Ellen Arkbro + Kristofer Svensson

Closing concert for the festival in the gorgeous, surreal setting of Confidencen — an 18th century rococo theatre. Two premieres: Kristofer Svensson’s Som regn for harpsichord performed by Daniel Walden and a new piece by Ellen Arkbro commissioned by the festival for a 12 piece ensemble including musicians from Berlin’s Harmonic Space Orchestra.

nb: venue will be heated prior to, but not during the performance. we recommend that you dress warm. no intermission. programme duration: ~80 minutes

ELLEN ARKBRO

Ellen Arkbro is a Swedish composer and sound-artist primarily working with intervallic harmony in just intonation. This newly commissioned work is part of a glorious expansion of the palette she first set with For Organ & Brass opening her primary material of in-tune chords to include improvisation and other compositional strategies.

PERFORMERS

Lucy Railton, cello Judith Hamman, cello MO Abbott, bass trombone Rebecca Lane, bass flute Michiko Ogawa, bass clarinet Thomas Nicholson, viola Ellen Arkbro, trumpet Susana Santos Silva, trumpet Vilhelm Bromander, double bass Johan Graden, keyboard Konrad Agnas, percussion

SUPPORT

This commission has been made possible with the support of Kulturrådet, The Swedish Arts Council.

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KRISTOFER SVENSSON

Kristofer Svensson is a Swedish composer and kacapi musician. Svensson's work is situated in a context in which artistic, contemplative, and meditative practices merge. In the keyboard piece Som regn, sparse, harmonic events arise in a dynamic relationship with emptiness. Tuning harmonies justly and letting tones co-exist with extended sonic absences thematizes both the aperture and transperency of sound, as well as the equanimous ground of emptiness from which sounds emerge. The title Som regn (”like rain”), is both a reference to the mild, compassionate Dharma rain described in the Lotus Sūtra, as well as a metaphor for the steadfastness and indifference with which the sounds of this piece slowly punctuate the duration of time.

PERFORMERS

Daniel Walden, harpsichord

Framträdanden av Kristofer Svensson, Ellen Arkbro