NEWS
Wandering Sounds
A concert tour in Switzerland, Europe and Asia
Wandering Sounds is a concert tour by the flutist Rafal Zolkos, dedicated to promoting Swiss composers as well as presenting recent works by contemporary composers from various cultural backgrounds. The project takes as its starting point an exploration of the concept of ‘wandering sounds’, which is here deliberately detached from its everyday linguistic context and redefined within the framework of contemporary art music. Artistic practice is understood here as a form of travel – both literally and figuratively. The project centres on encounters with different cultures, musical traditions and aesthetic perspectives, as well as intensive work on the individual pieces. The concert programme is therefore structured as a dialogue: half of the repertoire consists of works by Swiss composers, the other half of works by international composers from America, Asia and Europe.
All the selected works are characterised by a distinctive musical language, high technical demands and the use of innovative, extended performance techniques. Several pieces were created in close collaboration with the performers. Wandering Sounds thus sees itself as a sonic journey through the global present of music – a project that seeks understanding, exchange and connection across cultural boundaries through art and sound.
The next concerts in Switzerland will take place at the end of November in Zurich, Bern and Basel.
Concerts in Zurich, Bern, Biel/Bienne, Uster, Basel and Berlin
The project ‘Sapphische Trümmer — Songs for Sailors and Lovers’ is dedicated to the work and legacy of the ancient poet Sappho, who hailed from the island of Lesbos. It comprises the performance of a song cycle for voice and flute, based on Sappho’s poems, most of which have survived only in fragments. We interweave and infuse these with further texts by, about and inspired by Sappho. Sappho’s poetry touches on themes such as longing, pain, inner turmoil and transience. What we find particularly fascinating is the vivid imagery of Sappho’s language, its directness and, at the same time, the fragmentary form of the surviving texts. Clarity on the one hand and fragmentation on the other create a field of tension that holds countless possibilities for interpretation: possibilities for us to bring the work to life, as well as the freedom for the audience to draw their own associations.
Following six successful concerts in Zurich, Bern and Biel/Bienne, it is now time for further performances in Uster, Basel and Berlin. For more information, see the ‘Concerts’ section.