The 40-minute music drama »Em-Body-Ment« unites music, video, soundtrack and libretto into an artistic fusion, creating an experience of transcendence that moves beyond the body. The powerful dissolution of binary structures becomes almost a quest for the transcendent absolute: The two main figures of the drama – a classic feminine singer and a classic masculine percussionist – form a perfect counterpoint. They appear as archetypes that evoke the mythic remnants of past and present cultures, both familiar and foreign. The feminine and the masculine merge, the archetypes dissolve, and the transcendent third becomes the realization of the absolute. Visually, this process is embodied through the wrapping of the musicians and their instruments. This act of wrapping serves to strip the musicians of their functional roles, symbolizing the overcoming of gender conflict and evoking a gesture of nomadic movement.

Leah Muir is a composer working at the intersection of acoustic composition, music theater, video art and live multimedia performance. Her work ranges from orchestral and chamber music to hybrid forms that question the relationship between performer, image and audience perception. Her music has been presented internationally at festivals and institutions, including the Munich Biennale, Wien Modern und the Goethe Institute Mexico City, and performed by orchestras and ensembles such as the Taiyuan Symphony Orchestra and Klangforum Wien. She is the recipient of an ASCAP Award and the Deutsche Oper Berlin »New Scenes« Prize. Her video works have been shown at events including the International Short Film Week Regensburg and the Matera Festival in Italy.

www.leahmuir.net/music

www.instagram.com/_leahm_music_

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