of Metz by the Orchestre national de Lorraine conducted by Jacques Mercier.
In 2008, she joined the Cursus of Composition and Computer Music at Ircam where two new pieces with electronics were created: Interno Rosso con Figure for accordion and electronics premiered in 2009 by Anthony Millet and Play for ensemble and electronics premiered by the Ensemble intercontemporain in 2010.
As a research composer at Ircam in 2011-2012, she received a commission from the Institute for Unfolding, a string quartet with electronics created by the Arditti Quartet in March 2012 at the Biennale Musiques en scène in Lyon and performed again at the ManiFeste 2012 at Ircam. She has also collaborated with the Neue Vocalsolisten ensemble from Stuttgart at the Venice Biennale, with the RepertorioZero ensemble at the Milano Musica festival, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, with the ensembles C Barré, Court-Circuit, ICE, Accentus...
She received the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne Composition Competition Prize, in the form of a commission for the Orchestra of Lucerne. She completed a residency at the Villa Medicis during the 2016- 2017 season.
Charles Bascou
rim
Composer, computer music designer and researcher, he has been living in Marseille since 2004. From the fruit of his various collaborations, his interests are articulated around two axes: gestuality and random systems. This work on gesture exists through realizations and lutheries, with ErikM, Natacha Muslera, Pascale Criton, but also in the form of academic research.
He is particularly interested in random and mathematical systems for music with Sébastien Roux, Carol Robinson and Alessandro Bosetti. Other collaborations have marked his career: Tristan Murail, Reinhold Friedl and Francesca Verunelli. He leads a more personal work, in the field of experimental and electroacoustic music. He practices the synthesizer and the clarinet, plays with systems that relate scales of energy and contradictory listening.
The material is mainly derived from synthesis and experimental sound capture systems. Lately, he approaches modular synthesis from an instrumental point of view, between gesture and analogic live coding.
Sébastien Boin
artistic and musical direction
Francesca Verunelli
composition
C Barré
instrumental ensemble, composed of :
Annelise Clément, clarinet
Joël Versavaud, saxophone
Matthias Champon, trumpet
Elodie Soulard, accordion
Claudio Bettinelli, percussions
Natalia Korsak, mandolin
Rémy Reber, guitar
Eva Debonne, harp
Marine Rodallec, cello
Charlotte Testu, double bass
Neue Vocalsolisten
vocal ensemble, consisting of:
Johanna Vargas, soprano
Suzanne Leitz-Lorey, soprano
Truike van der Poel, mezzo-soprano
Martin Nagy, tenor
Guillermo Anzorena, baritone
Andreas Fischer, bass
Charles Bascou
computer music director
EN 2023
October 27 - Venice Biennale (IT)
EN 2024
February - Eclat festival in Stutgartt (DE)
March - B!ME - Biennale of exploratory music of the GRAME in Lyon (69)
May - festival Propagations of the GMEM in Marseille (13)
June - festival ManiFeste in Paris (75)