The development of a live composed hybrid work
Composer Daniel Fjellström and playwright Vanja Hamidi Isacson
9–11 December 2024 & ongoing in 2025
The purpose of the project is to develop a multilingual hybrid work in close collaboration as a composer and playwright/librettist.
Composer Daniel Fjellström and playwright Vanja Hamidi Isacson began in September 2023 with three residency periods at IAC and will continue their work in 2025 with a series of workshops with singers and musicians. The project will conclude with a public sing-through and presentation of the work in autumn 2025.
The overall questions are: How can we, as composer and playwright, work more integrated from the start than in a traditional collaboration where the libretto/script is written first and the composing is done afterwards? What can a more integrated work process generate in terms of artistic expression and format?
The form of a live-composed hybrid work means that we combine pre-recorded musical material and voices which are then composed through sampling. This pre-recorded sampled material will be combined with live performances by singers and musicians. The form moves in the borderland between vocal work, opera and radio play. The piece will also be multilingual. How different languages sound in relation to each other constitutes a central musical dimension. Melodies, rhythms and stress patterns are important parameters in both language and music – something which we will investigate in this work.
The theme is young people's experiences of shootings in public spaces. In Malmö, a number of shootings in public places with fatal outcomes have taken place in recent years. The theme is treated based on young people's subjective experiences in the form of sensory impressions, feelings and reactions. The aim is to give the audience the opportunity to process their own feelings and thoughts about similar events.
In December, we hold a first workshop with singers and musicians. It is done in collaboration with Operaverkstan, Malmö Opera.
Participants:
Artistic dialogue partner: Maria Sundqvist
Director: Linda Mallik
Singers: Negar Zarassi, Tor Lind, Elisabet Einarsdottir
Musicians: Annika Bjelk, Lovisa Kowalczyk
The project also has support from: The Royal Academy of Music (within the Bernadotte programme, Sten K Johnson's foundation and Helge Ax:son Johnson's foundation.
Daniel Fjellström is a composer and arranger based in Lund. A graduate of the Malmö Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London, his works include acclaimed operas “Det går an" and "Tusen och en natt” as well as choral and orchestral compositions. Fjellström has received several awards, including the Rosenborg-Gehrman Prize and his music has been performed by leading ensembles like the Gothenburg and Malmö Symphony Orchestras.
Visit Daniel Fjellström's artist page - danielfjellstrom.com
Vanja Hamidi Isacson is a Swedish Finnish playwright and artistic researcher based in Malmö, Sweden. She is an affiliated guest researcher at Malmö Theatre Academy, Lund University. In 2022, she earned her doctorate from Stockholm University of the Arts with a thesis titled "The Potential of Multilingualism in Dramatic Works". Hamidi Isacson was also a co-founder of the multilingual theatre company Teater JaLaDa in Malmö. She has written two opera librettos: ”Tusen och en natt” and ”Kom inte hit!”
Visit Vanja Hamidi Isacson's artist research page - vanjahamidiisacson.se