STRING THEORY

The upcoming SONIQ project STRING THEORY focuses on outstanding string instrumentalists whose horizons go far beyond traditional ways of thinking and playing.

The project was conceptually inspired by the scientific theories of string theory. Like a magic sphere of physics, these theories look into the innermost nature of matter. In these theories, the most elementary building blocks of the universe are referred to as “strings,” essentially the “threads of reality” that construct the cosmos.

The string theories aim to explain the fundamental nature of existence. They postulate the theory that the world is more than just three-dimensional. In the models, ten or more dimensions are envisioned.

Inspired by the idea of multidimensionality, the STRING THEORY project proposes the hypothesis that through the encounter of extremely different and unconventional “global string players” with the strong personalities of the SONIQ artists, new musical dimensions will be opened up.

SONIQ invites the German violinist, composer, improviser, conductor and percussionist Carolin Pook and the Iraqi djoze innovator Bassem Hawar.

The versatile and impulsive artist Carolin Pook founded her own orchestra (“Pookestra”) during a ten-year stay in New York, where she explored new paths between composition and arrangement on one hand, and free or conducted improvisation (“conduction”) on the other hand. The press describes Carolin’s composition style as “postmodern sound architecture of sometimes magical intensity.” She is equally sought-after in contemporary classical music and jazz, and since 2021, she has been serving as the concertmaster of the EOS Chamber Orchestra Cologne.

Bassem Hawar, who has been living in Germany since 2000, builds his own instruments and has revolutionized the Iraqi knee violin, the djoze, enabling him to play all forms of Arabic and European music on it, not limited to traditional Arabic music. Bassem performs in numerous groups of various musical genres, ranging from classical Maqam to European medieval music, flamenco, contemporary music, and experimental jazz. In 2018, he founded the Nouruz Ensemble, where contemporary oriental art music is further developed.

The creative impulses of Carolin Pook and Bassem Hawar are integrated into STRING THEORY as elemental “building blocks,” the “threads of reality,” with which the SONIQ Trio creates a unique, multidimensional musical reality for the eleventh time. Jarry Singla, Ramesh Shotham, and Christina Fuchs see themselves as “intercultural conductors” on the one hand. On the other hand, they also shape the emerging sonic cosmos significantly through their compositional and improvisational contributions, drawing from a rich, cross-cultural, and genre-transcending repertoire.

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