Women's Voices: Kronos Quartet historic concert at YBCA (Photos)

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On May 11-12, 2012 YBCA and Kronos Performing Arts Association presented “Women's Voices” a concert that featured the Kronos Quartet along with special guests Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ. “Women's Voices” was a legendary performance, a bright light in music history. A truly rare performance that comes along only through a rare confluence of synchronicities.

The first half opened with the very fun, wandery, and whimsical “Death to Kosmiche” (2010) by Canadian composer and sound artist Nicole Lizée. The piece could also be dubbed “string quartet meets electronic gizmos” as it had the performers alternate between playing conventional strings and archaic electronic instruments such as the stylophone and omnichord. As the piece unfolded it was unknown what instruments the performers would pick up next or what unusual sounds would emerge.

By contrast “Death to Kosmiche” was followed by Laurie Anderson's “Flow” (2010) a quiet, brief reflective piece filled with long sustained bowing techniques on the strings and pianissimo dynamics.

“Mosaic” (from music of Delia Derbyshire) (Arr. 2012) followed. Delia Derbyshire is one of the unsung heroines of electronic music most known for her themes to the British sci-fi series “Dr. Who”. She has inspired many artists over the years with her creative ideas. "Mosaic" finds the Kronos quartet exploring her themes on the strings while also incorporating unusual sounds produced by a variety of objects from toys to exotic percussion instruments.

The climax of the first half was the world premiere of the stunning and extraordinary “All Clear” (2012) by Vietnamese composer and multi-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ.

A complex multi-part work “All Clear” is a true masterpiece. It was breathtaking to see the stage lights go up and behold the set. Many gongs of varying sizes hung from the ceiling, a large tub filled stage left, the quartet was seated in the center and behind them was Van-Anh Vo with her Vietnamese instruments the dàn B?uand dàn Tranhzither.

“All Clear” explores the theme of War and in particular the suffering of women and children who bore the harsh effects of the American war in Vietnam. It opened with Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ playing the dàn B?u a one string monochord zither with a buffalo horn whammy bar on which she played beautiful yet sorrowful passages.

She then began singing a dirge like melody her voice ethereal, reflective, and haunting all at once. It seemed to emanate from another dimension. She was joined by the Kronos quartet who alternately played strings and then traditional Vietnamese percussion instruments.

“All Clear” was also very audience participatory. The audience was invited to take stones from a table out in the foyer of the theater and at the appropriate time to play the stones along with the performers. It was a great sound, a huge clacking.

Many other unusual sonic events took place. Kronos played a bitter, tortured version of the Star Spangled Banner, a performer played a cylinder on a piece of dry ice which made horrendous scraping sounds while another poured sand granules into a tub with a large peace symbol inside.

The gongs were in full motion at this point, while a soundtrack of field recordings of Vietnamese who had survived the wars horrors shared their experiences their voices ebbing in and out of the chaotic sonic fabric.

A performer could be seen to approach and play what appeared at first glance to be tubular gongs. As the playing progressed one came to the jaw dropping realization that these were not “tubular gongs”, no these were expired ordinance!!

As the performance wound down to its conclusion the strings played melodiously while more interesting and unusual Vietnamese percussion instruments came out and beautiful poetry was sung.

The world primere of “All Clear” was a huge success. The dramatic interest, unusual instruments and playing techniques coupled with stellar musicianship, keen visual interest and a stage presence to die for all contributed to its status as a masterpiece. Hopefully “All Clear” will appear on a recording and come to enjoy worldwide acclaim.

The entirety of the second half was devoted to one piece: “Tundra Songs” (2007) by composer Derek Charke. It featured the amazing and powerful voice of Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq. Tundra Songs is divided into five continuous movements each exploring a unique sound world. Based loosely on the four seasons, it uses extended bowing techniques to make the string quartet sound similar to Inuit throat singing.

This was very effective as it was often hard to grasp where the strings ended and the throat singing began. This is in part also due to Tanya Tagaq's extended range voice and unusual vocal techniques that made her sound like a human resonating string.

Was this a string quartet and vocal piece or was this a string quintet was always the question that often came up during the performance. In the middle of it all the dramatic tale of Inuit goddess Sedna who created all living things was recounted.

Tundra Songs also featured a soundtrack comprised of many field recordings the composer gleaned in the Arctic north. The sound of ice breaking, ravens wings and shrieking, whale sounds, a dog sled race, and snow mobiles to name a few interwove themselves into the sonic fabric.

Tundra Songs was very effective in creating imagery in the mind of the listener. One could easily imagine the arctic tundra, open expanses, ice flow, and exotic wildlife. Although Tundra Songs was lengthy, there was never a dull moment it was the kind of sound that one would want to go on and on all night if it could.

“Women's Voices” was a delightful success. It provided the maximum value for the entertainment dollar, chock full of memorable performances, interesting exotic instruments, unusual sound worlds, top-shelf musicianship, and the finest compositions.

Hopefully, it will tour to other cities in the future and become more widely known and celebrated.

Where to get the music:

Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ's latest CD is "She's Not She" available from vananhvo.com.

Tanya Tagaq's CD anuraaqutug (wind) is available from Les Disques Victo.