Aurora (Mesophase)

“I’ve been improvising on the cello for almost three decades, and sometimes I just get tired of it all – because the thrill and excitement of those ‘new’ discoveries have already become part of my musical vocabulary. I’m reluctant to call them ‘extended techniques’, since these days such sounds are simply part of the shared language everyone uses in this context.

Still, there are a few sounds that continue to excite me each time – well, most of the time – for reasons I’m not particularly interested in analyzing. One of these is the pure sound of the bow hairs against the strings; the richness of these tiny sounds is absolutely thrilling. I’m also aware that these are the kinds of sounds that might get lost in translation for listeners, unless their ears are right in front of the instrument – or, even better, pressed directly against its body.

But just imagine being able to listen to all those little sounds changing their directions and characters with the slightest tension added to the bow. That would be like watching an aurora for the first time: not knowing exactly where it will appear, but allowing yourself to follow its movement. Yes, it’s an overused metaphor, but even getting lost in it, you might find a kind of pure joy.

I want to capture all these small details – fragile yet expressive sounds – and turn them into music that invites more than just marveling at its beauty. I hope it can become a shared language for performers – a way to play songs that listeners can move their bodies to, or at least bob their heads, even slightly. I’m not sure if anyone would ever be able to sing along – but who knows? The bottom line is that I want people to enjoy these sounds as music – not with a capital ‘M’.”
– Okkyung Lee

For Aurora (Mesophase), Okkyung Lee opens up her improvisational practice and, together with artists Neasa Ní Bhriain, Caleb Salgado and Dafne Narvaez Berlfein, among others, creates an extraordinary performance that she developed during her DAAD fellowship in Berlin.