Sofia Jernberg explores the voice with singers from across Europe
The human voice literally crosses borders. The beauty and expressiveness of the art of singing is equally deeply felt all over the world. Swedish-Ethiopian singer and composer Sofia Jernberg flashes past all the limits of the vocal metier at high speed. With her pliant, expressive voice, this vocal acrobat is equally at home in improvised music, as she is in performing contemporary scores and her own experimental outings.
Jernberg spends three days working with five young singers from diverse backgrounds. They are selected on the basis of an open call that focused on their motivation to participate. The participants are asked to leave their comfort zone and go on an expedition beyond language, voice and musical barriers. The voice is given complete freedom to unfold. In short: Freedom to Move.
5 Sounds Now festivals are participating in Freedom to Move and each selects its own singers with Sofia Jernberg as the connecting link. November Music kicked off this exciting project. The following vocalists were chosen for these workshop sessions: Paloma Lázaro Arteaga (Spain), Yanki Bicakci (Turkey), Jodi Gilbert (USA/Netherlands), Ilyas Nadjafi (Afghanistan) and Rianne Wilbers (Netherlands).
As a workshop leader, Jernberg boasts a wealth of experience. She studied not only jazz music, but also composition. Among others, Jernberg has worked with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and improvisers such as Mats Gustafsson, Nate Wooley, Petter Eldh and Christian Lillinger. But she also stars in compositions by Arnold Schönberg (Pierrot Lunaire), Chaya Czernowin and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
Freedom to Move is presented at hcmf// (UK), Ultima (NO), Wilde Westen (BE) and Onassis Stegi (GR).