What does it mean to have a voice?
Who can be heard? Who cannot? Why?
What does it mean to make your voice heard?
Can a voice become too loud and what happens to it then?
How can we give voice to a collaborator whose story is in danger of being lost in the turbulence of everyday life or in the flood of images that assail us?
What does it mean to have a voice?
Who can be heard? Who cannot? Why?
What does it mean to make your voice heard?
Can a voice become too loud and what happens to it then?
How can we give voice to a collaborator whose story is in danger of being lost in the turbulence of everyday life or in the flood of images that assail us?
A collaborative project by and with:
Evgeny Ring - alto saxophone & composition
Philip Frischkorn - piano & composition
Marc Muellbauer - double bass
Eva Klesse - drums & composition
feat.
Michael Schiefel – Voice
Zuza Jasinska – Voice
Philipp Rumsch – Sound Design, Electronics
words by
Ellen Hellwig
Daria Serenko
Yulia Tsvetkova
Sondos Shabayek
Carolin Emke
Fred Hersch
and many others
A collaborative project by and with:
Evgeny Ring - alto saxophone & composition
Philip Frischkorn - piano & composition
Marc Muellbauer - double bass
Eva Klesse - drums & composition
feat.
Michael Schiefel – Voice
Zuza Jasinska – Voice
Philipp Rumsch – Sound Design, Electronics
words by
Ellen Hellwig
Daria Serenko
Yulia Tsvetkova
Sondos Shabayek
Carolin Emke
Fred Hersch
and many others
The collective's idea for STIMMEN was born in 2020 during the loneliness of the first COVID-19 lockdown. The starting point for the work was the ensemble's conviction that the physical isolation needed to be resisted internally. In response to the restrictions, the musicians decided to listen to people whose stories seemed more distant than ever and whose voices they felt were in danger of being drowned out by the roar of the present, determined by the pandemic and global political conflicts. The result are 13 new compositions in three chapters, through which the theme of social upheaval is woven like a common thread: stories of living, dreaming, hoping and longing under socialism. Poems and stories by and about Russian feminist freedom fighters, courageously standing up as long as they could. Tales of the oppressively violent discrimination based on gender, skin colour, class or sexuality.
The collective's idea for STIMMEN was born in 2020 during the loneliness of the first COVID-19 lockdown. The starting point for the work was the ensemble's conviction that the physical isolation needed to be resisted internally. In response to the restrictions, the musicians decided to listen to people whose stories seemed more distant than ever and whose voices they felt were in danger of being drowned out by the roar of the present, determined by the pandemic and global political conflicts. The result are 13 new compositions in three chapters, through which the theme of social upheaval is woven like a common thread: stories of living, dreaming, hoping and longing under socialism. Poems and stories by and about Russian feminist freedom fighters, courageously standing up as long as they could. Tales of the oppressively violent discrimination based on gender, skin colour, class or sexuality.
I. WITNESSES
Composition: Philip Frischkorn
Words: Ellen Hellwig (DE)
“The work began by questioning my own prejudices. I wanted to find out what it was like to live in the GDR and, above all, what it was like to take part in the Peaceful Revolution and what dreams were associated with it. And why so much utopian potential turned into such a huge disappointment, which I feel has not been dealt with to this day.”
Interrupted by pauses for reflection, Philip Frischkorn spoke in detail about his individual approach to STIMMEN. “When I came to Leipzig back then, I thought that all these places had already seen so much history – the demonstrations around the Ring – and I hardly knew anything about it and somehow it wasn’t talked about that much if you didn’t ask.” Based on these impulses and interests, Frischkorn has made himself a witness to the story of Ellen Hellwig – an actress and socialist born in 1946 who lived in Leipzig before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Linking the present and past in an approach reminiscent of Judith Butler, Philip Frischkorn wrote WITNESSES hoping to create a kind of “mourning ritual” with a view to the time after the end of a revolution
“At the precise moment when you think everything is possible, the possibilities narrow down to a reality again and for everything that did not come to pass, there would be a need for space to say: But it’s a shame that it didn’t turn out this way or that way,” he says, adding ‘too often you only see the conditions as they are and not as they could be’ and concluding ”there is so much we could still learn from the Peaceful Revolution, ideally perhaps also how a more successful coexistence might work. ”
II. PEACEFUL WARRIORESSES
Composition: Evgeny Ring
Words: Daria Serenko (RUS), Yulia Tsvetkova (RUS)
Evgeny Ring begins to speak hesitantly, almost cautiously, searching for the right words. PEACEFUL WARRIORESSES is dedicated to his home country of Russia. “It was never easy to campaign for freedom and social change there. When I was still living in Russia myself, I, like so many in the country, took for granted the narrative that ‘you shouldn’t get involved in politics’. It was the physical distance and many years of living in Germany that finally gave me an understanding of the extent to which the regime suppresses dissenters and how the state uses propaganda to abuse large sections of the population for ideological purposes.”
While working on PEACEFUL WARRIORESSES, Evgeny Ring searched for people who were engaging artistically with the political events in Russia.
This is how he came across Daria Serenko, a contemporary feminist activist and poet who in 2020 launched the literary project “Zakaznoe Pismo”. Her “commissioned letters”, of which Ring has selected two, are about the nationwide mass protests – “the first in the history of modern Russia” – that began in January 2021 in response to the arrest of the now deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny. “Demonstrations that were made illegal by the government even before they took place. Every line in Daria’s texts is an image that every Russian can relate to.” The middle section of Ring’s chapter tells the story of the arrest of artist and activist Yulia Tsvetkova. Excerpts from interviews with Tsvetkova illustrate how the state takes brutal and lawless action against critics. Daria Serenko and Yulia Tsvetkova have since had to leave Russia due to the threat of violence and prison sentences.
For Evgeny Ring, it was his first artistic exploration of words and lyrics. “It’s difficult to work with text, the content hits you with a different immediacy when you read and hear every line a thousand times while composing.”
The artistic work on PEACEFUL WARRIORESSES took place before the start of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. Today, the topics and problems mentioned in the chapter seem to Ring like the precursor to a catastrophe. “This makes it all the more important for me to amplify the voices of the freedom fighters who are fighting against the Russian regime and to support them,” concludes Evgeny Ring.
III. PASS THE MIC
Composition: Eva Klesse
Words: Sondos Shabayek (EGY), Carolin Emcke (DEU), Fred Hersch (USA) u.v.m.
“What at first glance may seem like several different juxtaposed themes is on closer inspection interconnected,” says Eva Klesse about pass the mic.
The first song in the chapter is inspired by an account by the US pianist Fred Hersch about his experiences after coming out: “It’s okay to be gay, but please: ‘Don’t hit on me’ is what male musician colleagues tell him – as if all queer people are automatically invasive” Carolin Emcke mentions Hersch’s experiences in her book “Ja heißt ja und …” and also relates them to her own situation. “I find the resulting insecurity of men when they suddenly (feel) confronted with a desire that women* or queer people very often (have to) deal with, and the way they deal with it, interesting. And also the queer hostility and machismo that still resonates. It’s a rage-song!” says Eva Klesse about DON’T HIT ON ME.
“I have been very lucky and privileged to be able to travel abroad so much, to get to know other people and countries. To me, this gives me a responsibility: namely to connect different realities of life, to pass on stories. Maybe not always on stage, but also on stage.” During a concert tour to Egypt, Eva Klesse learned in conversations that over 80% of women there are subjected to the practice of genital mutilation. “That really affected me and filled me with a deep unease.” Sondos Shabayek, a theater and film maker, intimacy coordinator and feminist activist from Cairo/Berlin, has collected testimonials from Egyptian women – these voices are heard in 8 OUT OF 10.
Eva Klesse’s chapter concludes with YOU CANNOT BE WHAT YOU CANNOT SEE – “This is a hymn of hope!”. Voices of socio-politically engaged women* of color can be heard here. “Among other things, it’s about representation: if we don’t see what we can be, then perhaps we won’t strive for it either,” says the drummer. And: “Those who behave ‘apolitically’ behave politically. Because it simply supports the existing power structures. I’m happy to go public with this project now – even if it can be challenging for us and the audience.” For Eva Klesse, it is clear that a publication like STIMMEN “makes you more vulnerable than if you only present your (instrumental) music”, but in the same breath she also makes it clear: “I think it is important and increasingly important to position yourself – for us musicians too.”