Orkiestra im. Bagna i Strumienia
Orkiestra im. Bagna i Strumienia [The Swamp and Stream Orchestra] is the first piece composed specially for the ĄsąBąble family series. We invite children aged 3 and over and their nearest grown-ups to the concert!
Spring, summer, autumn, winter — this reassuring cyclical rhythm now appears more often in fairy tales than in reality. Mushroom-pickers walk through forests in December, cranes no longer winter in warm countries, and vineyards are migrating northward out of fear of heatwaves. “Orkiestra im. Bagna i Strumienia” is a set of miniatures by Jarek Kordaczuk on the theme of climate change and care for the environment, written with tender thought for the youngest representatives of homo sapiens.
Moving towards the idea of a musical work as an ecosystem, we will look at its successive layers. Setting aside the anthropocentric perspective for a moment, we will give voice to plants, animals and phenomena; we will listen to the contemporary stories of the river, the forest and the swamp. The harmonics of the string quintet and the spoken word will enter into dialogue with electronics. Interactive sensors distributed throughout Hashtag Lab are placed in the hands of our ĄsąBąble audience. We are curious how such an orchestra of sensors will sound. What is certain is that its composition, engagement and mood will give the performance a unique character and will serve as inspiration for the improvised passages of the piece played by the ensemble.
Programme:
Orkiestra im. Bagna i Strumienia
Jarek Kordaczuk music
Anna Szawiel words
Performers:
Marta Piórkowska violin
Agnieszka Guz violin
Bartosz Paradowski viola (Akademia PRO)
Dominik Płociński cello
Albert Myczkowski double bass
Jarek Kordaczuk electronics
Anna Szawiel performer
Co-financed from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund — a state earmarked fund — within the ‘Compositional Commissions’ programme, implemented by the Narodowy Instytut Muzyki i Tańca.”
Partners: POLMIC, Wytwórnia Zdarzeń Sonokinetycznych, Kosmos dla Dziewczynek.
About the series: ĄsąBąble are performative concerts featuring new music for families with children aged 0–7. Each one is based on an original scenario in which listening to music, interactive games and educational value are equally important. In a space friendly to the very youngest, one can listen to the music of 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 little 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 regular feature is the presentation of a recording of a symphonic work or a piece from the field of sound design and electronics.
While each edition of ĄsąBąble takes musical material as its point of departure, it also abounds in extra-musical contexts close to the practice of Hashtag Ensemble: literary, visual, social. The events are interdisciplinary in character: also taking part are invited artists who have long worked in close proximity to children’s imagination — dancers, performers, illustrators and writers. Theatre is a natural arena for new music, and so the educational character of the ĄsąBąble series also incorporates actor training for the musicians.
The curator and host of the series is Anna Szawiel — an actress and narrator who specialises in interdisciplinary cultural and educational events. She likes to work at the boundaries: between concert and performance, education and play, the physical and the abstract, always in connection with children’s imagination. The concert programmes are co-created by musicians of Hashtag Ensemble.