Program Fira B! 2023

Powerhouse vocalist Maryana Golovchenko anchors the ensemble with her assertive yet candid delivery while her collaborators, cellist Pau Sola Masafrets, and Cengiz Arslanpay (who employs modular synthesizers and wind instruments such as the ney, kaval and duduk) paint a rich and detailed sonic environment around her. All three members of the unit are versatile musicians whose practices are nourished by immersion in multiple musical worlds. This is audible in SonCe's unique interplay which combines the spontaneity and textural orientation of free improvisation, electronic music's sense of mood and colour, and a delicate linear sensibility that extends from contemporary European jazz. The foundation of SonCe debut project Five Seasons is a series of ancient ritual songs plucked from various Ukrainian folk repertoires for different occasions throughout the year. Although its base lies in well-established tradition, the direction that the group ultimately pursues with these melodies is anything but conventional and is likely to surprise and delight even the most seasoned of listeners.