Residency 2020

Residency in Koncertkirken 2020

Damkapellet has been offered a one-year residency in Koncertkirken during 2020, and who could simply couldn’t say no to that? What could be better for a bunch of experimental female musicians and enthusiastic music detectives? With a glow in our eyes, we wrote down everything we dreamed of for the coming year and set dates – and this is now becoming a reality!

We have planned about 10 concerts during the year, where we will both present music written by female composers from history, and completely newly written works for this year’s occasion.  Damkapellets musicians are spread over many different kinds of music, and in all, we hope to be able to share some (or all) of it with each and every one one of you.

The official opening of the residency takes place at Damkapellets annual celebration of International Women’s Day, but for this special occasion, the party has been extended to a two-day festival – write down March 7-8 2020 in your calendars.

We are very delighted, and simply so grateful for the support we have already received! Special thanks to Copenhagen-musicians rock Björn Ross and KoncertKirken.

Down under follows a presentation of the arrangements during 2020. Keep tuned with our calendar!

Another Composer Coffee #1-9

Another Composer Coffee, our brand new invention, will kick off the year as early as January, when Damkapellet invites you for Sunday coffee, to present and tell about female composers of all times.

Damkapellet Festival

International Women´s Day and official opening of the residency, 7-8th of March

For the fourth year in a row, Damkapellet is celebrating its anniversary on March 8, during International Women’s Day. On the occasion of the official inauguration of his residence in Koncertkirken, during the year 2020, we are expanding the program to a 2-day festival, filled with exciting music by female composers, and interesting conversations about our cultural contemporary. Especially for the occasion, Guusje Ingen Housz is creating a ceremonial piece of music for the church space in Koncertkirken and Damkapellet musicians.

Acoustics Transfigured

48-TIMER Festival, 15th of May

In the experimental spirit, the members of Damkapellet take on new fields here. They explore sound and textures with their instruments and electronics, with playful curiosity. The sounds of instruments they know, since years of musical immersion, and with the classical form and structure of the spinal cord, are now being transformed into new sound creations. Recorder, strings, percussion transfigured. The concert is a part of 48-TIMER Festival, which takes place at Nørrebro, Copenhagen.

The Big Experiment

KLANG – Copenhagen Avantgarde Festival, 30-31st of May
Together with RDAM students, 28-30th of September

Unified in a work commissioned by the Swedish composer Lo Krisenson, the two ensembles Damkapellet and Kvinnoorkestern (SE) meet in an investigative meeting. Damkapellet manifesto quoted:

“We value diversity of our members and intend to establish an open and secure environment where everyone contributes to the creative process. From our background as classical musicians we have experienced power structures and a gender stereotypical environment. We want to explore alternative methods by seeking new ways of experiencing and performing music”.

The realisation of this involves, among other things, an investigative and in-depth work on these issues. How do we value the diversity of the group? How do we create a safe and creative environment? We call the work on these questions the Big Experiment of Damkapellet. The Big Experiment will be performed twice during 2020, in May together with Kvinnoorkestern, and in autumn we invite students from the Royal Danish Academy of Music to play with us.

Solo

10th of June

Damkapellet holds concert night with solo works from various places and times from history to the present. Five members from Damkapellet play solo works and offer an intimate journey through various works through the sounds of cello, violin, vocal and piano. There will be music by Kaija Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, Clara Schumann, Caroline Shaw mixed with improvisations and material from the musicians themselves.

CRUSH String Collective

Copenhagen Jazz Festival, 11th of July

At Copenhagen Jazz Festival, the Damkapellet offers tones across borders. CRUSH String Collective is a creative string ensemble based in Copenhagen, made up of members from the Damkapellet. They explore every aspect of the string sounds inside and out, up and down, and create music ranging from the magnificent sound of a string orchestra, through the influences of today’s popular music, to the sounding sounds of wood and strings that meet bow and hair. CRUSH String Collective improvises and composes their own material, playing music from the heart in a continuous collective string-crush.

Women’s Forgotten Music

Kulturnatten, 9th of October

Since the 1970s, much work has been done to research and clarify women’s place in music history, but there is still a long way between female composers when reading the concert programs around the country. This means that few people will probably be able to name a single Danish female composer from the 19th century – let alone imagine the amount of music that is hidden and forgotten on the shelves. Nevertheless, there are a host of composers and hundreds of beautiful songs just waiting to be played and sung again. The program for Kulturnatten will consist, in an ongoing program, of portraying tales of these women’s lives, and musical tastings with larger and smaller ensembles of Damkapellet’s musicians.

Damkapellet Baroque

Early Monday, 2nd of November

Women have written music at all times, from Hildegaard von Bingen in the 1100s to the present day. In this context, the members of the Damkapellet play a detective role in finding music written by women in the Baroque era. Hear music by Isabella Leonarda, Barbara Strozzi, Maria Antonia Walpurgis, Francesca Cacceni.

Adventsspiral

13th of December

The event is based on a Christmas tradition from the Steiner schools called “Adventspiral”. The Advent spiral has been created on the basis of a desire to create a space that can give way to the very special atmosphere of spirit and devotion that belongs to Christmas. It gives a very nice atmosphere of devotion and tranquility to our community – and the individual path into the light in the dark, where the Damkapellet plays music throughout meditation.