2023 04 29-30 Ragged Music Festival ENG - Website

Introduction
The Ragged Music Festival was born in a Victorian classroom of the Ragged School Museum
in East London. Inspired by the stripped down authenticity of the space, we set out to carve
out room for honest and adventurous music-making among the noise of everyday life.
Starting as a small sanctuary, a half-secret
musical rite, we were thrilled to witness the
tremendous success of the concept and are
now bringing it to Amsterdam as an exciting
new adventure. We will embark on an intense
two days musical journey together with a small
group of musicians who we love and admire.
Our program is devised in such a way that
every concert is a self-standing statement in
its own right, while when put together, they
add up to an epic narrative. You are welcomed
to pick a concert or two, or to join us for all of
them and discover the whole story.
The effect of a space on both the listeners
and musicians is fascinating: brought to life
by sound, a space in turn shapes the music
and our feelings in its own unique personal
way. There is something ethereal about the
solid yet airy building of Muziekgebouw. Is
it even built on firm ground - or on transient
water? Like a ghost tree from a transparent
seed, our programme has grown from this
mysterious ambiguity. The astonishing late
masterpieces by Shostakovich frame the
succession of somber visions and revelations
where mature pieces by his spirit fellows form
cryptic combinations revealing unsuspected
rhymes. In their dark autumnal voices, they
tell a mesmerizing story of transition: between
evening and night, live breath and vacuum,
existence and nothingness.
Pavel Kolesnikov & Samson Tsoy
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