Helga Arias
On January 26, we present "From Maria to Fatimah", a new work by Helga Arias, in our 3rd subscription concert at Stadtcasino Basel.
Helga Arias establishes relationships between acoustic and electronic resonance and investigates microscopic variations of the phenomenon of sound. This is also the case in her new piece "I Breathe Every Sound You Leave Behind" for orchestra and tape, which we will premiere on January 26. In this work, commissioned by the Basel Sinfonietta and the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Arias reflects on a poem by "Black Arts" activist Sonia Sanchez.
Born in Bilbao, she studied composition with Mario Garuti and Beat Furrer and electroacoustic composition with Javier Torres Maldonado and Karlheinz Essl. She has received commissions from renowned ensembles such as the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra and Ensemble Modern and her works have been performed worldwide, for example at the ISCM World Music Days, the Donaueschinger Musiktage and the Centre Pompidou.
We are very much looking forward to this collaboration! To get to know her and to understand her interest in contemporary music better, we asked her a few questions.
1. How did you first come into contact with "classical music" and why did you never get away from it?
I think the first time I heard classical music was probably at home.
I'm the only musician in my family, but my parents are very into music and had a lot of records. I remember that music was always playing in my childhood.
From a very early age, I imitated the melodies and rhythms I heard, and when my parents noticed this, they bought me a toy keyboard. So I was constantly copying and improvising what I heard, and when I was 6 or 7 years old, they enrolled me in music theory, piano and singing lessons because I was very curious about music. Since then, music has never ceased to fascinate me and be my absolute priority.
2. You are not only a composer, but also studied piano. What repertoire are you particularly interested in as an instrumentalist? And is there a connection with your composing activities or are they two different worlds?
The truth is that since I became a composer, I have stopped playing the piano seriously, although it was a gradual – and painful – process. That's why I think it was very difficult for me to write works with or for piano in the beginning.
Gradually, I discovered more advanced techniques and new repertoire, and I got closer to the instrument again. As a pianist, I have always had a weakness for the music of Bach, more than for any other repertoire. Nowadays I am very interested in the piano music of composers like Alberto Posadas, Peter Ablinger and especially Sofia Gubaidulina – the connection to Bach is not accidental ☺.
3. If you hadn't become an artist, what would you have become?
I have some hobbies that I really love and dedicate a lot of time to, like swimming, diving and others, but I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Maybe I could have become a singer, a cellist or a conductor... but always a musician. To be honest, I could never imagine being anything else, not even since I was a child.
4. Your compositions often include political or current social issues and integrate multimedia and theatrical aspects. How important is the reference to the present for you and what does it mean for your artistic work?
It means everything to me. I don't think I'm particularly political, but I try to incorporate the issues and concerns that affect me as a person into my music. I think it's difficult for an artist to separate her personal life, feelings, concerns and state of mind from the production of art. Unless the art is purely intellectual, which is not the case for me at all. I still believe in a connection between the emotional sphere and art, and in this sense I believe that many artists are particularly sensitive to the world that surrounds them. Of course, this also includes political events and social changes.
5. The Basel Sinfonietta has made it its mission to perform "music at the pulse of time". What drives you? And how do you want to move the world?
I believe that this question is closely related to what I said earlier.
As an important cultural institution, I believe that the Basel Sinfonietta observes the changes and events that are crucial for artistic production at the moment, but it also tries to get in touch with society and its audience and to open up to new audiences.
For me as a composer, it is a privilege to work with such an institution that corresponds to my ideas and gives me opportunities and means to realize them.