Smyki i pierniki
We invite the youngest music lovers and their families to a festive concert from the ĄsąBąble series!
Do you remember old-fashioned Christmas trees? A little mismatched and not quite in tune, they had their charm: they shimmered with variety, and their ornaments were often collected over several generations. Each one could tell a short story or inspire a piece of music. Each could symbolise a special gift: a colourful bauble — play, a pine cone — sharing, a rocking horse — a cuddle at lullaby time. There is also kindness, attention, acceptance — things you will not find in any shop.
The musicians of Hashtag Ensemble will wrap these gifts in sounds, to give us more joy in discovering. Hidden in the sounds will be melodies that bring us good things for this December time — like the carol from the 3rd String Quartet by Pēteris Vasks. The composer wanted this music to bring peace to the earth. That is still a very precious gift, is it not?
The last concert of the year has an intergenerational character — we invite you to come as whole families. Waiting for you will be a family of string players: two violins, viola and cello. We will munch gingerbread together and create sounding Christmas ornaments. Let it be varied and colourful, with imagination. Just like the Christmas trees of old.
Performers:
Hashtag Ensemble featuring:
Kamila Wąsik — Janiak violin
Marta Piórkowska violin
Aleksander Demowska — Madejska viola
Antek Wrona cello
Anna Szawiel host
About the series:
ĄsąBąble are performative concerts of new music for families with children aged 0–7. Each one is based on an original script in which listening to music, interactive play and educational value are equally important. In a space friendly to the youngest, one can listen to music by leading contemporary composers in a version and proportion adapted for small ears. The theatrical format of the concerts encourages focus and allows one to be enchanted by the sounds, while the invitation to join in collective improvisations releases the natural need for expression in young people. In the spirit of Janusz Korczak’s words “There are no children, there are people”, all participants are treated with respect and have a share in how the event unfolds. The series presents exclusively music of the 20th and 21st centuries. A permanent feature is the presentation of a recording of a symphonic work or one from the sphere of sound design and electronics.
Although each edition of ĄsąBąble takes musical texture as its starting point, it also abounds in non-musical contexts close to Hashtag Ensemble’s practice: literary, visual, social. The events are interdisciplinary in character: invited artists who have long created in close proximity to children’s imagination also take part — dancers, performers, illustrators and writers. Theatre is a natural field for new music, and so the educational character of the ĄsąBąble series also encompasses actor training for musicians.
The curator and host of the series is Anna Szawiel — an actor and narrator who specialises in interdisciplinary cultural and educational events. She enjoys working on boundaries: between concert and performance, education and play, physicality and abstraction, always in connection with children’s imagination. The concert programmes are co-created by the musicians of Hashtag Ensemble.
The ĄsąBąble project creatively develops the concept of the “Smykowizje” series by the “Muzyka jest dla wszystkich” foundation, within which in 2016–2022 Hashtag Ensemble and Anna Szawiel jointly performed over 130 concerts and mini-performances, searching for the most interesting forms of presenting new music. The concept and curation of Smykowizje was by Anna Kierkosz. It was the first series in Poland addressed to the very youngest children, in which contemporary music played the lead role.
The media patron of the event is Kosmos dla Dziewczynek magazine.
The Hashtag Lab Contemporary Music Space is co-financed by the Capital City of Warsaw.
The media patron of the Hashtag Lab Contemporary Music Space is POLMIC.PL.