“The composer meLê yamomo will receive the Open Ear Award on November 2, which the Trillende Lucht Foundation awards to composers who “show a world of their own” in their work. The awards ceremony will take place during the November Music festival. With cellist Eurico Ferreira Mathias, yamomo presents his lecture-performance ‘Eigenschwingungen – Forces of Overtones.’ Charlie Crooijmans spoke to yamomo via Zoom, who, as an academic, chooses his words carefully. His voluminous monograph ‘Theatre and Music in Manila and the Asia Pacific, 1869-1946’ is a standard work.”

“The idea for his new performance arose in Berlin, where meLê is active as a composer, researcher and theater maker. He conducted a study of sound archives in Berlin and other cities in the context of the postcolonial history of sound and media. He incorporated his research into a triptych, of which Eigenschwingungen – Forces of Overtones is the final part. The first two parts are entitled Echoing Europe – Postcolonial Reverberations and Sonus — the sound within us.

“The dramaturge Fabian Larsson suggested using that German term for the third part. ‘Eigenschwingungen’ literally means ‘natural vibrations’ and also refers to two bodies resonating with each other. Just like we talk to each other now,” meLê explains.”

Read the full interview (in Dutch) on the New Music Now website.