From April 16 to 18, Song Circus & Kari Rønnekleiv appeared at Only Connect in Stavanger, performing brand-new music by Ole-Henrik Moe!
FROM THE PROGRAMME BROCHURE:
Song Circus and violinist Kari Rønnekleiv present a recreation of two works by composer Ole-Henrik Moe.
The concert opens with excerpts from the new concerto work Epitafium, a memorial piece dedicated to the folk musicians Jon Jelmert, Heidi Løvlund, and several other artists who have passed away in recent years. In the piece, Moe has also integrated the figure of the orienteer—a kind of tracking dog and alter ego of himself. He draws inspiration from various landscapes, both inner (such as the threshold between sleep and wakefulness) and natural (for example, marshland terrain). The work is in constant transformation, and the material has evolved through research and close collaboration between composer and performers. It is built on hidden, older tonalities and explores different mutations of so-called “ornamental scales with elements of the natural harmonic series.”
The concert then flows into Persefone, an acoustic work written for five female voices and wine glasses. It is a textural study of vocal timbre, dynamics, and microtonality. Moe drew inspiration from Morton Feldman when composing Persefone, and in its first part he stretches silence and slowness so far that any sense of a horizontal timeline dissolves into a state of music.
Ole-Henrik Moe (b. 1966) is an award-winning composer and musician with a highly distinctive talent and artistic voice. His work moves in the borderland between composition, improvisation, and sonic research, often exploring microtonality, older tonal systems, and unconventional sound sources. Moe works closely with performers in developing his pieces, and his music is characterized by precision, sonic sensitivity, and an experimental approach to the anatomy of sound. He has received numerous awards, including the Spellemannprisen in the contemporary music category, and has been nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. His works are performed regularly both in Norway and internationally, and he collaborates with leading musicians and ensembles such as Song Circus, Sheriffs of Nothingness, and Trondheimsolistene.
Song Circus (est. 2009) is one of Scandinavia’s leading vocal ensembles within contemporary music. Founded and directed by Liv Runesdatter, the ensemble consists of professional singers specializing in contemporary music and improvisation. Song Circus works with experimental music, sound art, and audiovisual productions. It is an unconventional, improvising vocal ensemble, conceived as an instrument with diverse qualities, musical approaches, and an extensive sonic vocabulary. The ensemble emphasizes close, long-term collaborations with composers and creative artists to develop new music and performance work. With a high level of activity, Song Circus collaborates with artists, festivals, production companies, and artistic institutions in several countries. Since 2015, the ensemble has worked with Lindberg Lyd / 2L, releasing the album Anatomy of Sound, nominated for the Spellemannprisen, as well as an EP and a short film created in collaboration with the award-winning Danish film director Maja Friis. They also produced the award-winning short film Birds (2023) by Liv Runesdatter, which received eight international awards and three honorable mentions. In addition, Song Circus has created several commissioned projects for galleries and festivals operating at the intersection of concert, conceptual art, and performance.
Kari Rønnekleiv (b. 1972) is a Norwegian violinist and multi-instrumentalist educated at the Trøndelag Music Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in London. She currently works as a freelance musician with solo projects that take her across Europe. She performs with ensembles including Bodø Sinfonietta and the Trondheim Symfoniorkester, and was also a founding member of the chamber orchestra Trondheimsolistene. In addition, she is part of the improvisation duo Sheriffs of Nothingness together with Ole-Henrik Moe. The duo has released four albums and has received both the Spellemannprisen in contemporary music and the Nordic Council Music Prize.