I know Joe Legwabe for almost 10 years. Each time he surprises me with his poetic vision of music, sound and life. He goes with me to every sonic experiment or research I wish to try, much more open minded than most of the so called "experimental" or "contemporary" vocal soloists one can meet in the scene.We work on the score and - its not easy. At a certain point he invents on the spot a new whistling technique which I needed for a section of the work, and it is just amazing. REKA work in London with Mister Legwabe is a rare treat !

Last day in Karlsruhe, we decide to work in nature. Epi is ready for the world premiere - he is going to be amazing.

Sometimes I feel I have the best job in the world.

Finally in Karlsruhe with my friend Epi, reading the score and eating Buuz (Mongolian snack). Happy to be with Epi !

Learning the Xhosa click language of the Zulu tribe of South Africa with one of my favorite singers in the world - Joe Legwabe.

Mid July I'm going to London to work with Joe, will be a vocal adventure !!!

SHARE YOUR VOICE WITH ART !!!

Elena Casella's Choir , Musica Aperta & Conductor of REKA, Dario Garegnani are going to be the demonstrators of each part of the CROWD within REKA.

Videos will be online next week - stay tuned !

Experimenting  harmonics glissando techniques of contemporary music on the Mongolian fiddle the Morin Khoor is challenging and fun !

Next week Enkhjargal and me will start rehearsing in Karlsruhe, its going to be so much fun !!!

Can you sing it ?

Departing from Tradition and going to new experimentations can be a lot of fun. This is really about "playing music" & "playing with music".

CROWD MUSIC
It has got a lot to do with the sounds of of my hometown, where tens and sometimes hundreds of people sing in various occasions the same prayer, but each one slightly different. The end result is a vibrating intense sonic cloud which grows around you  (in music it is called Heterophony).


Opposite to the western concept of choir, which is build on hierarchy, “clean”
musical performance based on accuracy and on an a priori musical knowledge, the voices of the crowd in REKA should be various and individualistic, becoming through unity an environment, a texture which covers, uncovers and indicates a sonic ambient in which the events are born.

 Working with  LAMA SAMTEN YESHE RINPOCHE on the 5 elements Mudra - the challange is to adapt it to time, score and conductor's indications.

Cannot wait til he will sing it with the crowd - will be fantastic !!!

I am literately working day & night on the crowd part of REKA....In one week I'm done ! please stay tuned for online tutorials, downlodable score and much fun !!!

The mantras, mandalas, chants, prayers, rituals of cleaning the the karma, breathing meditations are anchored in the voice. The human voice is a vessel in which the Bön priests are putting verbal and non verbal metaphysic meanings of their beliefs regarding the essential functions  of their reality.

It is interesting to reflect about the use of vocals in the Bön culture and in Buddhism in general, in comparison to the musical use of "Amen" in the European Cristian liturgy - while both carry a function of a meditative word rather than an informative word (even though that in Hebew the word "Amen" carry many meanings deriving from its root A.M.A.N - which could hint art, practice, faith, artist) the Catholic tradition use its AMEN either as a closing pattern (all musical parameters go down) or as a rich base of musical movement and decoration (Melisma in musical terms), the vocals demostrated by Lama Samten are a rapresentation of the constant, the invariable, the eternal. This opposing difference - or complimentary relations if you wish - makes me think of the great debate between Heraclitus of Ephesus and Parmenides of Elea: 

Working with a LAMA
Lama Samten Yeshe Rinpoche is around my age. He was born in a small village in Tibet and from the age of 8 had entered the Bön Buddhism as a monk. he studied with great masters, and also had been the music Master of 400 priests in a temple. He hold a Doctor in philosophy degree and is teacher of the sacred masks dance of the Bön tradition. Now he is based in Paris and travels all around Europe to teach meditation and philosophy. I meet Lama Smten in the apartment of Judith, his assistant and a new dear friend of mine. In 2 minutes we become friends. He tell me that he will donate his payment for the concerts to his order and that the project has a lot in common with the Bön belief of peace, dialogue and compassion between men beings. It is important for him to explain me his motivation for the project, since some of the things I ask him to do are very sacred and also sometimes secret within the Bön culture.

The score of REKA has notes, textual indications, graphic indications and also 10 visual artworks that soloists, percussionists or the CROWD  interpenetrates with their instruments or voices.

HERE is REKA n.8 - Birds background - from the CROWD part

REKA CROWD SCORE IS READY - YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE ENGLISH SCORE RIGHT NOW !

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD & ENJOY !

SOFIA KAIKOV

I first met Sofia and her husband Yatzek when we collaborated on my opera KOLOT in 2008 (for the curious ones, you can check it out on : http://kolot-opera.com/). Bukharian Jews are fantastic. Their food is great, their clothings are great, their stories are great - and Sofia & Yatzek are my favorite Bukharians in the world ! during the years, each time I came to Tel-Aviv I tried to jump for a coffee at Sofia's house. Each time the coffee had transformed to a fantastic dinner. Sofia is a great singer, and a daughter of a great singer.