ANTIFONA – FLAMENCO

"Antífona" is the meeting of the two extraordinary voices of the Indian singer Madhu Singh and the flamenco singer María Marín.

Inspired by the Marian antiphons of the medieval liturgy, the feminine is central to this program. The songs tell of love, strength, desire, motherhood and spirituality. Just as the antiphons consist of the alternating singing of two voices, "Antífona" is the dialog between two musical cultures, in which the songs alternately play around each other, then contrast again and at moments merge into a common sound.

Irene Álvarez's dance forms the bridge between these elements. Based on the flamenco tradition, it brings the different songs together in a special way, as Indian pieces are interpreted alongside the flamenco pieces, with rhythmic elements of Indian music (such as tihais and other basic rhythms) in turn influencing and enriching the flamenco dance. Musically, the program consists of arrangements of traditional pieces as well as original compositions. All the musicians know each other from previous productions and regularly perform together in various combinations. The central point of this long-standing collaboration is the Rotterdam School of Music and Dance (Codarts). All band members have a strong connection with the department of world music there, whether as students, lecturers or both. "Antifona" is the first project in which the artists bring together Indian music and flamenco.

COMPOSITION
Madhu Singh - Indian vocals
María Marín - Flamenco vocals
Irene Álvarez - Dance
Ruven Ruppik - percussion
Alexander Gavilán - guitar

The idea for this program arose in connection with the flamenco festival at the Palais des Beaux Arts (bozar) in Brussels in 2018. It was a concert for 8 March, International Women's Day. The idea was therefore to pay intercultural homage to femininity. With the singers María Marín (flamenco) and Madhu Singh (classical and popular Indian), there are two outstanding voices that each embody a culture in which women are among the most important and most respected performers - even if they are ostensibly nominated as male.
The Marian antiphons were chosen as the starting point for the formal framework. On the one hand, they are witnesses to a modal musical culture (just as Indian and flamenco are) and at the same time reflect how the view of the feminine has been cultivated but also appropriated by the church. For the project, these pieces were removed from their context and integrated into a concert with the idea of the "antiphona", the counter-voice, in which two voices sing about the feminine, sometimes side by side, sometimes together.