Projects

ROUNDHOUSE
Collaboration with young video artists

Katia and Marielle return to the Roundhouse – the venue where they made their UK debut – on Sunday 31 January as part of Reverb Roundhouse Concerts, a series which explores the many sides of music. As part of the concert, the Labèque sisters will collaborate with young video artists from the pioneering Roundhouse Studios on a new film.

Aspiring video artists, aged 17-25, will be working with SDNA, the leading creative digital agency, on a project which explores myriad ways to create visual imagery and video content for music. The film will be developed in a series of intensive creative sessions in advance of the concert, using the music by Satie, Debussy and Stravinsky that Katia and Marielle will perform at the Roundhouse. Live footage of the concert itself will also be integrated into the final work, with the film shown as part of the concert on 31 January.

The Roundhouse is one of London’s leading performing arts venues and, as a charity, it helps thousands of young people every year.

Following an extensive refurbishment in 2006, more than half a million people have been to music, theatre, dance and circus events, and 15,000 11-25 year olds have developed their talents in the Studios. The Roundhouse delivers creative projects for many of London’s young people from all backgrounds including radio (with a dedicated radio station run by and for young people), music production, drama, poetry, TV, sound engineering, photography, VJ skills and much more.

Reverb also features collaborations between young musicians from Roundhouse Studios and the Main House, with a particular focus on the work of the Roundhouse Choir and Roundhouse Collective. Roundhouse Choir is a vocal ensemble for young people which performs at the Roundhouse and at arts venues across London. The Roundhouse Collective, a group of talented young musicians, champions new music at the Roundhouse, and features musicians from different musical backgrounds, styles of music and ranges of instruments.

with :

- Krystle Torio
- Meng Valeria
- Roman Knipping-Sorokin
- Paria Kamyab
- John Lung
- Dannielle Harper
- Sinead McCarthy
- Mubarak Ahmed

www.roundhouse.org.uk
www.facebook.com
buy tickets here

World premiere 'Fantasy sobre La Pasion segun San Marcos'
Orchestre de Paris: Josep Pons

Wednesday January 27 , 2010 at 8:00 pm

Salle Pleyel - 252 rue du faubourg Saint-Honore

Katia and Marièle Labèque join the Orchestre de Paris and conductor Josep Pons in one of the most original concerts of the season for the world premiere of Golijov/Grau 'Fantasy sobre la Pasion segun San Marcos'

Conductor Josep Pons began his musical life as a singer, and he has a unique talent for bringing the lyricism of vocal music to instrumental music.

Composer and arranger Gonzalo Grau comes from a very strong musical legacy. He began his musical studies at the age of five in Caracas, developing skills in many instruments from the viola da gamba to the flamenco cajón and many keys in between. He has recorded over fifty CDs and on a diversity of styles and instruments, performing, producing, and composing, Gonzalo Grau bridges both classical and popular music worlds.

In 1995, Gonzalo was awarded with a scholarship at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated in 1998 with the mention Summa Cum Laude as a Piano Performance Major. Since then he has collaborated with many projects and ensembles in traditional and contemporary Latin styles. But Gonzalo not only performs, he also produces and arranges for a variety of national and international artists such as Sally Potter Films, Mango Blue, Edwin Pabón, Brass Roots, Saxomanía, and leads his own band named La Clave Secreta (formerly known as 'La Timba Loca').

He has also been part of vanguard Venezuelan projects like Maroa, Aquiles Baez Group and the Gonzalo Grau Quintet as well as the US based Maria Schneider Orchestra (Grammy Winner 2005) and Timbalaye on the Latin jazz front.

In the last ten years, Gonzalo made his way into flamenco as a multi-instrumentalist on percussion, cello and piano. He has worked with renowned artists from Spain and the US such as Antonio Granjero, La Tania, La Conja, Pedro Cortés, Jesus Montoya, Edwin Aparicio, Chuscales, Omayra Amaya, and Alejandro Granados.
Wearing his classical hat Gonzalo has collaborated with Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov in the writing of 'La Pasión Según San Marcos' (2001 Grammy Award nominee), the 'Ainadamar' opera (2007 Grammy Award winner) and in 2005 he composed and orchestrated for the Albuquerque Symphonic Orchestra, commissioned by the National Institute of Flamenco.

His contributions to film include an arrangement of “El Carretero” for Sally Potter’s 2004 Yes and in the theatrical realm he composed and musically directed 'Landscapes and Impressions' by Craig Strong and Robert Castro and produced by the Santa Fe Opera.

NADEAH

myspace.com/nadeahmusic

Australian singer Nadeah is receiving support from the KML foundation to record her first solo album "Venus Gets Even". The album is being produced by Nicola Tescari and recorded by David Chalmin.

RED VELVET

(David Chalmin)

The alternative musical scene has given birth to an outstanding rock duet. Red Velvet features the subtle balance of intense songwriting and sharp arrangements.
David Chalmin’s pure and poignant voice, sustained by his genuine guitar playing, encounters Reeks creative drums, analog bass and electronics.
Red Velvet has produced its debut album released worldwide by Sonic Invaders in march 2009.

www.sonicinvaders.com
www.redvelvet.fr

(Reeks & David Chalmin)

De Fuego y de Agua, Mayté Martin

de fuego y de agua'
. . . how it was born . . .

i think it was in april 2005 that i was told the labèque sisters were looking for me to do a project on Spanish music my heart swelled when i realised that, of all the voices that katia and marielle could have chosen to carry out their ideas, they had chosen mine. and, what’s more, i swear that if i’d had to choose between knowing the human or the artistic side of the labèque sisters, i would have chosen the former. for i met two absolutely delightful women, generous and honest, of quite extraordinary quality and warmth joan albert amargós wrote the most amazing arrangements, and the three of us began seducing each other the old way: slowly, with respect and subtlety. we created the repertoire and style of the show without a single problem of understanding or conflict of interests. all three of us wanted the same thing, and we found it by working hand in hand, taking advantage of each moment in which we could see our project growing and becoming more beautiful each idea, each proposition, each rehearsal and each tisane was a great event for me. and in each minute that i shared with them i was conscious of how lucky i was, of the fact that all my life i had wanted something like this to happen to me. because i have always felt close to classical music and opera. in fact, katia and marielle had heard me singing some of my own music on compilation recordings. they asked me to include in the programme some pieces i’d composed myself, and i showed them unpublished themes i had written in totally and deliberately classical arrangements. they chose three which are recorded on our cd i hope that what is heard on this record will reflect all the love and excitement of those who nurtured this project; because if that is so, i’m sure you will enjoy it almost as much as i do

Mayté Martin

Dimension X
....a journey of the incredible …

The path-treading encounter of Massimo Pupillo, Chris Corsano and David Chalmin –rock/noise/experimental improvisers - with the universe of the 50s cult science-fiction radio show Dimension X.
Based on stories from the show, each track unfolds the strange world of thinking machines, robots, chaos, Martians, madness ... and humankind’s quest for emotion, truth and hope.

www.sonicinvaders.comwww.dimensionx.org

B For Bang
Across the Universe of Languages.

A re-interpretation of the Beatles’ songs and universe in a blend of classical, pop instrumentation and visual performance.

If re-interpreting the songs of The Beatles is no easy task, just as challenging is to transform them into images to create an architecture of sound and vision where performance and narration mix. Across the Universe is therefore much more than a concert with images.

The idea for Across the Universe was conceived partly within the framework of the Labèque foundation whose aim is to be a workshop for new talents as well as a venue for the meeting and exchange of ideas for artist coming from various sectors: music, cinema, theatre, literature, video, art. The spirit animating aesthetic research and reflection on the encounter of new and traditional languages, however, must not become a dialogue between few, but must be shared by bigger audiences, which are increasingly becoming more receptive to cultural experimentation and innovation. This was the consideration behind the choice of reinterpreting the songs by the Liverpool band. From the visual perspective the task was not simple as the Beatles were the first rock band to have paid great attention to promotional aspects as well as to the world of communication by performing for TV and films, for record covers and other audio-visual products to the extent that images and footage involving The Beatles are practically never ending. The Beatles, and the entire world that has arisen from their music, have become a planetary icon.
Iaquone has opted to create brand new images, without being too influenced by the abundance of pre-existing footage and signs psychedelic images. In other words, from the conceptual point of view, the world of Sir John, Sir Paul, Sir George and Sir Ringo as redesigned by the notes and frames of Across the Universe suggest an itinerary laden with suggestions, hovering between the day-to-day and the surreal.

B for Bang:

Katia Labèque : piano/rhodes
David Chalmin : electric guitar & vocals
Nicola Tescari : keyboards/electronics
Massimo Pupillo : bass
Marque Gilmore : drums
Reeks: electronics
Nadeah : vocals
Meg : vocals

videos by Fabio Massimo Iaquone