Allan Gravgaard Madsen
27
Every Ending Is Also a New Beginning
Aarhus Symfoniorkester, Allan Gravgaard Madsen and Morten Riis: »Away«
© Alexis Rodríguez Cancino
Allan Gravgaard Madsen’s and Morten Riis’s Away is a »mixed media« orchestral work. The physical orchestra is supplemented by sound and video recordings from the basement of Aarhus Theatre (woodwind quintet), Aarhus Cathedral (brass quintet), and Marselisborghallen (string orchestra). All of these locations have, at various points over the past 90 years, housed the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.
Away opens with the final two chords of the overture to Rossini’s William Tell (1829), which are explored throughout the orchestra. Gradually, musicians leave the ensemble, only to reappear later in smaller constellations in recordings from the aforementioned locations. Through technology, the orchestra plays across time and space in a highly successful manner.
The work explores stasis and movement, with air as a central device: the wind players often blow into their instruments without producing tones, while the string players imitate the sound of wind using plastic bags. For me, Away has three highlights. Trumpets and percussion play phrases that turn out to anticipate a video of a flutist walking through the city. The trumpets mimic the sound of a truck – »beep-bop-beep-bop« – and the percussion becomes the flutist’s stilettos. Musique concrète turned on its head! At one point, half of the string players are seen sitting in a circle, playing intensely dissonant chords, only to kill them again – the physical shock activated my ears. The third highlight comes when the entire orchestra plays together again while all three projections are running simultaneously. Here, the work can truly begin, and one clearly senses the energy rising in the room. But – unfortunately – as soon as this climax is reached, the intensity drops again.
At just under 45 minutes, Away is, unfortunately, slightly too long and static for my taste. The effect of the aforementioned ruptures might not have been as strong in a shorter format, but I would have wished for just a bit more of the intensity the work so clearly was capable of delivering. I was left with a somewhat flat feeling. The piece also ended so quietly that several people were unsure whether it had actually finished and whether we could applaud.
© PR
»Music for me is the purest communication! We are constantly trying to understand each other, completely in vain, with our inadequate language, while music speaks pure. I can’t think of a more powerful and influential form of expression. It surpasses visual art, film, theatre, everything. Music is without exception the start of all my work; I often think, if this work were a song, what song would it be?«
ihsan saad ihsan tahir (b. 1995, UK/DK) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2025) and Goldsmiths University of London (2025) and lives and works in Copenhagen. tahir has previously exhibited at, among others, Kunsthal Kongegaarden, Korsør (2026), SKAL Contemporary, Skagen (2025); 13 Vitrine, Lausanne (2024); Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus (2023;2024); Collega, Copenhagen (2024); and All All All, Copenhagen (2023). tahir opens a new, large solo exhibition at O – Overgaden (February 20–May 3, 2026).
Indigo over Mahler
Anthony Sahyoun, Nour Darwish, Larissa Sansour, Søren Lind: »As If No Misfortune Had Occurred In The Night«
© Joakim Züger
One of my most powerful art experiences of 2025 was British-Palestinian video artist Larissa Sansour’s intense work As If No Misfortune Had Occurred In The Night at Kunsthal Charlottenborg. The piece forms the basis of Thursday’s so-called »opera performance«, in which Palestinian soprano Nour Darwish performs in dialogue with Sansour’s visuals.
When Darwish steps onto the stage, it is before a vast screen where black-and-white scenes from an abandoned chapel establish a solemn atmosphere. It feels as though the entire hall is holding its breath as she begins to sing – tentatively, mournfully at first, then with spine-tingling force.
The composition draws on Kindertotenlieder (1905), in which Gustav Mahler sets to music Friedrich Rückert’s poems on the loss of two daughters. Composer Anthony Sahyoun allows Mahler’s music to merge with the Palestinian folk song »Al Ouf Mash’al«, a lament for a man who fell while serving in the Ottoman army during the First World War. Over time, the song has expanded into an oral account of Palestinian suffering. In its encounter with Mahler, it becomes a lament for centuries of grief – addressed to European ears that, through the colonisation of the region, bear part of the responsibility. Quite simply, it is a very good idea. At first, Darwish alternates between the two musical works, but gradually they fuse into a single narrative of sorrow, loss, and inherited trauma. She briefly leaves the stage, giving way to a filmed sequence in which she descends into a basin and is enveloped by indigo-blue water. In Palestinian tradition, indigo is the colour of mourning, because once it has stained skin and fabric, it cannot be washed away. It must be worn away – just as grief can leave us flayed.
Darwish returns in an indigo dress. At the climax, she falls to her knees as the screen behind her turns black, and I realise I have barely breathed for several minutes. The composition was created in 2022 – before the current war in Gaza – but on this evening, with her immense voice and intense presence, she adds yet another verse to the endless song. At times, art can feel brutally prophetic.
English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek
© Inga Records
»For me music is life. It contains everything and carries the strongest healing powers there is.«
Mika Akim is the solo project of the viola player, composer and songwriter Mika Persdotter. The project started when Mika found a viola d'amore outside of Prague and started writing songs for it, about and for the body. Exploring open forms, minimalistic approach and mixing influences from folk music, baroque and experimenting with sound. The music is cyclic and honest. Since the project started Mika Akim has released two albums and now the third solo album feb 28 will be released on the 27th of February on Inga Records.
Besides the solo project Mika Persdotter is an active musician in the experimental music scene as well as the contemporary and baroque fields in Copenhagen. Member of Halvcirkel, Damkapellet, Wolfskin Ensemble and Stök among others.
Bobo Moreno. © Thomas Roger Henrichsen
»Music is an element for me, along with earth, wind, fire and water. Music is a nutrient that is part of my personal food pyramid, along with cheese, eggs and tomatoes. Music is a relationship in my life that is just as important as the people I have around me. Music is like an extra organ through which I perceive the world.«
Growing up surrounded by his parents’ eclectic record collection, Bobo Moreno developed a love for music across genres. Named after his stepfather, jazz and rock bassist Bo Stief, Bobo started out on the electric bass before, at the age of 22, finding his true instrument – his voice. Self-taught, he developed his craft through countless live performances and garnered recognition for his expressive voice and stylistic range. His national breakthrough came with the pop duo Peaches & Bobo in 1993. After decades of performing, at the age of 60, Bobo now releases Missing Pieces – his deeply personal debut album, reflecting a life of musical exploration and self-discovery, while marking a new chapter in a lifelong musical journey.
© Mira Campau
»Music to me is like water to plants. And a space to connect us, to ourselves, others and the world.«
Astrid Engberg is a contemporary artist with roots in the past, blending electronic-organic jazz, soul and percussive minimalism. Her sound combines heavy, minimal productions with personal storytelling and a spiritual edge, carried by a voice that balances sensitivity and strength. Since releasing her debut album Tulpa in 2020, highlighted by Bandcamp as one of the summer’s best releases, she has received the Steppeulven award as Producer of the Year 2021 and won Vocal Jazz Release of the Year at Danish Music Awards Jazz, alongside a nomination for Experimental Album of the Year.
Engberg has performed live and as a DJ at major Danish festivals and venues, including SPOT, Heartland, Roskilde Festival, DR Koncerthuset and SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst.