Commission to Zara Ali

The threat to liberal democracy is one of the great challenges of our time. The young team at PODIUM feels the urgency of this topic and is convinced that, precisely in the face of this crisis, the political power of music can be an important factor in the social fabric. That is why PODIUM is dedicating the DE STAAT project in 2025 to this topic. For this project, the highly topical, monumental and sonorous work De Staat by Louis Andriessen from 1976 will be taken up: PODIUM will juxtapose the rarely performed piece with a commission to the young composer Zara Ali, composed for exactly the same, very unusual instrumentation. The line-up consists of four singers, four oboes, horns, trumpets, trombones and violas, two electric guitars, two harps, two pianos, an electric bass and a conductor. The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation has made the commission to Zara Ali possible.

In her 10–15-minute work, American composer and multimedia artist Zara Ali (born 1995) will not only explore the political potential of music and respond to Plato’s text Politeia, on which Andriessen’s work is based, but will also set a new libretto. Written by Anaïs Clerc, the libretto is a literary condensation of current socio-political debates and formulates a contemporary position that counters Andriessen’s disagreement with Plato about the powerlessness of music and his sceptical and ambivalent attitude with a powerful contemporary statement. The new composition expresses an optimistic – perhaps even utopian – attitude towards the power of the individual and the maturity of society in words and music. The world premiere of this new composition, together with the final concert of Andriessen’s De Staat, will be the highlight of the PODIUM Festival 2025. The musicians of the PODIUM Ensemble, which consists of young chamber musicians and soloists from the independent scene, will play.

Further information:
podium-esslingen.de

Date

May 18, 2025
Factory hall, Russ-Jesinger car dealership, Esslingen