Audio Control Turn on Yuval's sonic flow

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Audio Control Turn on Yuval's sonic flow
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MiTo Settembre Musica Festival
For a Samaritan Vocal Choir, Ensemble, Video, Electronics, Stage Design.
Teatro Nuovo, Milan, Italy – September 21, 2010

Samaritans creates an unusual bridge between the musical and ritual tradition of one of the most ancient peoples of the Mediterranean and contemporary performing arts and music.
Combining a Samaritan choir, an ensemble of contemporary music, live electronics, video, stage design and narration, Avital presents a complex storytelling which shares the collective past of the Samaritans, their individual present, and the sacred and mystical dimension of this unique culture.

The Samaritans are primarily known in Western culture due to their presence in the New Testament and the parable of the Good Samaritan which became the symbol of altruism. They are an ethnically-religious community of ancient historical roots which developed in a parallel and independent road compared to Judaism. Their religion is based on the interpretation of a 3,000-year-old Torah, which is believed by them to be the original ancient text. The Samaritan version of the Torah, written in an alphabet different from the Hebrew one, presents numerous variants when compared to the Jewish version. According to their chronicles, they are the most ancient people in the Holy Land. Their spiritual leader is the High-Priest, whom the Samaritan genealogy considers a direct descendent from Aaron, the brother of Moses.

Samaritans strive to create a multiple path, which unifies sonic and visual languages of the traditions and some musical innovations of our time. It forms a new and fresh avant-garde concept by integrating the representation of an indigenous culture, multimedia elements and music, both ancient and contemporary. It presents an almost surreal tension between the opposite poles of antiquity and the present, the vocal and the instrumental, the traditional and the experimental.

The opera moves between different levels.
The first level involves an introspective, intimate journey of the artist that reflects an almost autobiographical path where his poetic point of view leads the audience to the inner reality of the Samaritans. The second level focuses on the “protagonists” of the opera, the main figures of the Samaritan identity and its metaphysical beliefs (for example about the Mount of Gerizim and the figure of Moses) narrated often in a form of crossed episodes. The other two levels are the allegorical, in which the sonic and visual representations explore the fundamental symbols of this culture, and the purely musical ones, where the sound of contemporary musical languages meet the sound of the ancient Samaritan chant in a dialectic relationship. Eventually, there is a synthesis of a “new” Samaritan music in which the ancient elements are used as bricks to create new expressive codes.

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Massive Sonic Works:

/ˈmæsɪv ˈsɒnɪk wɜːrks/

Large-scale performances using collective participation to create powerful sound masses.

Yuval Avital’s “Massive Sonic Works” or “Opera di Massa Sonora” involves the creation of large-scale performances that utilize collective participation to craft a unique sound experience. These works focus on forming powerful sound masses through the collaboration of numerous performers, exploring new possibilities through sound rituals. The compositions often include graphic visual elements, written music, and easy-to-read instructions to allow interpretation by individuals without prior musical experience. This approach, sometimes involving hundreds of participants, aims to create what can be described as “crowd music.”

Some key works in Avital’s repertoire include:

– GARON (2012): An opera for 45 bass tubas do, percussions, and a crowd of performers.

– KARAGATAN (2013): A composition for 100 gongs and bamboo in the Philippines.

– REKA (2014): Commissioned by the Warsaw Autumn Festival and co-produced by the MiTo festival in Milan, involving traditional singers from unique cultures such as Tibetan, Zulu, Sardinian, Mongolian, and Samarkand traditions.

One of Avital’s significant compositions is MISE EN ABÎME, a milestone work that marks the beginning of his “Massive Sonic Works” series. Premiered in 2011, this composition involves a large ensemble of 100-200 non-musician vocalists, accordions, bass tubas, soprano, bass clarinet, percussions, didgeridoo, and conductors directing the performance in an immersive setup.

Another notable work is URLA, an immersive sonic experience with over 300 performers, showcasing diverse musical traditions in Matera, Italy. This piece combines traditional elements with modern instrumentation, theatrical actions, and innovative technological approaches, reflecting Yuval Avital’s interdisciplinary and transcultural artistic vision.

Yuval Avital’s creations blend complexity, cultural diversity, and technological innovation to create immersive and participatory sonic experiences that push the boundaries of traditional music composition and performance.