Press contact: Nate Taylor, Situations – Communications Manager
07889 872700 / nathan@situations.org.uk
ANNIKA KAHRS
‘A CONCERT FOR THE BIRDS’
A host of songbirds will take up residence in a 13th Century Chapel.
Every hour, a concert pianist will perform music inspired by their song.
2- 5 May 2014
The Lord Mayor’s Chapel,
Park Street, Bristol BS1 5TB
Friday 2 May – Monday 5 May
Open 12 – 6pm daily, except Sunday 1 – 6pm
The birds are performed to upon the hour, every hour
'An exquisite melding of nature and art'
The Guardian
Artist Annika Kahrs invites you to take a seat amidst an audience of songbirds for an
enchanting recital of one of composer Franz Liszt’s best-loved piano solos - Preaching
to the Birds.
Staged in one of Bristol's oldest and most intimate chapels, the installation features over
60 songbirds listening to hourly performances of the recital. Chance harmonies and
discords between piano and bird will unfold as melody and twitters intertwine.
This music, composed by Liszt, is inspired by the folkloric story St Francis of Assisi the beggar-friar who gave a sermon to a flock of birds. Legend holds that as approached
them, the birds didn't fly away but stayed reacting to his words. What is of significance
in this story is Francis' belief that not only humans, but also the entire animal world had
the ability to understand. For Kahrs the work explores the power of music as a universal
language. By giving the music back to the birds, she captures its narrative potential.
A Concert for the Birds will be Kahrs’ first public artwork, a development of the artist’s
practice, which explores music as a means of transforming behaviour and creating
intimacy in public situations.
Kahrs often takes a musical idea as the starting point for artworks that actively involve
members of the public. In Strings (2010), a recital of a Beethoven string quartet is
interrupted as the players continuously swap instruments. In For Two To Play On One
(2012), a piece devised to be experienced by only one person at a time, two piano
players abruptly stop and stare at you, shuffling papers and creating an awkward
silence before the viewer leaves the room and the music resumes.
A part of the Bristol Art Weekender, the piece will be performed by pianists Jean Hasse
and Paul Israel. Paul is well versed with the works of Liszt, having received both the
Jacobson Recital Prize and the John Roberts Award for Music for recitals of Liszt’s work.
Friday 2 May – Monday 5 May
Open 12 – 6pm daily, except Sunday 1 – 6pm
The birds are performed to upon the hour, every hour
Commenting on the work, Annika Kahrs states: “As an artist, you have to consider very
different things when working in public spaces. You have to be generous. It’s a situation
where the unexpected can happen. I wanted to give Liszt’s music back to the birds that
inspired it. What’s so interesting when you listen to the music is how visual it is. You can
see the story unfold.”
Paul Israel states: “For me to be at the piano looking at the birds listening to my music will
be quite incredible.”
Jean Hasse states: “I’m curious to see how people react. The birds might feel inspired to
chirp along. There are lots of fast passages in the piece – trills and tremolos. Who knows?
We might hear some of them imitating the piano.”
Produced by Situations as part of the Bristol Art Weekender. To find our more about
what's happening across the city, visit bristolartweekender.co.uk | #BAW2014
- ends –
Press preview event:
Friday 2 May: 11.30am Special preview and talk with the artist and curators
RSVP essential
Contacts:
Nate Taylor, Situations – Communications Manager
07889 872700 / nathan@situations.org.uk
Notes to editors:
Annika Kahrs (b. 1984, Germany) studied with artists Andreas Slominski and Jeanne
Faust in Hamburg and Harun Farocki in Vienna. She has been awarded a number of
prizes and scholarships including the George-Maciunas-Förderpreis in 2012, donated
by René Bloch. In 2011 she won first prize at the 20th Bundeskunstwettbewerd of the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Kahrs has exhibited widely,
including presentations at the Bienal Internacional de Curitiba, Brasil, 2013; Hamburger
Kunsthalle, 2013; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2012; Kunst- und
Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, 2011; Goldsmiths University,
London, 2011 and the Velada de Santa Lucia festival in Maracaibo, Venezuela, 2010.
Produced by Situations, A Concert for Birds is her first public art commission in the UK.
About the music - The 19th Century Austro-Hungarian pianist and composer, Franz
Liszt, composed La prédication aux oiseaux (Preaching to the Birds) as a sincere attempt
to capture the mystery and beauty of birds in song, taking the literary legend of Saint
Francis of Assisi as the model for his virtuosic piano piece. This story, which is often
illustrated in the arts, tells of the following episode: Francis of Assisi, the beggar-friar,
gave a sermon before a flock of birds that he came across in a field. As he came closer,
the birds didn't fly away, but rather remained reacting to his words. What is of
significance in this story is that Francis believed that not only did humans have souls,
but also the entire animal world. The consequence being, that each creature had a
conscience and was blessed with the ability to understand. Liszt translated this
narrative into the language of music, which serves as a model for universal
understanding.
Pianists Jean Hasse composes for films, concert soloists, ensembles, festivals and special events
(music soundscapes). She accompanies and scores silent films, including The Life of
Richard Wagner, Faust, The Rat, Ghosts Before Breakfast and others. Her music is
published by Visible Music. She conducts ensembles and does music score preparation
and orchestration for films. Jean is also the Tutor for the MA Composition for Film and
Television Course at the University of Bristol.
Paul Israel began learning the piano at the age of 7. He gained his BA Degree in Music
(1st Class Honours) from the University of Bristol in 2011, where he won the
University’s Concerto Competition (performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 with
Chamber Orchestra) and was awarded the prize for Outstanding Achievement in
Composition (Final Year Symphony Orchestra project). Paul gained his Master of Arts
Degree in Piano Performance (Distinction) from the Royal Welsh College of Music and
Drama in 2013 where he studied with Richard McMahon, and was awarded the
Jacobson Recital Prize and the John Roberts Award for Music (both for Outstanding
Recital performances, with a recital of Beethoven and Liszt featuring in The Guardian).
Paul now studies privately in London with concert pianist Leon McCawley.
Situations opens up the potential for artists to make extraordinary ideas happen in
unusual and unexpected places, inspiring audiences and participants to explore new
horizons. We commission and produce both temporary and long-term public artworks,
as well as acting as a connector to bring people and partners together through collective
programmes and festival events in the South West of England and internationally. Our
work is guided by our core values: the arts have the capacity to change and enrich how
we see, and act in, the world; artists should be trusted and supported to experiment and
innovate; and spaces outside conventional arts venues offer rich and
rewarding contexts in which this can happen. As a leader in public art, we also seek to
improve the conditions, and skills, for producing dynamic new forms of public art
worldwide. Find out more at www.situations.org.uk
Thanks
Concert for the Birds is performed by Jean Hasse and Paul Israel. Special thanks to
Marek Barden and The Lord Mayor’s Chapel. With thanks to the bird owners, Bob Allen,
Roger Tippett, Alan and Maria Jones, Gail Masters, Juliette Elliott, Bristol Budgerigar
Society, Severn Counties Foreign and British Bird Society and Nibley Bird Farm. We are
grateful to Bristol Zoo and University of Bristol for their invaluable advice. Thanks also
to our team of veterinarians who have ensured the welfare of the animals at all times.
A Concert for the Birds and Speeches to the City are supported by the Paul Hamlyn
Foundation as part of the New Situationists.