Crash podcast

I interviewed my cousin Max for the Crash Ensemble podcast.

We listened to Ann Cleare’s Fiáin and had a chat.

listen here

with Max, 1995 / 2023.

Einstein at Festival d’Automne

Such an immense pleasure to be back with our Einstein team 23-26 november, this time at Festival d’Automne in Paris. It was four very special evenings.

a few reviews here :  

https://www.concertclassic.com/article/einstein-beach-la-grande-halle-de-la-villette-yoga-immersif-compte-rendu

http://www.arts-chipels.fr/2023/11/einstein-on-the-beach-une-experience-paradoxale-entre-la-limpidite-de-la-partition-et-l-hypertrophie-de-la-scenographie.html

https://www.liberation.fr/culture/scenes/a-la-villette-susanne-kennedy-fait-tourner-la-tete-20231124_DXYPDSE3E5FYTNUFEIYM2BRDE4/?redirected=1

https://www.diapasonmag.fr/critiques/einstein-on-the-beach-vu-par-susanne-kennedy-post-apocalypse-now-42967.html#item=1

https://www.resmusica.com/2023/11/26/einstein-on-the-beach-a-la-villette-susanne-kennedy-markus-selg/

https://www.opera-online.com/fr/columns/lvilarem/einstein-on-the-beach-a-la-villette-retour-aux-origines

Opera in 4 acts by Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, Lucinda Childs (1976)
Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc
Performers, Suzan Boogaerdt, Tarren Johnson, Frank Willens,Tommy Cattin, Dominic Santia, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández
Violin solo, Diamanda La Berge Dramm
Soprano solo, Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir, Emily Dilewski
Alto solo, Sonja Koppelhuber, Nadja Catania
Music, Basler Madrigalisten Vocal Ensemble, Ensemble Phoenix Ensemble Phoenix Basel
Basler Madrigalisten – musical preparation, Raphael Imoos
Musical direction, André de Ridder
Design, Susanne Kennedy, Markus Selg
Staging, Susanne Kennedy
Scenography, Markus Selg
Costumes, Teresa Vergho
Lighting, Cornelius Hunziker
Sound design, Richard Alexander
Sound design Building/Train, Andi Toma (Mouse on Mars)
Sound, Robert Hermann
Video, Rodrik Biersteker, Markus Selg
Choreography, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández

https://www.webtheatre.fr/L-hallucinant-come-back-d-Einstein-on-the-beach

Björk with RPhil

Last week I had the honor to perform four Björk songs with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their season opening concert. The evening was led by Manoj Kamps. Manoj dreamt up a beautiful program including Sonheim, Rick van Veldhuijzen, Debussy, and Björk, and guided us through it.

Someday We’ll Find Us Rotterdam Philharmonic & Manoj Kamps

music : Björk, Sondheim, van Veldhuijzen, and Debussy

soloists : Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Katherine Dain, Cameron Bernard Jones

photos by Harold de Smet

Angela (a strange loop)

‘What makes Angela, Angela?’ German director Susanne Kennedy and multimedia artist Markus Selg want to know. To find out, they seize on Angela’s existence as dramatic material, following her from birth to death and beyond. Their journey takes her through everyday situations: illness and recovery, waking and sleeping, being born and giving birth, aging and death. The hypothesis is that Angela is made up of millions of experiences and that some of them reflect what others have told her. Angela might ultimately be just a strange loop, an endless sequence. 

Susanne Kennedy and Markus Selg explore the new balance of power that exists between bodies, technical objects and machines. With a post-humanist aesthetic and multimedia approach, they put the distortion of the actors resulting from the mask play, lip-synced dialogues and doppelgängers of Germanic folklore to good use. Angela (a strange loop) takes us on a deep dive into the question of identity and consciousness. Angela guides us to one of the fundamental questions of existence: what is the nature of reality and what does ‘I’ represent?

concept, text and direction Susanne Kennedy 
concept and stage design Markus Selg
performance Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández, Kate Strong, Tarren Johnson, Dominic Santia
voices Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Cathal Sheerin, Kate Strong, Rita Kahn Chen, Rubina Schuth, Tarren Johnson, Susanne Kennedy, Ethan Braun Dominic Santia, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández, Marie Schleef, Ruth Rosenfeld 
sound design and montage Richard Alexander
soundtrack Richard Alexander, Diamanda La Berge Dramm 
live music Diamanda La Berge Dramm
video design Rodrik Biersteker, Markus Selg 
costume design Andra Dumitrascu
dramaturgy Helena Eckert
light design Rainer Casper
artistic collaboration + touring direction Friederike Kötter Stage
assistant Lili Süper
artistic costume assistant Anastasia Pilepchuk, Anna Jannicke Direction
intern Tobias Klett


production ULTRAWORLD PRODUCTIONS 
management Something Great Artistic 
production management Philip Decker 
technical production management Sven Nichterlein 
stage construction Stefan Pilger 
international distribution Rui Silveira – Something Great 
tour manager Niki Fischer – Something Great
co-producers Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), Festival d’Automne à Paris & Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe (Paris), Festival d’Avignon (Avignon), Holland Festival (Amsterdam), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), National Theatre Drama / Prague Crossroads Festival (Prague), Romaeuropa Festival (Rome), Teatro Nacional de São João (Porto) and Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin)

World premiere May 11th 2023 at Théâtre National Wallonie Bruxelles as part of Kunstenfestivaldesarts

photo Julian Schröder