In its new performance, Delle Donne Consort transcends boundaries in collaboration with composer and singer Vigdis Hansa Elst and live-electronics artist Maarten Buyl. The six musicians invite each other to take a step into the world of their own instrument and background, which initially seem very different. They simultaneously cross over to each other, quickly realizing that they find much of themselves in each other's musical language and identity.

Oltreconfine combines various musical elements and techniques. Think of polyphonic structures that create tension between propulsion and stillness: agile propelling lines leading to cadences and rest, moments when the music lends itself to more freedom or homophonic passages that demand stability. This tension simultaneously generates new inspiration among the other musicians.

Furthermore, there is the voice, which invites intimacy and vulnerability. A voice is something 'naked,' it reveals much about how we feel. A broken voice can deeply touch us, even if we wouldn't categorize it as 'beautiful.' This leads the ensemble to the question: can we find beauty in raw and unpolished sounds?Live electronics, on the other hand, offer insight into the physics of sound. By mixing or multiplying different sounds, overtones and undertones emerge, which in turn generate new material.

In this way, each musician encourages the others to play and create, resulting in a performance where different musical languages no longer seem distant from each other and effortlessly form a new whole. In this, each musician is equal.

Delle Donne Consort chose works by Adriaan Willaert and Cypriaan de Rore, composed on texts by Francesco Petrarca, as a starting point for the polyphonic part. To complete the picture, the performance also includes a brand new composition by Vigdis, who is also inspired here by the vulnerability of sound and the quest for beauty in rawness, while also aiming to provide a counterbalance to the polyphonic repertoire in terms of sung language, timbre, and harmony.Sounds from different worlds are united: historical performance practice and polyphonic repertoire blend with experimental techniques and newly created repertoire. This simultaneously creates confrontation and symbiosis. The different building blocks are no longer separately recognizable: recorders sound like voices, live electronics generate new harmonies, the voice behaves like an instrument: the diverse repertoire unites into an indivisible program in this one-hour performance.

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With support from Sabam for Culture.