Ekmeles is a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of new and rarely-heard works, and gems of the historical avant garde. They have a special focus on microtonal works, and have been praised for their “extraordinary sense of pitch” by the New York Times. They are the recipients of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation’s 2023 Ensemble Prize, the first American group to receive the honor.
Description
October 26 2026, at 7:30PM at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music’s Cary Hall, Ekmeles will perform Spells and Incantations, a program of music highlighting the tangible power of the vocal utterance. The program will feature a world premiere by director Jeffrey Gavett, as well as works by Vykintas Baltakas, Hannah Kendall, Giacinto Scelsi, and Mathias Spahlinger.
Giacinto Scelsi's Sauh I + II is subtitled "liturgia", meaning liturgy or ritual. In lieu of a text, the composer sets a series of nonsense syllables chosen entirely for their sonic character, creating the impression of an arcane and impenetrable ritual. Vykintas Baltakas's wonderfully and (amply) titled Instruktionen zur Durchführung einer alten Liebesbeschwörung, die Ihre/Ihren Geliebte(n) auf einmal und für immer an Sie binden wird sets an ancient love spell for four voices. The leaping vocal lines move from a tenuous unison to total fragmentation, before returning with force as the spell seems to take forceful effect.
Hannah Kendall's this is but an oration of loss reimagines the songs, cries, lamentations, incantations, and sighs of M. NourbeSe Philip’s book-length poem Zong!, which is itself a reworking of the 1783 legal transcript of the Gregson vs. Gilbert case that details the drowning of 130 enslaved Africans, having been thrown overboard the British slave ship, Zong, en route to Jamaica.
Jeffrey Gavett's Wið ymbe, heard here in its world premiere, sets an Anglo-Saxon metrical charm written around the year 1000. The Old English text, contemporaneous with Beowulf, is a spell to prevent your bees from swarming away. The music honors the mystical qualities of the ritual with an insistence on the magic of musical number, unifying structural proportion, rhythm, tuning, and harmony alike through the first 19 primes.
Finally, Mathias Spahlinger's verfluchung is a searing 30 minute tour de force for three vocalists playing small wooden percussion. The title translates to a 'cursing', and Li Tai-Pei's text 'cursed be war, cursed be the work of weapons' is intoned, broken apart, and repeated endlessly, in a powerful cry for peace. This is Ekmeles's second performance of the work, and the second-ever performance of the work in the United States.
Date & Time
Mon, Oct 26, 2026 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Venue Details
The DiMenna Center
450 West 37th StreetNew York, New York 10018
