By Paul Acquaro
Facing the large screen behind the stage, where typically the festival logo
was projected, their backs to the audience, Shahzad Ismaily, on piano, and
singer Ganavya Doraiswamy, were providing music and live commentary to the
European Football Championship playoff game between Germany and Spain. It
was do-or-die for the teams (Just in case: this is happening in Germany) and
excitement for the game was palpable.
"Oh, is red Germany," asked Ismaily (who at the moment had adopted the
stage-name Willy) with an apparent innocence.
"Shh, shut up," shushed Doraiswamy (who was going for the moment by the name
Nelsson), "you're going to get us killed!"
"Hmm. This isn't looking so good," observed Willy, "play sadder."
Willy then decided to pivot to a more populist approach and exclaimed "Fuck
you Spain!" Then, sensing that perhaps there was another way, offered: "Why
can't the people in red just help the people in white? You want the ball,
here you can have the ball."
Nelsson, unconvinced, offered the German team a different solution, singing
what she said was an Indian war prayer over Willy's now droning flute.
The moment was somewhat special. A certain bonding between the two friends
on stage, who were improvising with cultural differences and musical ideas,
and with an audience ready for new musical experiences as well as on
tenterhooks about the game.
Amazingly, the war prayer seemed to work as Germany tied the game in the
final seconds, sending the teams into overtime.
The following sets were much heavier with electronics and no soccer
talk what-so-ever. Anushka Chkheidza and Ronjin Sharafi are both sound artists
whose main medium is electronics. Chkheidza seemed to work with textures and
underlying tones while Sharafi wove danceable melodies into her soundscapes.
For their duo improvisation, crinkly sounding electronics, small explosions
and pulsating chords rolled along with modulating waves giving the sound
roots. Irregular beats and laser wielding robots segued into an upbeat
melody as the two were obviously enjoying the moment - so too was the
audience, with many heads bopping along. Following them, a quartet comprised
of guitarist and sound-explorer Oren Armbarchi, singer Julia Ulehla,
drummer/electronics player Ludwig Wandinger and trombonist/vibraphonist
Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson took the stage with a spooky, slowly
developing welling of sound. Johnson punctured the mood with a blast from
the trombone, and as the swell peaked, Wandinger began pushing the rhythm
and Armbarchi made the sonic bed with organ-like tones from his guitar. The
crashing of the wave sent Johnson leaping to the vibraphone and Ulehla's
rhythmic chatter and short syllabic sounds morphed into a whispered
monologue about what seemed to be a flood.
As the 7 p.m. concert came to a close, Spain, in the extended overtime, made
their fateful play. From a monitor set up in the bridge of the river cruise
ship, many watched in seeming slow motion as they set up the play and with a
sudden kick into the goal, ended Germany's chance at the championship.
Oh, right, did I mention that this was all happening on a boat?
##
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Yes There No Where by Robert Wilson |
The Monheim Triennale festival is, in a sense, a Gesamkunstwerk(a total work of art) for the small city located in western Germany on the Rhein river. Situated between Köln and Dusseldorf, Monheim spent many years as a sleepy bed-room community, however, how many sleepy towns can now boast a public sculpture conceived of by American playwright Robert Wilson that incorporates a giant goose trapped in a tiny house with sound wells nearby containing readings by Monheim born author Ulla Hahn, or a Marcus Luppertz sculpture along the river front dedicated to the goose theme (which is local mythology woven into the city's culture)? The circa 45,000 resident city began reinventing itself over a decade ago through the initiative of the then 27-year old mayor Daniel Zimmerman, who, armed with a combination of low taxes for businesses and desire to reinvest back into the community, kicked off a civic transformation. For example, almost empty shopping centers in the downtown were purchased by the city for redevelopment; a focus on the arts has led to free music lessons and instruments for the students, orchestras in each school; and quality of life perks for the residents like free public transportation and city bicycles. From the looks of it, Monheim's revitalization seems to be quite a success story, and it is now even supporting a world-class international music festival.
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Leda by Markus Lüpertz |
What has now solidified as the festival's three year cycle began in 2020,
pushing through the turbulence of the pandemic, and was brought full circle
in 2022. The stages are: first a city focused The Sound, which
combines public art and installations; followed by The Prequel, a
workshop oriented event dedicated to bringing in musicians from outside the
city and encouraging all sorts of collaborations -- not only with each other
but with musicians from the schools and community; and ending with
The
Festival, where the invited artists showcase their signature and
commissioned projects.
Now, in the second year of the second cycle, The Prequel's workshop
aesthetic extended from the stages to the program, which itself was changing
every day. Collaborations were developed between the musicians and the
multiple curators, which included Yuko Asanuma, Jessica Hallock, Louis
Rastig, Rainbow Robert and Thomas Venker. These collaborations were then
presented in short 20-minute sets, while solo sets were performed in an
intimate 15th-century church located directly across from the boat dock.
##
For the majority of the festival's performances, the RheinFantasie river
cruise ship, built to host about 1000 people, was moored along the city's
riverfront. Here, in the different rooms of the ship were the artist talks
and performances. On the top deck, one could mingle and buy drinks between
the shows and have their hat blown off by the winds that came and went with
some frequency.
Thursday's concerts began with trumpeter Peter Evans leading a workshop
ensemble. Working with a set of local musicians organized by bassist Achim
Tang, they performed a piece that Evans had created for the event. Beginning
with an insistent electric bass and drums, Evans played a scintillating solo
and then opened the space up for the other musicians. The piece ran for
about 45 minutes and traversed through a number of styles, from quietly searching to confidently rocking with a violinist even adding a hint of Mahavishnu Orchestra.
This was followed by a solo set from saxophonist Darius Jones at the
intimate Marienkapelle, whose acoustics were miraculously suited to all the
musicians who played solo sets there throughout the week. Dry, but not dead,
reverberant, but not booming, the arched space seemed to split
kaleidoscopically as Jones played with repetitive and slowly morphing
phrases and tones. After 30 minutes or so, Jones asked the wholly willing
audience, "do you mind if I play just one more?" He then let loose with a
skronking and crying meditation of extended technique.
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Round Robin set, yuniya edi kwon and Darius Jones ©Niclas Weber |
Later in the evening, and back on the boat, a 'round-robin' duo set provided
introductions to most of the musicians. Each of the 14 participating
musicians emerged individually from the side of the stage and picked-up
wherever the current set of improvisers were, as the one who had been
playing the longest slowly left the stage. The set began with Evans playing
solo, then joined by pianist and composer Heiner Goebbels, who entered by
pulling a thread through the strings of the piano while hitting chords on
the left side of the keyboard. It created a dazzling mix of delicate tones
and sustained bombast. As Evans left, Armbarchi segued in, followed by
bag-piper BrÃghde Chaimbeul. The three played for a charming moment before
Goebbels exited, and so on. The format exemplified the promise of
three-minute sets in free-improvisation: with no time to waste getting to
know each other, there was a beauty in the severe brevity.
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The Voices: Shazad Ismaily, Julia Ulehla, Ganavya Doraiswamy, Darius Jones ©Niclas Weber |
The last set of programmed concerts for the evening began at 9 p.m.. Here,
the curated groups met and played for the first time. Peter Evans returned
with electronic artists Sharafi and Muqata'a and drummer/electronics player
Ludwig Wandinger for a beeping, whirring and buzzing set. Wandinger
incorporated his drums into the electric atmosphere while Evans nimbly
crafted the inorganic sounds into melodies and textural lines. Next,
Goebbels and Chaimbeul tried several ideas, at one point clashing classical
melodies and droning bag pipe tones before settling into a grabbing mix of
inside-the-piano playing harmonizing with the reedy cyclical sound of the
small bag pipes. The last group of the evening was called "The Voices" and
brought vocalists Julia Ulehla and Ganavya Doraiswamy together with Jones on
saxophone and Ismaily on piano. The mellifluous voices melded gently, as
Jones added accents and Ismaily minimalist accompaniment. The music wandered
a bit at first but then the energy focused and led to a climatic end.
The evening ended in a pop-up music-maker space in the newly renovated
community center Sojus 7, just a few meters away on the main road running
along the waterfront. Many electronic music tools and toys were arrayed in a
room with live projections on the walls. There were a lot of dials and wires
and the people were doing their best to
create.
##
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Armbarchi & Selendis S. A. Johnson ©Vanessa Stratmann |
It should also be stressed that the musicians were not presenting their own
projects, developed meticulously over time, but rather interacting with each
other essentially for the first time. For the audience, these interactions
could make one rethink the instruments, the musicians, and even how music is
made. Perhaps something you would not have considerd 'your thing' could get
recast in a new perspective. This seemed to extend to the musicians
themselves.
Heiner Goebbels, who had requested to work exclusively in duo settings,
seemed to be able to bring out something special in each situation. During
Friday's sets, he and electronics player Muqata'a engaged in an absorbing
duet that saw the pianist equally working on the keyboard as well as
directly with the strings. Deliberately played melodic phrases and stabs of
chords combined, clashed and cohered with the pulsating electronic and
sampled chants, and the acoustic and electric vibrations exuded a nuanced
sound, replete with small dissonances and welcome resolutions. Another
connection that stood out was the set with Goebbels and Doraiswamy - and a
surreptitious Ismaily, camouflaged in a dark hoodie in the recesses of the
stage, adding light electronic textures. For most of her appearances,
Doraiswamy's singing flowed effortlessly in a sinuous stream, however for
the first time during the Prequel, something about the interaction
with Goebbels seemed to lead the lyrical singer into a more syncopated, even
a little rougher, direction. A fascinating contrast.
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yuniya edi kwon ©Niclas Weber |
The solo shows at the Marienkapelle, however, were a different thing
altogether. In these showcases, the musicians were presenting their
meticulously crafted art in its most fundamental. Jones, whose set was
described earlier, created music that seemed to alter the shape of the
space, while Chaimbeul's bag-pipes turned the air to crystal. Her
interpretation of a Philip Glass piece had a hypnotic effect with its
relentless drone and the traditional folks songs helped break the spell.
Peter Evans, who often plays solo, lifted everyone in the church just a
little closer to their god during his set. Most likely there simply had to
be another trumpeter hidden behind the altar helping with the thrilling
counter melodies and breathless runs. Finally, yuniya edi kwon filled the
small chapel with an effusiveness that was hard to describe. She appeared
from behind the altar, playing a lithe melody on violin, smiling
beatifically. Then, the combination of her whistling, singing in multiple
languages and reciting poetry in which she spoke - most likely - of her own
journey of acceptance was touching and the dramatic flair of the
'conversation' between the feminine and masculine sides of her person was
gripping.
##
The next instance of the Triennale is the Festival, in which the
artists are invited back with their own choices of projects. These may be
groups that they work with outside of the Monheim groupings, or could very
well be projects that emanated from the workshop atmosphere of
the Prequel.
One of Friday's concerts seemed to be leading to such a new signature
project.
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The Horns Trio: Evans, Jones and Shannon Barnett ©Niclas Weber |
The Horns Trio, Shannon Barnett on trombone, Darius Jones on saxophone and
Peter Evans on trumpet, already held a bit of an all-star aura, and they did
not disappoint. They began with a deconstructed arrangement of the Jimmy
Dorsey standard "I'm Glad There is You," in which Evans and Jones outlining
the tunes tonal center while Barnett sung the lyrics. The second piece saw
Barnett on trombone and the trio in a more chaotic mood. The next song began
with a defiant melody from Evans while the two others provided syncopated
accompaniment. Both Jones and Barnett broke out with solo moments, Jones'
following an arc from sweet to sour and Barnett improvising a catchy melodic
solo.
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kwon, Jones, Ismialy, Wandinger, Chkheidze |
If there is a criticism to be leveled, it could be that many of the
plentiful, short sets tended to be a bit on the reserved side. Of course,
considering that the musicians were just getting the feel of working
together, there is a bit of politeness shaping the interactions to be
expected. However, on the final day of the festival, one set seemed to shake
this notion. The quintet featuring Chkheidze, Jones, yuniya edi kwon,
Wandinger and Ismaily (this time on electric bass) simply shook the
poop-deck with an infernal blast of sound. Starting with an explosion of
free-jazz noise, the group then lurched into its fiery set with Kwon and
Jones providing a tonal edginess and Wandinger hitting the drums with
animalistic fervor. Ismaily introduced an urgent and pulsating bass line
that provided a bit of structure, while Chkheidze's electronics provided a
recessed sound-texture in the mayhem. So, while a whole festival at this
decibel level would evoke other criticism, as a bit of spice, it was
perfect.
##
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Kulturraffinerie K714 under construction |
For the upcoming third rotation of the cycle, The Festival, the creative and physical landscape will be changing. The roster of artists will be larger, with the 16 musicians from this cycle bringing in their own projects. Apparently the concerts will extend into other locations and places in town, including, possibly, the now under construction "Culture Refinery," a 4500 audience capacity arts venue built into the facade of an oil refinery built in 1914. Interestingly, the contaminated soil from the refinery was turned into an artificial mountain with a promenade of palm trees leading up to it - certainly something to explore further (though maybe not dig deeper into) in 2025.
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