Intercessions - blending classical, contemporary & improvised musc

We speak not of the archaic theological doctrine, whereby prayers are offered to dead saints who may then intercede directly to God on our behalf. We do, however, seek to steal a little of that image. Our Intercessions are of a far more earthly nature, and occur not in heaven, but in the austerely beautiful surroundings of St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch. Neither do we come this time to pray, but to make sound. Sound surrounded by little pools of silence. Sound from many ages, transplanted into strange and unfamiliar contexts. The ghostly beauty of Johann Sebastian Bach interceded by Free Improvisation: how strange… and short Bartok duets for violin and viola, each interceded by new music that is freshly created in the moment; and music from Eugène Ysaÿe and contemporary work by Christian Wolff, all spliced up with the silence , noise and unpredictable flutter of free improvisation. A crucible of experimental juxtaposition.

Intercessions – those who play on the side of the angels:

Classical & contemporary works performed by:

Noura Sanatian, violin
Benedict Taylor, viola

‘3 pieces for Violin and Viola’ – Christian Wolff
plus short pieces by J S Bach and Bella Bartok

Satoko Fukuda, violin
‘Obsession’ for solo violin, Eugène Ysaÿe

Intercessions- the petitioners

Free Improvisations & extemporised responses performed by:

Niko Meinhold, grand piano
Noel Taylor, clarinet
Guillaume Viltard, contrabass
Mark Sanders, percussion

Plus additional intercessions from:

Satoko Fukuda, violin
Noura Sanatian, violin
Benedict Taylor, viola