Ensemble Sarband
Artistic Director: Vladimir Ivanoff
“Sarband” means connection. In Mid-Eastern music theory, this word signifies
a link between two compositions within a musical suite,
but it also is a term for the turban, one of the typical traditional Oriental headdresses.
Ensemble Sarband gives both meanings a musical sense:
it invites most diverse audiences as well as most diverse performers “to come together”;
it “binds” them to cultural experiences previously perceived as alien.
Musical director Dr. Vladimir Ivanoff, who founded Sarband in 1986, connects cultures, people and epochs,
both as a scholar and a musician: His programs unite musicians from widely different cultures and musical backgrounds
and mediate between past and present, Early Music and living traditions.
The cooperation in the ensemble is not a fashionable crossover, but conceived as a continuous dialogue on equal terms.
All the artists unrestrictedly contribute their native traditions, their personal histories and their own creativity
to the programs, so that Sarband also becomes a musical training ground for communication
and tolerance between different cultural identities.
While today the religious, economic, cultural and political differences between Orient and Occident are in the focus
of public attention, Sarband endeavor to show that music was always not mere decoration,
but an enlightened means of mutual respect and can even today be an example for understanding and acceptance,
a model of peace.
With their programs, Sarband often open up whole new musical levels to the listener,
levels, which had hitherto been unrecognizably wrapped in the veils of folklore.
Programs with Early Music repertoires link historically informed European performance practice
with the living traditions of the Mediterranean. In co-operations with other ensembles
(for example the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, RIAS Chamber Choir,
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, King's Singers, Concerto Köln, Mystère des Voix Bulgares),
distinctions between cultures and religions, between old and new are fathomed;
historical and modern concepts of the Other and the Foreign are reflected between the performers and the audience.
With this unique repertoire, stretching from early Chinese music to Sami joiks,
from Early Oriental Christian chant to the music of Gurdjieff, Sarband have gained an international reputation,
released numerous CDs and performed
at many international venues and festivals; mentioning only a few:
1989: Berliner Festspiele / 1991: Istanbul-Festival / 1992: Romanischer Sommer, Cologne /
1993: Internationale Funkausstellung, Berlin / 1994: Abbaye de Sylvanès / 1995: Stimmen Lörrach /
1996: Copenhagen, Cultural Capital of Europe / 1997: Thessaloniki, Cultural Capital of Europe / Jerusalem 2000 /
1998: 900 Years Hildegard von Bingen / Baalbek-Festival, Lebanon / Festival Oude Muziek, Utrecht /
1999: Boston Early Music Festival / Festival van Vlaanderen, Bruges / 2000: Library of Congress, Washington / Spitalfields Festival, London / Styriarte, Graz / 2001: Lufthansa Baroque Festival, London /
2002: Dresdner Festspiele / Bruges, Cultural Capital of Europe / 2003: Festival de Madrid / Festival de Menton /
2004: Ludwigsburger Festspiele / Vezelay Cathedral / 2005: Komische Oper, Berlin / Rheingau-Festival /
Lincoln Center, New York / UCLA, Los Angeles / Rheingau Musikfestival /
2006: Frauenkirche, Dresden / Lincoln Center, New York / 2007: Konzerthaus, Vienna / Accademia di Sa. Cecilia, Rome / Singapore Arts Festival / 2008: Philharmonie Berlin / Théâtre de la Ville, Paris /
Frankfurt Book Fair / 2009: Sheik Zayed Book Award, Abu Dhabi / Beethovenfest Bonn / Musikverein Wien /
2010: Schwetzinger Festspiele, Flanders Festival, Bruges / Ruhrtriennale Bochum /
2011: Tonfolgen (Sarband Festival) / Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, White Light Festival, New York /
2012: Dresden Philharmonic / Turkey Now, Netherlands / Holland Festival, Amsterdam.
Sarband received numerous awards, among them: Grammy Nomination "Traditional Music" 1992 / Echo Klassik 2003 and 2006 / Premio Mousiké 2007 / German World Music Award 2008.
"Sarband's music speaks for itself - their message of intercultural understanding does not need any explanations"
Frank Heindl, DAZ, 11.11.2009
"… voices that transport us to other worlds …" Martin Caroso, ABC, 27.10.2009
"The result is simply fascinating. A sounding plea for tolerance and peace."
Elisabeth Schwind, Südkurier (Germany), 10.07.2008
"A huge sensitivity for sound and a genuine understanding of musical expressions of different continents and cultures."
Hans Rühl, Rheinische Post, 23.12.08
"It was a performance heightened into Magic … an authentic drama of cultic intensity." Matthias Wagner, Kronenzeitung, Graz, 12.07.2008
"Ensemble Sarband plays and sings the stars out of the sky."
Danielle de Regt, De Standaard (Belgium), 11.2.2008
"An immense ode to peace" Alain Maestracci, Nice Matin (France), 10.08.2003