Séverine Ballon has expressed her deep affinity for the forest, for regular walks, and for imaginary spaces in a series of recent works.  […] With this new piece for ensemble LUX:NM, she continues her artistic engagement with the forest – a journey she began in 2021, immediately following the first lockdown, with her own field recordings and the composition »Innere Wälder für 2 Celli«. At the core of her practice lies a fascination with sonic landscapes that unfold with the calls and songs of birds in the forest. Rather than imitating or interpreting birdsong – a subject that has been explored many times throughout music history – Ballon seeks to recreate these spaces, focusing on the origin of the birdsongs, their spatial arrangement and distribution, as well as the unique sense of temporality that emerges through the songs of the forest. In this work, the voices of the four instruments enter into dialogue, forming a delicate yet complex harmonic space in which the acoustic environment of the forest and its birds are ever-present, though never heard. The composition is based on extensive research in the tape archives of the Natural History Museum in Dijon and exchanges with scientists in the field of ornithology. In this way, the composer drew inspiration and insight from existing studies on birds.

»Innere Wälder« was written specifically for the musicians of LUX:NM, tailored to their personalities and musical sensibilities. Séverine Ballon has been closely connected with the musicians since her studies at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin.

Séverine Ballon is a composer and cellist whose dual artistic practices are deeply intertwined, continuously informing and enriching one another. Her work as a composer emerged from her perspective as a performer – initially taking the form of an improvisation journal that was part of her daily instrumental practice before evolving into an independent field of research. She studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg with Johannes Schöllhorn. Ballon is a 2023-24 Villa Medici Fellow and the recipient of the SuperPhoniques Prize 2024 and the Luc Ferrari Competition Award 2019. Her recent projects include premieres for La Muse en Circuit in France, AuditivVokal Dresden, and the Schallfeld Ensemble.

www.severineballon.com/

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