Mediterranean Voices

Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Germany

How do artists from the Mediterranean position themselves in terms of their homeland – in a trans-cultural space charged with history, one that today marks the development of Europe and which is undergoing constant movement and upheaval through the clash of different cultures and religions? Against this backdrop the Mediterranean Voices project opens up a multi-layered artistic discourse spreading over the entire year 2013. Twelve composers of Mediterranean origin are invited to write a chamber music work for one to seven voices in a close, and very much experimental exchange with the performers of the piece – the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart. In addition to the individual encounters of singers and composers in their homelands, the artistic process also includes two joint symposiums to which experts in other artistic fields and politics are invited. Mediterranean Voices will not stage tourist experiences abroad but will focus on the direct encounters with people active in art: a constructive process of understanding within the medium of music. With his camera, video artist Daniel Kötter as a "doku-menteur" will follow the genesis of the works and the accompanying reflection process, creating for each of the artistic identities their own film document. Documentation and reflection will form part of the artistic work. For the performance of the twelve musical and the twelve filmic works the Greek architect Sofia Dona will create a space that reflects the complexity and contradictions of the Mediterranean on various levels. The premiere of this concert video installation will be held on February 9, 2014 as part of the ECLAT festival at Theaterhaus Stuttgart. Further performances are planned in locations such as Lyon, Marseille, Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Cairo and Nicosia. The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is supporting the composition commissions to Dániel Péter Biró, Zeynep Gedizlioglu, Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Evis Sammoutis and Josep Sanz. 


February 9, 2014 
Festival ECLAT at Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Germany

Further Information:
www.neue-vocalsolisten.de