Klangkosmos NRW / Duò Lavoà Lapò (Frankreich)

In the organizer's words:

INSEL
Klangkosmos NRW / Duò Lavoà Lapò (France)
Floating sound on the INSEL
Thursday / November 12, 2026 / 7:30 pm (admission: 7 pm)
Admission: 13/5 (VVK incl. fees) and 15/5 (B.O.)

Master of occitan folk music

Damien Toumi // Vocals / Bendir
Mànu Théron // Vocals / Bendir

At Duò Lavoà Lapò, Damien Toumi and Mànu Théron embark on a journey into the world of Occitan vocal music with shared energy and passion, celebrating and reviving it. They interpret forgotten and well-known classics from the Occitan-speaking regions and create imaginative, powerful and refreshing new compositions that combine vocal and rhythmic interplay, enthusiastic polyphony and feverish trance states. Voice (= Occitan Lavoà) and skin (= Occitan Lapò) are the strings of soul and joy!
The pieces come from the corpus of the "folk songs of Provence", but also from field recordings, writings and original compositions by the duo's musicians. They celebrate rebirth, the awakening to the invigorating beauty of the world and draw alternately from the everyday or the spirituality of timeless stories to tell of that special state of mind that holds the appreciation of otherness. The basic rhythms reflect the text and the harshness of life that persists in the incredibly colorful and organic folk history of the Occitan-speaking region.
Manu Théron and Damien Toumi are masters of all the themes and subtleties of the Occitan repertoire, the harmonies or monody as well as rhythm and polyrhythms, and all the specific forms such as dance songs, alternate songs, drinking songs, table songs or dance tunes.

Damien Toumi is a singer, musician, actor and storyteller. On his numerous travels, which took him from the Lebanon mountains to the Andalusian plains, Toumi discovered the Occitan language and culture, which he soon made his own. In the tradition of illustrious predecessors such as Massilia Sound System, Gacha Empega and Lo Còr de la Plana and in various projects including with La Bande à Koustik, Tant que li Siam, Polifonic System, Piadas, Tramuntana and now in Duò Lavoà Lapò with Manu Theron, as well as in workshops and courses on Occitan and Mediterranean polyphony, Damien is developing a body of work that inspires a wide audience for the Occitan language and culture as well as the popular music traditions of the Mediterranean region.

Mànu Théron is a singer, percussionist, composer and choral conductor and one of the driving forces behind the revival of popular vocal music in France, particularly in the Occitan-speaking world. He has led the group Còr de la Plana for 25 years and has presented his Occitan polyphonies on five continents. At the same time, he develops numerous other artistic projects within the Compagnie du Lamparo. Manu Théron's interpretations are rooted in the tradition of Mediterranean folk songs and are enriched by contemporary French chansons in which language and rhythm merge in a powerful way. As a passionate musician, he uses the originality of his interpretations to promote a renewed Occitan culture, which he embodies like no other today.

"Woven around the themes of spirituality and joy, this project breaks with the conventions of contemporary music production and creates a festive work that cannot be categorized." (Lucie Ponthieux Bertram for Zébuline)

The Duò Lavoà Lapò has delighted audiences at concerts at the International Djembe Festival Conakry (Guinea), Int. Festival for Early Music in Idanha a Nova (Portugal), Teatro Nuovo Pisa (Italy), Festival for Polyphonic Singing in Calvi (Corsica), Teatro dell'Exfadda in San Vito dei Normanni (Italy), Les Suds à Arles Festival (France), Mare e Miniere in Portoscuso (Sardinia), Forde Festival (Norway, Hide & Seek Festival Brussels (Belgium) and is now coming to Germany for the first time!

An event organized by Schwebeklang e.V. in cooperation with INSEL.

Price information:

Admission: 13/5 (VVK incl. fees) and 15/5 (B.O.)