Passio is a new oratorio inspired by the history and symbols of the Christian Passion, revisited today through the role and position of women in the sacred narrative, highlighting their suffering and transformation.
The Trytone collective led by Lucie de Saint Vincent (composer and pianist - FR) and Maribeth Diggle (soprano and director - USA) will bring together different performers to create a new libretto and composition inspired by Passions written in the Baroque period. Using democratic and inclusive creative practices, the collective will appropriate a female Passion story that resonates directly with today's audiences and current gender issues.
It is essential for the narrative that the participants have different musical and cultural backgrounds, in order to offer a less Eurocentric and more diverse narrative. The ensemble will be made up of musicians from different ethnic, cultural and artistic backgrounds: jazz, blues, early music, contemporary inspiration, Indian or Moroccan tradition. Instruments such as the viola da gamba, mrudangam, piano and harpsichord, as well as sung and spoken vocal parts and expanded breathing techniques, will provide a broad and rich palette of narrative and sound to nourish this new narrative.
Passio is the winner of the Jazz & New Music 2024 creation grant from the FACE foundation, which supports Franco-American artistic collaborations, and the MidAtlantic Arts foundation.
For the composition of Passio, Lucie de Saint Vincent has just been awarded the public grant ''Werkbijdrag Auteur'' by the Netherlands' Podium Kunsten Fund.
Coproduction
Muziektheater Transparant (Antwerp, BE) ; Cie Trytone (FR)
Support
La Villa Albertine, the French Embassy in the United States, CNM - Centre national de la musique, MidAtlantic Arts, Fondation FACE, Fonds Podium Kunsten
Lucie de Saint Vincent
Pianist and composer
A pianist with an eclectic musical background, Lucie de Saint Vincent likes to travel through different musical worlds, crossing genres and influences. Lucie received classical and jazz training at the CRR de Perpignan, the École Normale de Paris, the Conservatoire Supérieur d'Utrecht and the Lizst Academy in Budapest, before going on to study early music at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, graduating with a master's degree in fortepiano in 2012.
She performs regularly in concert in Europe: Festival Oude Muziek (NL), Musikfest Ezgebirge (DE), Présences Féminines (FR), Abbaye de Royaumont (FR), Théâtre National de Groningen (NL), Nuoro Jazz Festival (IT), solo or in various formations, on piano as well as early music on fortepiano. In 2013, she was awarded the Premier Prix Musical by the Fondation Royaumont.
Lucie now fuses all the influences she has encountered to create new ones. Initiator and artistic director of the Trytone collective, their first album Back to Bach (CD Paraty, 2021) crosses baroque and jazz. Their second project, Ascensions, is a journey between East and West.
Maribeth Diggle
Singer and director
An American soprano and director, Maribeth Diggle has worked in opera for 20 years, championing new narratives for women both on and off stage. She toured as a soloist for Alain Platel, choreographer of Les ballets C de la B, under the musical direction of Fabrizio Cassol, after performing in the creations VSPRS, Pitié! (ARTE TV) and Requiem pour L. She recently created SOLA SOLETTA at Opéra Ballet Vlaanderen, examining the visibility of women in the opera industry and gender roles in the classical music canon. She is also a performer, director and artistic production associate with the INSeries opera company in Washington D.C. Since 2022, she has been doing a research doctorate on "The Art of Breathing" at the RITCS School of Arts in Brussels, while since 2024 she has been doing a master's degree on natural resources at Virginia Tech in the USA.
Maribeth Diggle
soprano, director
Lucie de Saint Vincent
keyboards, compositions
Joyce Scott
Blues singer
Laila Amezian
jazz-Moroccan vocals
Tina Chancey
viola da gamba
Alejandra Borzyk
saxophone
Rajna Swaminathan
Indian percussion, mrudangam