The live stream performance took place during the “Buma Classical Convention 2014” on the 29th of November 2014 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands. http://www.bumastemra.nl/
ABOUT THE PIECE – François Sarhan about his work: “The basic idea of “Home Work” is the assumption that we all accomplish in our lives entirely superficial, obvious activities – drinking coffee with a hammer in a nail – as well as activities that are related to our subconscious and therefore not quite so obvious.
In Homework, I wanted to try, to find a way of showing that the transitions between these two types of activities are often blurred. So I see people doing things that seem simple and obvious, but which then become very strange so that viewers see that what is happening on the surface, does not meet the true motivations of the characters. In “Home Work” – three entirely separated characters: one builds a toy, the second is preparing for a rendezvous, and the third is cooking. Three primordial human activities – build, love, eat. The first of three so reads the blueprint of a mechanical toy, but what he does with it somehow does not match. It is this discrepancy that shows us what he really wants. We see spectators that are really about mechanics, about building something, but everything we see, so somehow not really fit together, and it is precisely this gap that can be interpreted into many things: subconscious, ritualized and musical.
Because music means to pluck not only one string music is all that lies between the gestures”.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER – Francois Sarhan was born September 30, 1972, Rouen. French composer of stage, chamber, choral, electronic and piano works that have been performed in Asia and Europe. He studied composition with Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Magnus Lindberg, Philippe Manoury, Tristan Murail, Guy Reibel. In addition, he studied analysis, aesthetics, cello, conducting, and harmony and counterpoint with various teachers, in addition to attending Jacques Roubaud ‘seminars on compared poetics at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes (Paris, 1999-2002).
He received his diploma in composition from the Conservatoire National de Paris in 1995. Subsequently, he attended composition masterclasses in Szombathely (Hungary) with Brian Ferneyhough and Marco Stroppa (1996-1997) with the aid of several SACEM grants as well as working at IRCAM(1997-98). He then graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in analysis (1999) and composition (2000). His works have been presented at international festivals, including Musica (Strasbourg), Donaueschingen, Wittener Musik Tagen, Ars Musica (Brussels), Holland Festival, Maerzmusik (Berlin), etc.
He composed a chamber opera for the Aix-en-Provence Lyrical Art Festival (July 2003), as well as a first monographic CD for the french label Zig zag Territoires. Numerous French soloists, including Nicolas Dautricourt, Céline Frisch, Noemi Boutin, Bela quartet, François Salque, Alexandre Tharaud, Dimitri Vassilakis, Samuel Favre, Vanessa Wagner, Diotima Quartet, Bela Quartet have performed his works. Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), Ensemble Recherche, Ictus Ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, among others, regularly commission and perform his compositions. He is noted for creating his own music theatre and multimedia works in which he himself often performs. He recently collaborated with South African artist William Kentridge on Telegrams from the Nose, which was presented more than 30 times at major festivals and venues all over Europe. He has directed his own work since 2008 – most recently he created the chamber opera “King Lear”. He recently opened his first exhibition in Paris, initiating a new aspect of his art, with videos, collages and artist books.
Sarhan taught at IRCAM between 1998 and 2002, and at the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg since 1999. He wrote a History of Music (published in 2002 by Flammarion, Paris), and is the initiator of the artistic collective CRWTH, which has created and performed multimedia projects since 2000.
Recent projects include a film and music theatre work produced by LOD, in Ghent, a compilation of the texts from his Encyclopedia, a large exhibition organized by Chambord Castle in France. Future ones are a music theatre show with the Percussions de Strasbourg, a night (12 hours) of music (to be premiered in Denmark 2015), a solo for Jennifer Torrence (a one hour show for one performer).