Stimmen by Eva Klesse Quartett

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?

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 quartet's description of symbolic life stories and realities, the associated individual struggles and their consequences for those involved, is accompanied by a message of hope: individual commitment, dedication and the struggle for a future worth living are invaluable.

Evgeny Ring - Sax,
Philip Frischkorn - Piano,
Marc Muellbauer - Bass,
Eva Klesse - Drums

evaklesse.de