Bird Songs

Description

Can music take us into the universe of another animal species? Jonathan Harvey listens in slow motion to 40 bird songs and extracts exuberant ornamentations to make us feel "what it would be like to be a human in the mind of a bird." Carola Bauckholt turns away from this melodic fascination and restricts her material to the piercing cries of geese, swans, pelicans, and cormorants. Robin Meier Wiratunga invents a sound dialogue between pigeons in flight and musicians on the ground. PRE-CONCERT 6:15 PM: introduction before the concert 7:30 PM: concert PROGRAM Jonathan Harvey Bird Concerto with Pianosong (2001) for piano, chamber orchestra, and electronics Carola Bauckholt Zugvögel (2011-2012) for oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet, and bassoon Piece performed outdoors. Robin Meier Wiratunga Apophenia (2021, version 2023/2026) for homing pigeons equipped with whistling vests and ensemble Screening of a video version of the piece on a large screen. Filmed images in Dharavi, Mumbai in 2023 with a new instrumental recording. The video will then be shown on the fifth floor of the Centre d'art Contemporain Genève.