Spitalfields Festival 2017
20/12/2017
Earlier this month I had the great joy of being involved in the fantastic Spitalfields Festival, curated by André de Ridder.
I wrote two pieces for the mammoth opening concert, 'House of Monteverdi': one of them was a song cycle called Between the war and you, written for The Hermes Experiment on a new text by Ben Osborn, giving voice to four intertwined characters whose experiences blur the distinction between love and war. The other was a short choral piece for The Erebus Ensemble called Now that heaven and earth and the wind are silent, based on a Petrarch sonnet famously set by Monteverdi.
"Josephine Stephenson [...] impressed with her song cycle Between the war and you, and a choral piece, Now that heaven and earth and the wind are silent, music to arrest the ears and stop the heart." The Times
I also took part in the festival's final event, 'Schumann Street', singing 'Ich hab' im Traum geweinet' from Dichterliebe accompanying myself with a tape player playing different versions of the piano part (piano/synth/voices).
"Another highlight was a tearful Josephine Stephenson recalling a sad dream, delivering her accompaniment by operating a cassette machine between her broken phrases. " Evening Standard
The whole thing was a great and inspiring experience and I just can't wait for next year.. oh and here I am talking to the presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch and presenting my pieces at the opening concert (Robin Savage ©)
