God’s own musicians by Insomnio

Birdsong: nature’s most elusive song has inspired musicians for centuries. On 21 March in the Muziekgebouw, Utrecht-based ensemble Insomnio revisits two brilliant 21st-century pieces in which birdsong plays the leading role.

God’s own musicians by Insomnio

Location

Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

Piet Heinkade 1

1019 BR Amsterdam

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Birdsong

The highlight is Vanapriya, beloved forest by Korean Seung-Won Oh, a work Insomnio premiered at the Muziekgebouw in 2020. You will also hear new work by Jacob ter Veldhuis and the spectacular Bird Concerto for Ensemble and live electronics by Englishman Jonathan Harvey.

Jonathan Harvey

With his wittily titled Bird Concerto with Pianosong (2001), Harvey wrote a masterly tribute to Olivier Messiaen, the composer whose oeuvre of birds is omnipresent. Harvey pulled off a dazzling feat by fusing piano, ensemble, live electronics and recordings of forty Californian songbirds into music of an otherworldly beauty. De Volkskrant: ‘The seamless fusion of speaker and ensemble tones ensure that the music remains captivating from start to finish.’