Equilibrium is Everywhere
EQ Summit in Paris - November 2018
Equilibrium Young Artists met in November for an intensive week to prepare for concerts in the coming season. Stage director Linus Fellbom also joined the artists for staging rehearsals of The Rake's Progress.
In-depth workshops form a key part of the Equilibrium experience, with the purpose of fostering a culture of awareness of the complete musical picture. Workshops address preparation, stamina, focus, mistake recovery and peak performance. This is done through yoga exercises with Phyllis Ferwerda, and meditation and breath techniques developed by author, entrepreneur and maverick life coach, Jackie Reardon of Friendly Eyes.
Le Cent Quatre Paris generously offered their beautiful and unique space for all of the rehearsals and workshops.
photo credit: Jean-François Leclercq
EQ Summit in Amsterdam - July 2018
At the beginning of July, EQ Artists met up in Amsterdam for the first EQ Summit. It was a very impactful and insightful gathering: morning yoga and meditation tailor-made for EQ with Phyllis Ferwerda, putting Friendly Eyes into practice with dynamic awareness, focus and meditation exercises led by topsport mentor/coach Jackie Reardon, intensive Q&A session led by Barbara, and at the heart of the day, pianist, conductor, composer Reinbert de Leeuw, who generously shared his knowledge and experiences and innate love of music.
Maria Stodtmeijer and her documentary crew from Accentus Music were with us, feeling very much part of our team now, as they have been since EQ auditions started in March 2017, for more filming opportunities for their “Taking Risks” documentary on the EQ initiative.
DVD presentation "Taking Risks" (Accentus Music) in Berlin
Masterclasses in Paris and London
- École Normale de Musique de Paris,
Cours d'Interprétation Public, March 2018
- Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music, 11 May 2018
- National Opera Studio / ROH masterclass (sold-out),
16 May 2018
- Showcase for EQ singers (private event), Canada House, April 2018
- Guest speaker, IMD Alumni Club of the United Kingdom / Swiss Embassy, May 2018
Debriefing after our EQ Accentus documentary presentation with IMZ Avant Premiere in Berlin. Three EQ singers joined in the event: Aphrodite Patoulidou, Douglas Williams and Marta Swiderska
2017: The Equilibrium movement has been reaching my younger colleagues in other ways this past autumn.
- a short residency in October at the Juilliard School in New York
- a masterclass for Royal Conservatory and University of Toronto students in Toronto
- an evening of great dialogue with composers and librettists at American Lyric Theater
- a masterclass for singers at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia
Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, November 2017
Barbara Hannigan and Friends
On September 25th, the Barbara Hannigan and Friends concert took place at Maison de Radio France. It was a performance for live audience, followed by a rebroadcast of the concert on October 2nd, as part of the Journée Spéciale de Barbara Hannigan on Radio France. I invited three EQ singers to share the stage with me and my other guests (Stephane Dégout, Alexandre Tharaud, Alphonse Cémin and Michel Portal).
Read more about the concert, including performances of EQ singers Fleur Barron, Sophia Burgos, and Antoin Herrera-Lopez Kessel.
Serendipity
Also by way of EQ, the pianist, composer and conductor Edo Frenkel got in touch, and serendipity created an opportunity for us to work together in the preparation of a Satie Socrate project at the Ruhrtriennale. I look forward to working with him again in future.
Edo Frenkel is a conductor, composer, and pianist whose work spans the repertoire of the standard western canon, opera, contemporary music, and free improvisation. His work has been described as "groundbreaking ... an integration of raw emotion and music" (Rochestariat).
His compositions have been lauded as “A kind of Edgar Varèse-esque cacophony for the Digital Age" (Democrat & Chronicle) that “leaves you aghast.”(kwadratuur.com).
As a conductor, Mr. Frenkel has appeared with several notable groups including Tonkünstler Orchester-Neideröstereich, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Meitar, JACK Quartet, New World Symphony, and Ensemble Mise-en.
He is tremendously dedicated to the future of music, collaborating with notable composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Frederic Durieux.
Mr. Frenkel’s own compositions, ranging from acoustic concert music to electronic installations, have been performed by such groups as Talea Ensemble, EXAUDI vocal ensemble, and Ensemble Paramirabo.
Mr. Frenkel is regularly featured in festivals in Europe. His piece So, for solo violin, is featured on Takao Hyakutome’s LP "Monolith" and his electronic installation "Face Piece" was aired on The Discovery Channel’s "Daily Planet".
Sophia joined us for the EQ auditions in Stockholm and then for the LUDWIG tour last December. She will be with us for The Rake’s Progress: writing, contributing, and learning with the team.
Sophia Anna Edlund is a Swedish interdisciplinary artist and researcher. She is currently based in London, where she is studying an MSc in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music. Her studies are interdisciplinary with a degree in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh followed by a Masters in Text and Performance from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Sophia uses the myth of the Sirens' song as a platform for her artistic practice interweaving vocal and visual art. Sophia's research interest is centered around the psychology of performance with a particular focus on singer's mindset, wellbeing, and presence. Constantly seeking new artistic and intellectual challenges, Sophia feels that the Equilibrium project offers endless opportunities for her forthcoming PhD research on the singing situation: The Island of the Sirens/singers.
