How often someone says after a concert, “that instrument sounded like a human voice!”. In our deep conviction that the role of the human voice has been reborn in recent decades as a leading and powerful source of musical material, Fonema Consort presents Singing Instruments as part of a partnership with the Chicago Park District. This program showcases the use of vocal resources to transform instrumental writing, through the influential music of Kaija Saariaho, Georges Aperghis, and the seductive, fully imaginative sounds of Chicago's Katherine Young. Phonemes (which inspired the name of our consort) merge with traditional flute performance in Saariaho's "Laconisme d'aile"; BeMitzraim demands the utmost of the percussionist as he both sings and plays; and the organic use of non-traditional instruments by our vocalists defines the identity of Young's new work. this program culminates with the ultimate crossroads between instrumentalist and vocalist, converging in the music theater of Aperghis' Les sept crimes de l'amour.

Georges Aperghis, Les sept crimes de l'amour, for soprano, clarinet and percussion Dániel Péter Biró, BeMitzraim for singing percussionist Kaija Saariaho, Lachonisme de l’aile for solo flute Stratis Minakakis, new work for two voices playing percussion Katherine Young, New work for two sopranos, bass clarinet and baritone saxophone