The Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney has the pleasure of being one of the supporters amongst with ATER Fondazione – Circuito Teatri Emilia-Romagna, Pierrot Lunaire of Bologna (Italy) of the two concerts in Australia and New Zealand of the Duo Silvia Tarozzi (voice and violin) & Deborah Walker (voice and cello), on the 13th of April at the People’s Republica of Australasia (at the Red House Earlwood – Australia) and on the 17th of April at The Audio Foundation (Auckland – New Zealand).
A contemporary re-interpretation of female folksongs of northern Italy.
A string duo experienced on contemporary music as well as improvisation, Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker have been working for several years on transcriptions and reinterpretations of traditional folksongs from their birthplace, the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy. These songs come from the first decades of the twentieth century and from the period of the Second World War but some of them have older roots. The melodies and especially the lyrics have been transformed over time through oral transmission and adapted to different social, working and historical contexts. One of the strongest influences of the project is the repertory of choirs of female rice-field workers, the “Mondine”, with their typical polyphony and powerful singing. Women working and living in community during the months of the rice cleanse learn, develop and share a vast and varied repertoire of songs. The songs are the popular ones of the time, which everyone knows, but new stanzas and new melodies are also created and an original repertoire is born. In “Canti di guerra, di lavoro e d’amore” the songs emerge through sounds far from tradition, rooted in contemporary musical experimentation, keeping the focus on the spontaneity of the folk music tradition and its vibrant energy.
Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker have emerged as one of the most interesting duos in contemporary improvised music. First introduced to Unseen Worlds through their performance on the Philip Corner recording ‘Extreemizms: early & late’, Tarozzi and Walker elevated recent recordings, Eliane Radigue ‘Occam Ocean 3’, Pascal Criton ‘Infra’, and Tarozzi’s own ‘Mi specchio e rifletto’ to greatness. Their finely tuned sound makes even the most adventurous tones compelling.
Silvia Tarozzi is a violinist, composer and improviser. The oral transmission of music and the form created through a deep immersion into the sound are traits of her musical research and find expression in several collaborations with composers as Éliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, Pascale Criton, Cassandra Miller, Martin Arnold, Pierre-Yves Macé, Philip Corner.
Her projects are released by I dischi di Angelica, Unseen Worlds, New World Records, Potlatch. Her concerts have been recorded and broadcasted by BBC Radio and France Musique.
She performs regularly in festivals and venues in Europe, North America, Canada, Mexico.
Deborah Walker Italian cellist a new music performer and improviser based in Berlin. She is interested in multiple forms of music creation related to the exploration of sound and interaction with other art forms. She has played at many festivals such as I Suoni delle Dolomiti, Italia Wave, ZKM in Karlsruhe, Centre Pompidou (Paris and Metz), Festival dʼAvignon, Festival Nomad in MʼHamid (Morocco), Switch ON (Malaysia) and tours regularly in International venues and Festivals. She is a member of ensemble Dedalus and of the improviser orchestra ONCEIM. She has worked with composers like Pascale Criton, Éliane Radigue, Philip Corner and Phill Niblock, both in solo or in ensemble. Since more than a decade Deborah plays regularly with violinist Silvia Tarozzi. Their repertoire includes both contemporary and experimental works, as well as transcriptions of Italian traditional folksongs from their birthplace, the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy. After a Master in Music and sound composition at the University of Paris 8, Deborah completed a PhD at the University of Lorraine on the work of Fluxus artists in Reggio Emilia and Cavriago collaborating with Rosanna Chiessi and her editions Pari&Dispari, with a focus on the work of American cellist Charlotte Moorman.
Booking details for the concerts:
- Sydney Sunday the 13th of April 2025 at 7.00 pm: presented by The People’s Republic of Australasia at The Red House, Earlwood. Please email Nick at duxextra@gmail.com for full details and to be added to the audience list. Entrance is by donation, with 100% of all funds going to the artists.
- Auckland Thursday the 17th of April 2025 at 8.00pm: presented by Audio Foundation, (4 Poynton Terrace, Sub-basement of Parisian Tie Factory Auckland CBD 1021 – New Zealand). For booking: click here.
