Collaboration with and supported and sponsored by singer Helena Sorokina and Kulturverein StimmKubator

Performances May 6, 2023 at the SONify! Festival of Music and Artistic Research and May 26, 2023 at the Hundertwasserkirche in Bärnbach, Steiermark, Austria.

It is not always easy to stay true to oneself and maintain inner peace in times of external unrest, whether due to political circumstances, existential concerns, or personal issues. In such situations the world and, most importantly, our perception of it, undergoes a vast transformation. With the sight of the environment around us, where the cathedrals of our dreams collapse and walls are erected to isolate people from each other, our self-definition also changes. It is only natural that the human voice, the most expressive natural instrument, plays a crucial role in the search for one’s own identity.

Therefore, this contemporary music project was developed around the important question: ”Where does the human voice begin and end?” Is it still our own voice if it is modified by electronics? What role does language play in the development of the voice and the definition of an individual? Are the syllables we understand more important than those we do not understand? The music of Graz-based composers Alyssa Aska, Martin Ritter, Pablo Mariña, and Sepehr Karbassian, as well as Gülçin Yüksel, all of which is based exclusively on phonemes without semantic content, guides the listener through reflections and various phases of the natural and electronically transformed human voice of singer Helena Sorokina.

Program – new works by:

Martin Ritter (*1982 Austria)
Alyssa Aska (*1985 USA/Austria)
Pablo Mariña (*1989 Mexico/Austria)
Sepehr Karbassian (*1990 Iran/Austria)
Gülcin Yüksel (*2001 Turkey/Austria)