diasporAsa

diasporAsa
cycle of longing and hope

“DiasporAsa” – the name of our concert format encapsulates the existence of religious, cultural, or ethnic communities in the “foreign” when people leave their traditional homeland and live scattered across vast parts of the world. The concept of diaspora is especially inseparable from Jewish history.

Our musical cycle begins with the search for resonance and the constant struggle for “one’s” cultural identity – with the desire to listen to one another and find in it the potential for a peaceful cultural and religious coexistence that connects people of different religions, cultures, and generations – despite all the differences – instead of separating them.

In interplay with the solo Santur, Israeli singer Yair Harel recites in artistic phrases from the broad spectrum of Jewish traditions in the Middle East and North Africa. The Iranian composer Ehsan Ebrahimi  engages with the experience of being lost through his sound language: the interaction of electronic timbres and fragments of ancient Persian poetry about loneliness creates a new perspective on traditional Persian art music. 
Maximilian Guth‘s compositions, like a mosaic, continuously evoke distant associations with Schubert’s Winterreise and Bach’s Chaconne, which have been woven into a meditatively floating sound cosmos.

The asambura ensemble traces a cultural and religious diaspora, in the wake of which the question of the impending loss of cultural, religious, and ethnic identities continuously arises. Fundamental human experiences such as hope and longing, home and foreignness, flight and displacement, moment and transience are portrayed in a multifaceted and colorful way through video projections by Andre Bartetzki.

“The rediscovery of ancient Jewish melodies from Middle Eastern and North African traditions by the asambura ensemble reflects a deeply felt appreciation for the diverse beauty of Jewish sound.
An artful dialogue between Yair Harel in solo singing and Ehsan Ebrahimi on the Santur beautifully meets the rich instrumental playing. From this, a vibrant togetherness and a careful embrace in the sea of sounds from various musical and religious traditions arise.
Particularly moving was “Moshe,” this touching melody, which was first written down by a monk who converted to Judaism and is considered the oldest synagogue chant. The piece is at the heart of diasporAsa and symbolizes the possibility of building bridges through music and finding a cultural and religious community in the name of peace. In DiasporAsa itself, as a reminiscence of the term diaspora, I find a direct connection to Jewish identity, which, in its spatial dispersion, is also defined by the connection and exchange with people of other cultures and generations.”

– Eliah Sakakushev-von Bismarck.
Artistic and Executive Director of the Villa Seligmann Hannover.

House of Jewish Music


“The connection of contemporary and ancient music, of Eastern and Western, was impressive and stimulating; very touching, the resolutions of the harmonies and their rediscovery. The dialectic of longing tones and the familiar ones. Of foreignness and familiarity.
The basilica was incorporated in an impressive way, played with, and transformed. As a sound body through the arrangement of the musicians; but also through the excellent light art, which included the apse and the sides in the event, making them visible or mysterious. In this process, sounds and images were not placed randomly next to each other, but were strictly related. Light and sounds commented on or complemented each other without either seeming redundant. A successful contribution to the search for home – including the religious one – at a place created just for this purpose.”

– Thomas Harling. Kulturbeauftragter der Katholischen Kirche in der Region Hannover


“In diasporAsa, the boundaries fade as we immerse ourselves in the musical world of others, and sounds and songs emerge that harmonize beyond differences. The asambura ensemble makes beautiful contributions, daring to go beyond borders and approaching the other.”

– Hamideh Mohagheghi.
Houses of religions Hanover


“Classical music can sometimes revolve around itself. Not so with Asambura. diasporAsa leads into the cultural roots of Europe, which was and is more than just the ‘Occident’. Here, everything is together: Jewish, Christian, Islamic… A deeply moving music!”

– Prof. Wolfgang Reinbold. Commissioner for Church and Islam
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover