Kiya Tabassian in residence at the Festival van Vlaanderen Mechelen is a versatile artist. His roots lie in Iran where he received his initial education in Persian music. He emigrated to Montreal in 1990. In 1998 he was co-founder of Constantinople, an ensemble from Montreal that has built an international reputation because of the unique combination of early musical sources: the musical heritage of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, of Mediterranean Europe and the Middle East.
With this company he conquered a privileged place on the international music scene. From Canada he directs his gaze towards the world. As a master of intercultural encounters, he travels across five continents. Through the lens of research and creation, he collaborates with leading artists from the international scene.
He has committed himself to numerous eclectic projects as composer, performer and improviser. This translates into warm and authentic musical performances, now to be seen and heard during Lunalia.
His close bonds with nature are revealed already in his appearance. In this performance he takes the audience through three ancient traditions: Tuvan throat singing, uniquely sounding prayers of the Mi'kmaq, an indigenous people of Canada in eastern North America and Persian melismatic singing. These three singing traditions were brought together in this concert by three descendants of these ancient traditions: Kiya Tabassian himself, Darlene Gijuminag and Amartuvshin Baasandorj. They come from very different artistic environments and traditions.
The richly arranged melodies and variation in instrumentation gives the whole a distinctive dynamic. In the field of discoveries definitely worth noting.
Breathings
The original idea for Breathings grew out of a meeting between Kiya and percussionist/singer-songwriter Darlene Gijuminag, where they together emphasized the importance of nature. The Mi'kmaq have a very strong tradition with nature and a strong belief in the preservation and respect for the environment.
Sounds from nature often resonate in music: the rustling of leaves in the trees, the song of a bird, the babbling of a stream, the wind blowing through the valleys, the breath of man…
Breathing makes life possible. Breath makes wind instruments sound. Breathing makes singing possible. Each culture has its own singing tradition.
During that first session, Darlene sang and accompanied herself on Mi'kmaq drums and Kiya made music in melismatic style with Persian poems and setar in response to her songs. They brought in a few more people.
Amartuvshin, with his masterfully performed Tuvan throat singing, which imitates sounds from nature, was invited to expand their project further with texts and poems from his tradition.
The Tuvan people, an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation located right in the center of Asia, like the Mongols still lead a nomadic existence and are heavily dependent on nature and landscape.
Tuva, a form of circular breathing and overtone singing where high whistling tones are produced simultaneously alongside the sung fundamental note by consciously using frequency intervals.
The singers try to imitate the sounds of nature such as animals, the mountains, rivers and streams and the harsh wind blowing through the steppe. He draws from tradition and collective memory. All these elements set Kiya Tabassian's musical imagination in motion resulting in Breathings.
Circle
At the beginning of the performance, the musicians gathered in a circle. A soft drum sound, like a heartbeat, the pulsing of blood through the veins set this magnificent concert in motion.
Darlene Gijuminag continues to touch the drum and sings a first song, a melody with many flourishes and glottal stops of the voice. The three voices were accompanied and enriched with the double bass, ethnic percussion such as the setar, the kanun, the tobshuur lute and the ney.
The ney, a reed flute that is blown at the end and perhaps can be called the oldest musical instrument in the world. Kianoush Khalilian is a fascinating flute player. With his breath he lets the instrument speak with softness and feeling, the incantatory and then ethereal sound patterns, the melancholic sound carries you along.
The interaction between the setar, a wooden long-necked lute the instrument of Kiya Tabassian and kanun, a plucked zither with 26 strings played by Didem Basar is delightful to listen to.
The beauty is how instruments from different cultures, ancient as well as new, sound harmoniously together from exuberant to serene, sustained and slow, lively to an incredibly cool accelerando. Each and every one virtuosic instrumentalists. The different styles and ways of singing are intriguing and surprising.
On the stage of the Stadsschouwburg a musical world map unfolded in a unique atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation. A musical performance that embraces and celebrates interculturality. Everything performed with fervor to the finest detail and with the utmost joy of playing. A unique sound, musical fireworks.
Breathings was not as widely attended. There is but one caveat: "Les absents ont tort!".
WHO: Constantinople led by Kiya Tabassian
WHAT: Breathings — concert Festival van Vlaanderen Mechelen: Lunalia
WHERE: Stadsschouwburg, Mechelen
WHEN: Tuesday 26 April 2022