music by Dietrich Buxtehude & Chris Williams – feat. choreography by Karul Projects
Arms of Love combines The Song Company’s trademark exquisite singing with haunting choreography conceived by Karul Projects' Thomas E.S. Kelly in a semi-staged, evocative rendering of two majestic musical masterpieces.
One of the marvels of the baroque period, Membra Jesu Nostri, by Dietrich Buxtehude is intertwined with a major new work, I pray the sea, by Australian composer Chris Williams, that draws on texts from award-winning author Behrouz Boochani and has been specially commissioned for The Song Company with the generous support of the SILO Collective.
Co-curated/directed by Robert Macfarlane against the background of an ongoing refugee crisis at home and abroad. Throw away any expectations you may have about the old and the new – this project promises to be one of the most exciting and original fusions of chamber music and dance from the incredible vocal artists of The Song Company.
The Song Company: Amy Moore, Chloe Lankshear, Stephanie Dillon, Robert Macfarlane and Thomas Flint
Instrumental continuo: Hylton Mowday (soprano saxophone), Jenny Eriksson (electric viola da gamba) and Artistic Director Antony Pitts (Rhodes keyboard)
Guest Director: Robert Macfarlane
Choreographer: Thomas E.S. Kelly
Photography: Christopher Hayles
Promotional video: Kai Raisbeck