Ensemble Phœnix Basel

In this program, the Ensemble Phoenix Basel presents three works that, in different ways, explore friction, resistance, and vulnerability. Zara Ali, Laura Bowler, and Hannah Kendall create sonic spaces in which technological systems, physical experiences of pushing boundaries, and social tensions overlap. What unites these works is music that does not soothe but challenges. It deals with pressure and overwhelm, with exclusion and belonging, and with the question of how the past shapes our present.

Zara Ali’s “Isolation Forest” is inspired by an anomaly-detection algorithm. From dense microtonal sound fields, individual instruments emerge as deviations, detach themselves from the collective, and are reintegrated into it. This creates a soundscape that lies between mathematical order and organic movement, raising questions about belonging and isolation.

Hannah Kendall’s “Even Sweetness can scratch the throat” takes its title from a poem by Ocean Vuong and refers to the dual meaning of sugar: it represents sweet pleasure, yet is simultaneously linked to the painful history of colonialism and exploitation. Kendall translates this ambivalence into multi-layered music.

At the heart of the program is Laura Bowler as a composer and soloist with her work “fff.” Emotional states such as anger, frustration, and exhaustion give rise to a musical and physical experience that pushes the boundaries. The voice grows increasingly intense, the energy increasingly immediate, until the expression culminates in an existential cry. In doing so, Bowler transcends the boundaries between composition, performance, and music theater.

For Lars Mlekusch, who conducted the world premiere of “fff” in 2017 at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, this performance also marks a personal reunion with one of Laura Bowler’s key works.

Together, the three works unfold a panorama of contemporary composition that makes technological, social, and historical interconnections audible, while coming across as both precise and immediate. (Lars Mlekusch)

Program