Performative Session: Celestial Navigators
– multidisciplinary work for human voices, french horn, video and binoculars.
Celestial Navigators is a multidisciplinary performance exploring the fragility of human decision-making through music, movement and film. The piece is co-creation by composer Tytti Arola, singer Annika Fuhrmann and horn player Elena Kakaliagou. Inspired by the instinctive navigation of migratory birds, the piece reflects on hesitation, choice, and direction on both a personal and societal level. Through the interplay of voice, French horn, and film, three artists approach the theme with both poetry and humour. Video material filmed in a rural Finnish landscape, featuring cranes and geese in flight formations, emphasizes the contrast between the certainty of nature and human uncertainty.
Link to trailer: here
Performers
Tytti Arola is a composer, sound artist, and performer whose work explores the intersection of everyday life and the concert hall, multisensory composition, and spatial sound. Her works often incorporate electronics and multimedia elements such as video. Recently, she has been interested in researching the topic of care and embodiment of playing. Arola’s oeuvre has been presented at festivals including Helsinki Festival, Tampere Biennale, Musica Nova Helsinki, Nordic Music Days, Huddersfield Contemporary Festival, Our festival, and Flow Festival.
Annika Fuhrmann is a vocalist and sound artist working across experimental music theatre, sound art, and improvised music. She has premiered numerous works composed specifically for her voice and collaborated in interdisciplinary projects with artists from various fields. Fuhrmann has also composed and recorded multiple sound art works for YLE Radio. Her practice is known for its expressive vocal and bodily approach, often engaged with socially conscious themes.
Elena Kakaliagou is a French horn player active in contemporary and improvised music. She regularly performs at festivals and concert venues around the world, both with her own projects and with leading contemporary ensembles. Her work blends drone, microtonality, soundscapes, and lyrical expression. With over 20 albums to her name and performances spanning theatre, performance art, and solo concerts, she has established herself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music today.