Talk Jlin: on Sunday, March 19, 7:30 PM, American producer Jlin will talk to Remy Alexander about her music
// Read moreToday we are launching the first full Artist Room 2023.
// Read moreDue to a date conflict, Son Lux had to adjust its March tour.
// Read morePlease welcome a new flock of birds for our second installment!
// Read moreNomen est omen: in fact our Mees Joachim is the only permanent resident of the Birds of Paradise nest.
// Read moreLooking back at out very first edition, we can proudly say that during these five days of sonic enchantment, these birds dared to fly and leave the comfort of the nest.
// Read moreWelcome to the mechanic, wondrous universe of Actress, where analog meets digital, and orchestrated meets improvised and coincidental.
// Read moreActress feat. MILYMA, It’s hard to pin down Darren Cunningham: every move the musician makes as Actress is a completely unexpected one. Whether he changes timbre and colour completely, or reaches heights of a satellite in just a whim: the Briton always proves to be prolific in delivering innovative sonical work.
// Read moreFrom 9.-13. March five Birds of Paradise will land in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht. At Birds of Paradise Festival, five renowned multi-disciplinary artists are offered a residency for one day. During their residency, they get a free pass for creating exclusive, tailor-made performances, start new collaborations and curate an extensive context programme: both off and online. Expect blends of genres and disciplines, profound musical and theatrical experiences at the verge of indie pop, EDM and contemporary classical music.
// Read moreThe shell is broken, the beak is open. Hungry for new experiences, fresh tastes and flights to unfamiliar territories: the birds are ready to fly out. Unknown colours, aesthetically pleasing combinations and new ways of singing: these features make our Birds of Paradise unique. Expect genre and discipline fluidity, exclusive one-off performances and in-depth music experiences: both live and online.
// Read moreBirds of Paradise is a 4 day festival, annually taking place in Utrecht (TivoliVredenburg) and Antwerp (De Singel) in which indie pop, electronic and contemporary classical music blend. Internationally, a vibrant scene of genre bending composers, singer-songwriters, electronic artists, ‘classical musicians’ emerges. Birds of Paradise provides a platform for these artists who get their inspiration on the verge of undiscovered artistic territories, genres and disciplines.
At Birds of Paradise festival, five renowned multi-disciplinary artists are offered a residency for one day. Each day is dedicated to one particular musical innovator: a Bird of Paradise, so to speak. During their residency, they get a free pass for creating exclusive, tailor-made performances, start new collaborations and curate an extensive context programme: both off and online. Their very own musical skills, unique style and connection to socially urgent topics form the basis of the context programme, which will offer audiences the stories behind the works and many in-depth experiences.
Music Miners is het educatieprogramma van Birds of Paradise. In Music Miners maken leerlingen kennis met verschillende nieuwe genres, presentaties van muziek en een ‘andere’ manier om naar muziek te luisteren. In het programma ontdekken leerlingen als ‘miners’ (muziekdelvers) vernieuwende muziek door een reeks korte concerten op ongebruikelijke plekken in de concertzaal te beleven. Aansluitend volgt een workshop. Het ontwikkelde educatiemateriaal is geschikt voor bovenbouwleerlingen in de richtingen vmbo-T, havo, vwo en gymnasium. Het materiaal is zo ontworpen dat het bestaat uit een receptief, actief en reflectief onderdeel en kan in overleg aangepast worden aan een specifieke doelgroep of groepsgrootte.
Music Miners sluit aan bij de vakken CKV en Muziek. We hanteren maximale leerlingenaantallen in verband met de intimiteit van de concerten en benodigde focus tijdens de workshops. Tijdens de concerten is er ruimte voor uitwisseling tussen leerling en artiest.
Music Miners is in verschillende settings beschikbaar. Keuze en planning van artiesten in overleg met programmamanager Remy Alexander: educatie@birdsofparadisefestival.nl
For all questions, comments, suggestions and (constructive) comments: info@birdsofparadisefestival.nl
Communication, marcom: dave@birdsofparadisefestival.nl (Dave Coenen), renee@birdsofparadisefestival.nl (Renée Veenstra)
Press: johan@nieuwsmakelaar.nl (Johan Kloosterboer)
Production: jessica@birdsofparadisefestival.nl (Jessica Dassen)
Music Miners: educatie@birdsofparadisefestival.nl (Remy Alexander en Margriet Broekroelofs)
Address: Gezellestraat 36
5615 HL Eindhoven
0031-610917648
IBAN: NL84 RABO0129508578
BTW: NL 8225.10.972.B01
KVK: 50038702
RSIN: 822510972
The Birds of Paradise Foundation is a charitable organisation registered under Dutch law. Audited accounts for 2021 can be found here.
Frank Veenstra, Artistic and Managing director
Arthur van der Drift, chair
Ester Louwers, treasurer
Rian Brus, secretary
Lucas Maassen, member
Birds of Paradise wants to offer a state of the art international platform on the verge of indie pop music, EDM and contemporary classical music with all sorts of connections to other progressive (stage) disciplines and genres for the benefit of:
Combining polyrhythmic layered electronics with contemporary classical percussion, Jlin has been a whirlwind of innovation in the musical landscape throughout the past years. But Jerilynn Patton never struts too far away from organic, classical sounds: that’s why the Dutch Ragazze Quartet and the Grammy-winning, Chicago-based percussion outfit Third Coast Percussion bring Jlin’s tracks to the world of chamber music. First, the Ragazze Quartet will perform Little Black Book, originally commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, followed by the world premiere of Jlin’s Summon for string quartet and percussion.
After that, Third Coast Percussion will perform a 7-piece suite entitled Perspective. The composer herself can be heard in the grand finale of the event: a live set featuring selected works from Akoma (The heart): a performative installation she will craft together with visual artist Florence To.
The American electronics pioneer is currently entering the ‘art world’. For example, Jlin’s work was featured last year at the Venice Biennale and she recently laid the foundation for her new album Akoma at the illustrious The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), one of the world’s most renowned centers for the creation of contemporary art that appeals to the imagination. Composer Remy Alexander talks to Jlin about her music and tonight’s program.
A video playlist of four cross-genre artists whose work grounds Jlin’s practice and serve as deep wells of inspiration: jazz singer Eartha Kitt, soul-funk singer Curtis Mayfield, classical composer Igor Stravinsky, and director Wong Kar-wai.
A performance by Jlin recorded in the remarkable Met Cloisters at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in July 2021 as part of ‘Sonic Cloisters’: a series of site-specific electronic music performances created specifically for digital platforms.
Jlin has long been inspired by movement, and has created new compositions in collaboration with legendary choreographers Wayne McGregor (2017) and Kyle Abraham (2021). Explore excerpts from these collaborations, as well as the music video for Jlin’s Carbon 7 (161) featuring an explosive original dancework from performer-choreographer Corey Scott-Gilbert.
“Jlin can get lumped into the blurrily defined genre of electronic dance music, but if you try to dance to some of her work, you might tear a ligament.”
“Jlin says she doesn’t think about the dance floor when she’s composing. ‘What I’m looking at is movement — and movement can be anything for me: [it] can be the way a woman moves her arm, the way a man blinks his eyes… One of the movements that I’ve seen that inspired me [is] from the movie Memoirs of a Geisha — when she first became a geisha and it was her premiere performance. When I saw that, I remember making ‘Carbon 12.’ That did something to me.’
– ‘I don’t think about the dance floor’: Jlin’s complicated rhythms
(Phil Harrell for NPR)
Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth
Choreographed by Kyle Abraham
Autobiography – Company Wayne McGregor
Choreographed by Wayne McGregor
Carbon 7 (161) – Black Origami
Directed by Joji Koyama // Choreographed by Corey Scott-Gilbert
Jlin’s seven-movement composition Perspective was written for acclaimed percussion ensemble Third Coast Percussion and is featured on their GRAMMY®-nominated album Perspectives (on Cedille Records). TCP will perform Perspective in its entirety at Birds of Paradise. TCP writes:
“The process to develop Jlin’s Perspective highlights the specialized skills of the artists involved. Jlin composed each of the seven movements as electronic tracks, without any use of music notation. She then shared these sonic renderings with the ensemble members, who set about creating a version of these movements that they could perform live as a quartet. Diving into each of the tracks, the percussionists found a beautiful complexity—myriad stems in each track, unexpected patterns, and outrageous sounds. While some of TCP’s versions follow Jlin’s original creations on a note-by-note basis, others reimagine them in ways that the composer herself enjoys.”
In this in-depth interview, Third Coast Percussion’s David Skidmore interviews Jlin about her artistic work and the process of creating Perspective.
Akoma is a West African symbol that derives from the Asante (or Ashanti) peoples of modern-day Ghana. The symbolism of Akoma represents endurance, understanding, tolerance, and intention. The literal translation is “the heart”. Akoma is one of many Adinkra symbols widely used in the traditional fabrics, and historic architecture in Ghana.
“Akoma is a symbolic presence of heart and drum, a rebirth that is rarely seamless, embarking on a journey through multiple realms and spaces. We are collaborating on a rhythmic conversation in which sound and light will create a resonance that absorbs and brings energy into the space. This constant motion of expression leaves moments of delicate shifts while exhibiting modes of control and unpredictability. Balance, erraticness, and fluidity require a consistent state of patience while working against the counterbalance of instability. The installation performance is a creation of intentional action and loss of flow, maintaining a balance similar to how human bodies raise questions about which rhythms we want to keep hidden.”
Jlin & Florence To
Here’s an audiovisual teaser of Akoma, a brand-new live audio visual project by Jlin and spatial designer Florence To. Jlin will preview tracks from Akoma at Birds of Paradise.
A wide-ranging playlist curated by Jlin for Apple Music listeners featuring the tracks that serve as Jlin’s “everyday anthems” – spanning hip-hop, jazz, classical, experimental electronic, and more.