Aquarius & Garrett List Ensemble

'We have endured the Israeli occupation for a long time. Even our language and speech have been 'occupied' because we are still only talking about the political situation. I am inclined to listen to my heart in order to resist this confinement.' These words were written by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. He is one of the most important contemporary Arabic authors and, following years of exile, has now been living in Ramallah again for more than 10 years. It was there in 2002 that he wrote 'State of Siege', an exceptionally human, hope-inspiring, 34-stanza poem of resistance. The complete poem was set to music by jazz musician and composer Garret List. This cantata was created at the Festival de Liège in 2005. List did not go looking for direct links between Arab and European music, but Darwish's poetic rhythms unconsciously shine through. During the instrumental passages, the orchestra also finds room for improvisation. Together with his vocal ensemble Aquarius - formerly the Goeyvaerts Consort - composer Marc Michael De Smet is well disposed towards contemporary music. This therefore makes them the ideal artistic partner for this project.