Jews, Christians and Muslims sing and listen to the same songs of lament and joy, confessions of sin, songs of praise and glory.
In this joint programme, Psalm settings by composers from three cultures and religions,
but the same epoch, build bridges crossing today's ruptures.
Psalms serve as a source of spirituality, a political instrument, a link between tradition and present,
but most of all as a path leading humans together.
In our performance, we intertwine the compositions of Salamone Rossi, Claude Goudimel, J. P. Sweelinck and Ali Ufkî in order
to recapture the original intention of the psalms: to be sacred bridges between peoples, religions, between human beings.
Sarband performs this program with different choirs and vocal ensembles, until now:
King's Singers, RIAS Chamber Choir, Innovantiqua Ensemble, Chorakademie Dortmund.
„Hearing their expressive voices that sound like far-away places, Orient and adventure, makes you want to cheer inwardly.
This was a very strong performance.“ Christopher Dömges, suite101.de, 13.05.2010
„Astonishing how well the different elements fitted each other. In many instances the passage from one religion to another wasn’t perceptible at all.”
Andreas Schröter, Ruhrnachrichten (Germany), 12.05.2010
„With only three instrumentalists and one singer, Vladimir Ivanoff creates a whole universe of sound
in his encounter with the RIAS chamber choir.“ Martin Wilkening, Berliner Zeitung (Germany), 26.04.2010
"Sarband's music speaks for itself - their message of intercultural understanding does not need any explanations." Frank Heindl, DAZ, 11.11.2009
"As a gentle memento against collective madness, intercultural ensemble Sarband try to build „Sacred Bridges“ together with the six King’s Singers …
a sounding jacobs ladder woven from christian, jewish and muslim psalm settings … How enchantingly oriental this may sound! one marvellingly became aware and widely opened one’s classically limited hearing." Lutz Lesle, Die Welt (Germany), 28.01.2008
„Apart from its equally exciting and symbolically strong concept, the performance was also musically convincing …
A concert a long way from any crossover randomness.“ Stä, Hamburger Abendblatt (Germany), 28.01.2008
„The music dances in the ears! … The connecting semantics of the world language music could not be pictured
more beautifully … it sounded as if heaven and earth touched, … an island of bliss, where cultures walked hand in hand.“
Wolfgang Nussbaumer, Gmünder Tagespost (Germany), 20.07.2007
"But yes! The solution of the Near East conflict lies in the hands of music. Tell it to the politicians! The proof was given yesterday evening at the
Accademia di Santa Cecilia." Mya Tannenbaum, Corriere della Sera, Rome, 03.04.2007
„ … Ivanoff effortlessly connected on the concert stage what is utopian on the global stage: that nothing stands between Christians and Jews and Muslims. Except for „and“.“ Michael Tschida, Kronen Zeitung Graz (Austria), 04.06.2006
„A treat for the soul and the intellect … To write about the performance cannot do justice to the spell it cast.
Sacred Bridges aptly fulfilled the vision of a spiritual world without borders.“ Elizabeth & Joe Kahn, Classical Voice of North Carolina, 25.10.2005
„ … this was more than an ordinary concert, this was a ritual celebration of bridge-building that joined people and religions … fascinating unity of voices, instruments and physical expression … completely rounded, amazing and full of hope how people can come together, independent of their origin, religious tradition or even detachment from religion … The Psalms of David are a quite stable roof for understanding.“ Reinhold Lindner, Freie Presse, 19.07.2005
„ … touching the bounds of ecstasy … The merging of the two sound spheres resulted in a caleidoscope, of whose components you would want to miss none.“ Elisabeth Risch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 18.07.2005
„Exciting bridge-building with musical depth … perfectly natural merging of to sound worlds …“ Susanne Dietz, Maintal Tagesanzeiger, 18.07.2005
