Emergency Procedures

Emergency Procedures (2013) could be seen as a concerto for four soloists and Ensemble. Nevertheless these soloists neither play musical instruments nor relate to the ensemble only in a musical way.The piece belongs to a broader context of reflecting on contemporary,daily situations in a concert setting. We are going to see and hear objects that carry specific meanings e.g. metal detectors, alarms, sirens, a Geiger counter (radiation detector), motors, hammers etc., as well as sampled sounds related to the world of emergency and safety procedures. The four soloists interact with theses objects and have their actions and gestures mirrored, amplified and/or contradicted by? the ensemble. Composing has become to me more and more a way to create a musical environment, i.e., a scenery where some seemingly familiar situation unfolds. These situations draw inspiration from our real world, but they soon create their own rules and inner relationships. The work Emergency Procedures is thus not a concrete depiction of real events, but a staged commentary on the gestures, sounds and rituals associated with emergency situations.