SILHOUETTES AND SHADOWS
Concerto for saxophone and visuals
A concerto by Jesper Nordin and performed by SIBJA – premiered on September 6th, 2024, with the Swedish Radio Orchestra and Daniel Harding
The Saxophone Concerto ”Silhouettes and Shadows” is a collaboration between Saxophone soloist and designer Valentine Michaud, transdisciplinary artist Emmanuel Michaud, and Composer and software developer Jesper Nordin. ”Silhouettes and Shadows” lets the acoustic music meet the digital, and blends the physical properties of what happens on stage with the digital aspects in sound and vision. The ritualistic aspects blends with the explosive eruptions and becomes a multi facetted experience guided by the Michaud siblings that are both present on stage as saxophone soloist and visual soloist. The three movements of the concerto paints images of grief, reconciliation and afterlife. Inspired by the artistic legacy of David Bowie, this collaboration focuses on music as an idea that expands into fashion, visual art, movement, science fiction and forward-looking technology. The two soloists and the conductor will also meet in a new way in this piece, since they will perform together through the interactive technology Reactional Music, where Jesper Nordin can compose the rules of the music while still giving freedom for the musicians to perform and improvise in real time. This final section of the piece encompasses both dance-like movements, ceremonial aspects and cutting edge musical technology.
Pictures 1, 3 and 5 by Henrik Nilsson, copyright Swedish Radio Berwaldhallen.