National Sawdust: Hear It New! took to the stage to officially open the 2019 edition of Classical:NEXT last night. The Brooklyn-based music venue and artist incubator curated a series of high-calibre performances, introducing electrifying new compositional voices to the audience and set the tone for the remainder of the event.
The evening began with a Deep Listening session, led by the renowned and multi-faceted IONE. Guiding the audience through the practice, the session created a warm and resonating body of sound, as the members of the audience echoed and bounced colourful tones off of each other. The World Wide Tuning Meditation was developed by Pauline Oliveros and explores the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the voluntary, selective nature of listening. It cultivates a heightened awareness of the sonic environment, both external and internal, and promotes experimentation, improvisation, collaboration, playfulness and other creative skills vital to personal and community growth.
In line with what the World Wide Tuning Meditation promotes, Classical:NEXT not only seeks to raise awareness of the sonic environment but the many environments that come together over the course of the coming days. It seeks to turn that awareness into active, productive and applicable solutions for each sector and each environment. In Emma O'Halloran's composition 'Constellations', as performed by the YoungDoelen Ensemble, soprano Michaela Riener sang "all the pieces that were pulled apart, they don't fit like they should anymore."
At Classical:NEXT, we aim to help those pieces fit together once again.
Aligning with the headline of this year's edition "21st Century Polyphony: More Voices, Greater Symphonies", the Classical:NEXT Opening highlighted works that draw attention to those underrepresented in leadership, on the podium and in audiences.
In the face of division, hashtags, and soundbites, Forward Music Project 2.0: in this skin, commissioned five new multimedia works for solo cello and provides space and time for audiences to listen deeply to, interact with, and contemplate the visceral joys and struggles of women. Amanda Gookin performed a piece from the project entitled 'To Tell A Story', written by National Sawdust co-founder, artistic director and composer Paola Prestini, with sound design by Sxip Shirey.
Paola herself took to the stage to introduce National Sawdust to the audience and to announce their new partnership with Meyer Sound. With Meyer Sound’s Constellation® acoustic system, National Sawdust artists will be able to create and work within multiple acoustics, all with the press of a button, while its immersive component Spacemap® will allow them to explore and play with three-dimensional spatial sound, using the sophisticated, multi-channel panning system.
Up next was Peru-native Pauchi Sasaki, performing original music live on stage in accompaniment to Murat Eyuboglu's short feature film Kipatsi, Nija, Añaantsi (Land, Water, Life). The film illuminates the story of the Asháninka people of the Amazon basin in Peru and seeks to bring art, science and history together to help us come to a better understanding of our world and how we can begin to make our world a better place for all to live in.
Director general for culture and media at the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Barbera Wolfensberger, announced to the audience:
"I think it’s safe to say that Classical:NEXT has become the most important worldwide event in the field of classical music and I am extremely proud that Rotterdam is hosting Classical:NEXT for the fifth consecutive year. I hope we can continue this tradition for a very long time and that every new edition will bring an exciting new programme."
article posted by:Francisco Gonçalves Silva, Piranha Arts