9th International Film Award for Birds! 🌟
oktober 18, 2024
«We just won our 9th international film award with Birds! 🌟 I’m beyond grateful and incredibly proud of this achievement. 🙏🏻
«Birds wins yet another award!
oktober 13, 2024
At the Idaho Screendance Festival, Birds received yet another award 🎉, in the category of Professional Film Artists Screendance ❤️🙏🏻
«Birds» wins Consonance Music and Dance Film festival!
september 29, 2024
Imagine, the audience in Tbilisi voted our film as Festival Winner 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Feeling incredibly grateful and humbled by the recognition we received yesterday at the Cosonance Music & Dance Film Festival! 🎉 Not only did we take home the Audience Award/Main Award, but we also won Best Experimental Film! 🏆✨ I am so proud of my team!
«Birds» Wins Best Cinematographer at Toronto Art Film Spirit Awards
september 26, 2024
It was producer Bjarte Mørner Tveit who introduced me to the cinematographer, Joakim. It was the summer of 2018, and we met over a café table.
I shared a bit about my intentions and the themes, and handed him the headphones with the music. He sat there, silent, in deep concentration, for a long, long time. He listened to the soundtracks from start to finish. Then he took off the headphones, looked into my eyes, opened his mouth, and shared his associations with just a few words. I had no doubt that Joakim was pure gold.
Joakim is the embodiment of calm. He moves gently around his surroundings, yet his presence is strong.
Eventually, Joakim took over the producer role for Birds.
The Toronto Art Film Spirit Awards is quite a prestigious «arthouse film» festival. We won the award for Best Cinematographer. This is Joakim’s award.
Song Circus reviewed by Eystein Sandvik on Norwegian Broadcasting
september 13, 2024
«I’m excited and grateful for Eystein Sandvik’s insightful review of our concert with Leçons de Ténèbres. I’m also glad that we chose Eivind Buene when commissioning a piece based on Couperin’s version, set in the context of the current situation in Israel and Palestine.
READ EXCERPTS FROM THE REVIEW HERE, OR LISTEN TO THE LINK
- «It’s a work that grabs me and touches me on various levels and in different ways. It has a distinctive musical expression, a clear concept, and, not least, a clear message.»
- «It is a work with strong connections, both to history and to the present.»
- «The French Baroque music is very different. It is much more stripped-down, simple, intimate, and yet deeply expressive and very beautiful, despite the strong expressions of suffering portrayed in these Lamentations. I think Eivind Buene has succeeded in creating a modern version of the same slightly Baroque aesthetic.»
- «The fundamental approach in this piece is to juxtapose the Lamentations from the Old Testament, which are poetic texts depicting the suffering of a war-torn Israeli people, with Israel’s role today as a long-standing occupying power, and the brutal conduct of the Israeli army toward the Palestinian population.»
- «There’s a clear and distinct message here that Israel is not living up to its own ideals and has gone down the wrong path. Particularly one line from the Lamentations is repeated several times, albeit in Latin. In Norwegian, it becomes ‘Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,’ which can naturally be interpreted as a call to today’s Israel to reflect on the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population.»
- «In Couperin’s version, there are partly two bright female voices over a very simple accompaniment. Here, there are four female voices from Song Circus, partly singing in a very high register, cultivating this very bright, shimmering sound over the viola da gamba. It’s a combination of voices and ensemble rarely heard in music composed today, with a subtle use of finger cymbals adding to the expression.»
- «It’s not very intense or extreme, and there aren’t many of the vocal special effects often heard in contemporary music written for voices. It’s kept within this simple expression, and it leaves an impression. The simplicity and the unique sound that emerges from this ensemble is both moving and fascinating.»
- «There is, of course, an entirely different context here, which the composer could not have foreseen when he completed his work before this date. But I believe the conditions for the massive warfare we now see from Israel are rooted in a dehumanization of the civilian population affected, a dehumanization that is clearly expressed in these testimonies from Israeli soldiers. It is terrifying and horrific to listen to, even though the testimonies unfortunately pale in comparison to the reality now unfolding in Gaza, which makes me experience the power of this otherwise rather quiet music, the setting of the Lamentations, as even greater.»
LINK:
«Birds» awarded ‘Best Art Film’
september 13, 2024
«Birds won the award for ‘Best Art Film’ at the Montevideo World Film Festival in Uruguay! So thrilled!» 🥳🥰 🙏
Birds Wins Award at Aryan Film Festival
september 1, 2024
Look at this beautiful crowd of people 🥰 ‘Birds’ just won an award in the Short Fiction category at the Aryan International Children’s Film Festival of Jaipur (ICFF). 🙏🏻🇮🇳
Birds Wins Best Short Film Europe!
august 13, 2024
Imagine, ‘Birds’ just won the ‘Best Short Film Europe’ award at the KIDS International Family Film Festival Award 2024! ❤️ Dream team! 🙏🏻
«Leçons de ténèbres» – review
august 13, 2024
The first review is by Maren Ørstavik in Aftenposten, covering the premiere of Leçons de ténèbres:
«The cultural sphere speaks loudly about Gaza. Some aspects of the conflict are easy to take a stand on through benefit concerts and petitions—like the number of dead children and the obstruction of humanitarian aid. The humanitarian catastrophe cannot be ignored, no matter one’s stance on the conflict itself. To delve deeper, using artistic expression, is challenging. Eivind Buene accomplishes this with respect, sensitivity, and beauty.»
«Much of the piece is wordless and comes across as musically abstract, beautifully performed by the quartet Song Circus and viol player André Lislevand. Occasionally, this is interrupted by recorded texts over the loudspeakers, recounting specific, brutal stories from the ground: mothers blown apart, occupiers urinating on the occupied.»
«Following Couperin’s tradition, the candles surrounding the performers are extinguished one by one throughout the work, until the room is completely dark at the end.»
«All of this constitutes powerful elements. The contrasts are immense—the shifting perspectives between Israelis and Palestinians, between past and present, between beauty and violence, between light and darkness. Buene makes it all work, with strong support from the performers.»
«The vocal lines are tight; the four women of Song Circus often sing almost the same notes, separated only by a half or whole tone in tense clusters. Harmonies are rare, even though each individual voice is pure and beautiful on its own. The quartet’s cohesion, combined with Lislevand’s emotional engagement, made it compelling to follow the musical narrative itself, even if it wasn’t always clear which words or perspectives were being illustrated at any given moment.»
The immersive world of The Digitale Cucumber
mai 13, 2024
Step into the immersive world of #thedigitalecucumber, where the fusion of multimedia and music theatre explores themes crucial to our era. Delve into the realms of bubbles, media technology, and the courage to dream, believe, and even stumble. Available for booking!
Immersed in the belief in human dignity, truth, freedom and love, Mansur Rajih’s poetry resonates deeply
mai 13, 2024
On stage, we’re privileged to encounter two world-leading Arab musicians, both from Palestine. Today’s realities, with the harrowing war scenes unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank, infuse Mansur’s lyrics with newfound relevance and power. ‘And Yet They Sing’ resonates with profound emotion, weaving hope throughout.
«Best Performance» at Canadian Wildsound Film Festival!
mars 28, 2024
Hooray! Birds won ‘Best Performance’ at the Canadian Wildsound Film Festival! 🎉 They’ve also made a lovely film review, which you can watch here:
Song Circus is joining Oslo Music Factory
januar 30, 2023
We are happy to announce that Song Circus has started a collaboration with Bjarne Kvinnsland and Eirik Raude at Oslo Music Factory management!
And together with a small bunch of our favourite Norwegian musicians and ensembles!
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Vi er glade for å kunne fortelle at Song Circus har inngått samarbeid med Oslo Music Factory Management!
More info at www.oslomusicfactory.no
Borealis Talk: Catherine Lamb om ‘Rational Intonation’
desember 25, 2022
Catherine Lamb is composing a new piece for Song Circus, Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker. Cat visited Borealis 2022. Listen to her on the exciting musical world Rational Intonation, a method of creating new tools for music making and composing:
Catherine Lamb, Song Circus & Tarozzi/Walker
desember 25, 2022
- Catherine Lamb presents a new concert work for SongCircus and the Tarozzi/Walker string duo
Catherine Lamb explores the interplay between tones, summing of forms and shadows, phenomenological extensions, and the architecture of space between inner and outer worlds, often using elongated introductions.
The collaboration between Tarozzi/Walker and Song Circus previously flourished through their work with French composer Pascale Criton on her microtonal piece Soar. This time, they’ve invited Catherine Lamb (USA) to create a new composition for the ensemble.
Catherine Lamb
Catherine Lamb’s musical journey began early but took a significant turn when she left the conservatory to study Indian classical music in Pune, India. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in music under mentors James Tenney and Michael Pisaro at CalArts in Los Angeles, where she began her deep exploration into the relationship between tones. Since then, she has composed, taught, and collaborated with a wide range of musicians and ensembles, including Ensemble neoN, the London Contemporary Orchestra, Johnny Chang, Marc Sabat, and Rebecca Lane. After completing a Master’s degree in Music and Sound from Bard College’s Milton Avery School of Fine Arts in New York, Catherine relocated to Berlin, where she has established herself as a composer.
Her first orchestral work, Portions Transparent/Opaque, premiered with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Tectonics Festival in Glasgow in 2014. She has received several prestigious awards, including the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize in 2020 and the Grants to Artists award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in 2018. Catherine is also a co-founder of the collective Harmonic Space Orchestra in Berlin. Her music and writings have been published by QO2, Hubro, Black Pollen Press, Sound American, and Sacred Realism.
Discover Rational Intonation Let composer Catherine Lamb guide you through the spaces between tones, and explore the fascinating musical concept of Rational Intonation through this conversation: Borealis Talk: On ‘Rational Intonation’ with Catherine Lamb, RAGE Thormbones & Khyam Allami.
Ingrid Lode og Silje Aker Johnsen til Song Circus
desember 5, 2022
Song Circus ønsker Ingrid Lode og Silje Aker Johnsen velkommen inn i Song Circus-prosjekter fra 2023! To fantastisk dyktige vokalkunstnere vi gleder oss veldig til å jobbe med.
Ingrid Lode har sin master fra jazzlinja i Trondheim, og er en aktiv frilanser, blant annet som fast vokalist i Trondheim Voices. Hun har fordypet seg i flere retninger i sin søken etter en utvidet vokalpalett, blant annet gjennom reiser til India, der hun har tatt sangtimer med Aparna Panshikar.
Silje Aker Johnsen, har en PhD frå Operahøgskolen ved Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, med prosjektet “En søken etter en utvidet fysisk tolkning av vokal samtidsmusikk og av opera”, og er også utdannet ved Griegakademiet i Bergen, Universität der Künste, Berlin og Norges Musikkhøgskole. Hun er aktiv i mange ulike konstellasjoner, blant i Ensemble neoN.
The short film Fugler is supported by NFI!
juli 12, 2022
Endelig er det offisielt! Kortfilmen vår «Fugler» får 375 000 kr i tilskudd fra Norsk Filminstitutt. Tusen takk!
Regi og musikk: Liv Runesdatter
Fotograf: Joakim Hauge Vocke
Editering: Kyrre H. Larsen
Produsent: Von Mørner/Bjarte Mørner Tveit
Frequenz Festival in Kiel
juli 12, 2022
In May, we had the pleasure of visiting the Frequenz Festival in Kiel and the exhibition space of the Berliner Künstlerprogramm with Graatarslagjet
Just think, we can finally meet, hug, and share experiences again!
april 8, 2022
Jeg har mye å være takknemlig for. De siste årene har bydd på store, krevende utfordringer, det har kostet både energi, mot og penger. Det vil ta tid å få publikum tilbake i konsertsalene, og den internasjonale kunstscenen er fortsatt preget av mye usikkerhet. Noen av mine internasjonale samarbeidspartnere strever med å overleve. Kontraktene våre har fortsatt korona-klausul, og jeg risikerer fortsatt private penger når vi booker turnéer, men vi er på vei tilbake. Det går i riktig retning.
Jeg er privilegert fordi flere av prosjektene mine har offentlig finansiering, og støttespillerne mine har vært positive når jeg foreslått alternative løsninger. Jeg har klart å betale regningene mine, og jeg har vært en god oppdragsgiver for kunstnerne mine. Samtidig har jeg fått utvikle nye prosjekter, knyttet nye relasjoner til kunstnere og publikum, jeg har fått gjøre kunstprosjekter sammen med barn og unge og profesjonelle kunstnere, prosjekter jeg er veldig stolt av. Jeg gleder meg til å formidle dem!
Midt under nedstengningene fikk jeg fordype meg i flere stedsspesifikke prosjekter, blant annet «Fugler» sammen med ensemblet mitt Song Circus og flere gjestekunstnere. Samtidig som alt annet sto stille, gjennomførte vi blant annet et stort antall forestillinger for barn og unge, i skogsomgivelsene, i deres eget nærmiljø. For meg som først og fremst gjør konserter utenfor hjembyen min, har det vært verdifullt å knytte bånd til et lokalt publikum.
Ikke minst har jeg fått mulighet til å arbeide med filmkunst i filmteam med fagfolk, filmkunstnere og produsenter jeg setter høyt. Det å få debutere som regissør er dypt inspirerende! Filmopptakene er ferdige og etter sommeren starter arbeidsprosessen i studioet. Fortsettelse følger!
Song Circus reviewed in 5against4
oktober 5, 2021
Our Ultima concert was recently reviewed by Simon Cummings on 5against4.com!
«a performance that simply beggared belief, impossible to grasp its intricacies, leaving one simply to surrender to its inscrutable marvels, lost in a reverie of bowed, blown, pitched and aspirated friction.’
‘So complete was this impression that it didn’t remotely feel as if Soar II had actually finished, but was simply continuing on, imperceptibly, into eternity.’
http://5against4.com/2021/10/04/ultima-2021-part-3/
Rolf Gammeleng’s Honorary Award!
juni 3, 2021
Jeg er stolt og og glad for å kunne meddele at jeg er tildelt Rolf Gammelengs Ærespris for 2021! Særlig betyr det mye å vite at man nomineres og tildeles av fagfeller. Tusen takk!
Gammelengprisen er oppkalt etter grunnlegger av Fond For Utøvende Kunstnere, Rolf Gammleng. Prisen tildeles utøvende kunstnere som «på en fortjenstfull måte og over tid har gitt oss utøvende kunst av høy kvalitet».
