PROPHITISSAI is a joint creation by Lila Hajosi, artistic director and conductor of Ensemble Irini, and percussionist and conductor Tom de Cock, commissioned by the Bruges MAFestival for its 2024 edition. This dreamlike liturgy is an encounter between Ensemble Irini's O SIDERA programme (Lassus's 'Prophecies of the Sibyls', extracts from the Byzantine Liturgy), the contemporary Greek composer Iannis Xenakis and the ancient world, with a four-hand arrangement of the 'Delphic Hymn to Apollo' (187 BC).
This audacious and resolutely mystical programme imagines a suspended, consecrated time, a ritual woven between the musicians and the audience. Composed of unusual, rare and hypnotic pieces combining voices and atypical instruments (simanders, zither, etc.), it takes up the challenge of offering listeners a sound experience rather than a repertoire. The idea here is to forget about the concert and let yourself be taken on a journey whose aim is not to create satisfaction, but to generate experience.
Ensemble Irini is in concert in Paris to celebrate the release of its brand new album “Printemps sacré” (label Psalmus) at the church Notre-Dame des Blancs Manteaux on Friday November 22nd.