New Art Songs: Vocations Unites Poetry and Music in a Singular Fashion
20.09.2023
Songs for the present: The project “Vocations—Reimagining the Lied” demonstrates how art songs might sound today. These songs have been created by artists working at the boundaries of poetry and music in diverse art forms and in several languages. Vocations brings together contemporary poetry and new music in a unique manner. Four poets have developed art songs together with four composers in several languages, and these will be premiered at concerts on October 26, and December 21, 2023 at the Heimathafen Neukölln in Berlin.
“With Vocations, we are revitalizing the art song and transforming it for the present. For us, this genre celebrates the fusion of poetry and music in a performance, but its reception needs to be rethought. That’s why we want to open it up to new perspectives, interpretations, and audiences. At the same time, we want the project to lay the foundation for future transdisciplinary artistic collaborations and community building,” says the poet and Artistic Director of Vocations, Tomás Cohen.
What can a song be today? How can today’s art song, which tends to be traditional in its handling of lyrical texts, be reimagined? Author Nail Doğan (*1988) and composer Cenk Ergün (*1978); poet Felipe Sáez Riquelme (*1986) and multimedia composer VictorPiano (*1991); poet Cia Rinne (*1973) and composer Catalina Rueda (*1989); and poet and writer Avrina Prabala-Joslin (*1992) and composer and singer Sol-i So (*1990) all find diverse artistic responses. They’ve collaborated in duos and have developed texts and music for new art song compositions through a close creative exchange. The results are poetic, experimental, and touching.
The new art songs will have their premieres at Berlin’s Heimathafen Neukölln in October and December 2023. On October 26th, singer Angelika Luz and drummer Rie Watanabe will perform the cycle “after you, i learned to plant a poem, grow a song” from Avrina Prabala-Joslin and Sol-i So. Felipe Sáez Riquelme und VictorPiano’s song cycle “Animita” for tenor and live electronics will be performed by the singer Francisco Huerta and the composer VictorPiano. On December 21st, the singer Cansu Tanrıkulu and the double bassist Nick Dunston will present the cycle “derializiös” by Nail Doğan and Cenk Ergün, and Cia Rinne and Catalina Rueda’s piece “Disparitions” will be interpreted by the singer Johanna Vargas and the pianist Magdalena Cerezo. Boussa Thiam will be the moderator for both evenings.
Vocations will also draw on the tradition of musical and literary salons and revive them with salon evenings on October 9th and November 16th in the Akademie der Künste at Hanseatenweg. Berlin poets and artists from the new music scene are invited to participate in transdisciplinary exchanges and artistic interventions. The salons also offer the opportunity to learn more about the work of the artists involved in Vocations and about the process of writing art songs.
Interested parties can also explore the special relationship between poetry and music in art songs and the genre’s potential to undo hierarchies in a workshop at the Haus für Poesie on November 16th.
Dates
Monday, October 9, 7.30 PM
Vocations – Reimagining the Lied: Salon
With contributions by Cécile Madelin & Marine Madelin, Svetlana Mamresheva, Avrina Prabala-Joslin & Felipe Sáez Riquelme, VictorPiano, Sol-i So & Bo-Sung Kim plus other surprise contributions
Moderation: Audrey Naline
Venue: Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin
Tickets: 5/3€
Vocations Salons | Akademie der Künste, Berlin (adk.de)
Thursday, October 26, 7.30 PM
Vocations –Reimagining the Lied: Premiere
New art songs by Avrina Prabala-Joslin & Sol-i So (vocals: Angelika Luz, percussion: Rie Watanabe) | VictorPiano & Felipe Sáez Riquelme (vocals: Francisco Huerta, live electronics: VictorPiano)
Moderation: Boussa Thiam
Venue: Heimathafen Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Str. 141, 12043 Berlin
Tickets: 10/8€
https://heimathafen-neukoelln.de/events/vocations/
Thursday, November 16, 3 PM
Intimate Revolts: Workshop
With: Kira Henkel & VictorPiano, Felipe Sáez Riquelme, Catalina Rueda
Venue: Haus für Poesie, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
Free entry, register at mail@haus-fuer-poesie.org
Thursday, November 16, 2023, 7.30 PM
Vocations – Reimagining the Lied: Salonabend
With contributions by Ursula Hesse von den Steinen, Susie Asado, Cia Rinne & Daniel Roth, Nail Doğan & Hicham El Madkouri, Catalina Rueda, plus other surprise contributions
Moderation: Audrey Naline
Venue: Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin
Tickets: 5/3€
Vocations Salons | Akademie der Künste, Berlin (adk.de)
Thursday, November 21, 2023, 7.30 PM
Vocations – Reimagining the Lied: Premiere
New art songs by Nail Doğan & Cenk Ergün (vocals: Cansu Tanrıkulu, double bass: Nick Dunston), and Cia Rinne & Catalina Rueda (vocals: Johanna Vargas, prepared piano: Magdalena Cerezo)
Moderation: Boussa Thiam
Venue: Heimathafen Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Str. 141, 12043 Berlin
Tickets: 10/8€
https://heimathafen-neukoelln.de/events/vocations-2/
For questions and information:
Jutta Büchter
vocations@haus-fuer-poesie.org
Vocations is a cooperation between Haus für Poesie and the JUNGE AKADEMIE, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Cultural Foundation Schloss Wiepersdorf, Heimathafen Neukölln and Universität Hamburg and is funded by the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt des Landes Berlin im Rahmen der Spartenoffenen Förderung.