The Calls

A timely sound score conceived by Brendan Fernandes

Brendan Fernandes, concept, artist and choreography 
Niels Rosing-Schow, music and sound
Henrik Vibskov, costumes
Yann Coppier, sound recording and design
Lone Larsen, original live conductor
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Danish National Radio, DR
Catherine Lefebvre, curator and project director

“The Calls” was originally commissioned and co-produced between visual artist and dance maker Brendan Fernandes, the composer Niels Rosing-Schow and curator Catherine Lefebvre, The Danish Radio, DR, DR Vokalensemblet (18 voices) and costumes by designer Henrik Vibskov. Originally performed live, the piece incorporates choreography and a performance of a new sonic composition for The DR Vokalensemblet (18 voices). The original concept was conceived by Brendan Fernandes.

In this work the DR Vokalensemblet sing the sounds of police sirens, the sea, and words that touch on the unprecedented moment of pandemic and protest that we are living through. By becoming “sirens”—in the Greek mythological sense—the performers enact the motive behind this work: a collective call to change course. 

Brendan Fernandes says about the ideas of the work: “In a time of global political uprisings, we have had to learn to self-isolate and maintain physical distance from one another. Faced with a global pandemic, we have had to re-imagine the ways that we gather, protest and how we achieve critical mass. And yet, these days, people are gathering, fighting and questioning more powerfully than ever. We are navigating the changes in our lives brought on by a global pandemic and demanding changes from governments that continue to disenfranchise communities and fund systems that undermine our safety and civil rights. Living in Chicago, Illinois, a consequence of the unprecedented years of pandemic and social uprisings has been the constant sound of sirens around me. The sound signals, for me, the breaking down of a corrupt and fragile system. It is the sound of a system that has not protected or valued my body. It is the sound of a system trying to force itself back into order, in all the places where so many of us are asking for change. The work aims to push the notion of collaboration and to explore new ways that we can express solidarity in these times.” 

Background

The expressive and innovative work “The Calls” was inspired by social and human outcomes of the global pandemic, global protest movements, and the unsettling times in which we live. These have affected us all – not least young people all over the world – who have felt compelled to join together in protest, expressing themselves through their body language and voices in new and different ways, but also daring to believe in the future. This work addresses the search to find hope, fellowship, and friendship in today’s world; to create equity, mobility and reform where people can self support and join in a community they feel safe in. 

This project is made under the auspices of collaboration where people have come together to make important and powerful work. All collaborators are experts of the highest levels in their respective fields. This work is an original international production, which will inspire new standards and avenues for artistic cooperation. The intention is to reach a broad audience to deliver and share the message that we must find solidarity within a critical mass where people can heal together. We wished to create a work that with its own language can appeal to, inspire and invite everyone to join in community. One could almost say that Søren Kirkegaard’s thoughts on the individual as “one amongst all,” come into play here: through an open artistic language we take the individual by the hand and share a bodily experience we have all felt.

Generous contributions from foundations and sponsors supported the first performance in The Danish Radio’s Studio 2 on 9^thFebruary, 2023, followed by a second “pop-up” performance in “The Black Diamond” on 10^th February.  “The Calls” was also broadcast the following week on the Danish Radio’s programme 2 as part of a concert with the overall title “The Calls”.

We believe that this work has reached and touched many people through this mass dissemination. All of Denmark had the opportunity to hear this work on the radio, which, with its artistic and musical interpretation, resonated with us all in our collective experience of the pandemic, and the difficult times in which we live. Sadly life has not become easier since the inspiration for this work first saw light at the epicentre of the pandemic. Hopefully it will help many to realize that they are not alone in their experience of the Corona epidemic, the protest movements, and our unstable times. Our work is still not done and we still need to gather and form space to heal in solidarity. 

Through this work we have achieved an artistic interpretation of the pandemic era, which will appeal to people from all walks of life, who when seeing and hearing it can gain a deeper insight into that period of their lives, which suddenly came – and then went. We also hope that the first performance, pop-up performances, and hopefully all the other performances to come will result in a widespread knowledge of this work, so that the public at large will be able to experience a diverse work of the highest quality that speaks precisely to them both as individuals and groups. In addition we think that through its beautiful tonal language this work will become a “modern classic”, that will continue to be relevant at all times. We think that the international cooperation between varying artistic fields, which we have established with this work, can become a model for other similar projects, developing and strengthening ties between different art communities worldwide.

A Contemporary Sound

“The Calls” has been published by the music publishers Wilhelm Hansen Edition, which will ensure its own future sustainability and existence, so that this work can be bought and performed in the future without any time limits. “The Calls” can be performed in perpetuity throughout the world with a license agreement between Niels Rosing-Schow’s wonderful music and the libretto, written by Brendan Fernandes. “The Calls” responds to our current life-time, in which marginalized bodies, POC and Queers, are being killed. It is about a time that is taking away women’s rights, where a virus is keeping us apart, and the world climate is changing and making serious environmental shifts that are threatening our wellbeing. “The Calls” is a cry for support, it is a call to attention that we need to make change and we need to do this together and NOW. The sounds of “The Calls” support the chosen musical tones such as the disturbing police sirens, which Brendan Fernandes’ situates as being“background music” whilst living in Chicago during the pandemic and Black Lives Matters protests. The sirens which we can hear in “The Calls” also refer further to Greek mythology and to the double meaning of the sirens’ as calls and voices.

During the pandemic Brendan Fernandes and Catherine Lefebvre corresponded with each other, discussing the sounds that surrounded them, and the events taking place in the world at the time.

We feel sure that during the performances the audience were moved by the sounds, music and choreography, and that they felt connected to the people around them.

Choreography and Costumes

Brendan Fernandes is an internationally recognized artist and dance maker who created choreography for “The Calls”. His work is normally set on professional dancers but in this instance the Danish National Vocal Ensemble consists of singers who are not movement makers.  Knowing this, he created positions and patterns where the singers’ voices are the focal point and their militaristic movements create formation and dynamic actions. In the piece the singers will raise their fists up into the air suggesting a political act. Although minimalist, the gesture is one of power and speaks to the traumas and violences our bodies are undertaking. This is further elevated by the costume design by Henrik Vibskov that were gender neutral and inspired by police protest uniforms. The costumes allowed the group of singers to feel a sense of solidarity in the sense that they all looked the same, but questioned police systems and the dynamics of protection and safety.

Collaboration between Brendan Fernandes, Henrik Vibskov and Niels Rosing-Schow

Brendan Fernandes and Henrik Vibskov are known internationally as artists and designers of theatre costumes. They have worked with the same people from the international theatre scene before, therefore it was natural to include Henrik Vibskov in this project. The costumes had to have an all-embracing effect, so that different bodily shapes and sizes would all look attractive, and the singers would be able to move around freely. The acclaimed composer, Niels Rosing-Schow went to work quickly and in the summer of 2022 wrote an impressive score, covering all aspects of “The Calls’ ” underlying themes. The result was a perfectly balanced and aesthetic work, combining the harsh sounds of the pandemic with the beautiful voices of the Danish National Vocal Ensemble.  

The renowned Danish conductor Lone Larsen was in charge of rehearsing and conducting the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, and also worked intensely with Brendan Fernandes’ choreography and the bodily movements of the singers which were an integral part of “The Calls”.

Talks, interviews and a documentary

During the week that Brendan Fernandes stayed in Copenhagen in February 2023, we arranged for him to give two talks: one at the Art Hub Copenhagen together with the whole team and the arts critic from the daily newspaper “Politiken” Matthias Kryger as moderator, and the other at the Canadian Embassy in dialogue with the Danish artist Jeanette Ehlers and with the journalist Mikkel Frey Damgaard from the Danish Radio as moderator. 

Brendan Fernandes was also interviewed on the “Louisiana Channel”: “I like things to be in flux”.

The process of the making of “The Calls” was filmed and these recordings with the whole team are currently being produced into a documentary.