House of Sound

Wojtek Blecharz, a Polish composer and oboe player, graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and a doctoral student at the University of California in San Diego has made his name known not only in Poland but also in the world. For a long time he has been concerned with the subject of presence of the human in the world of sound. The background for his reflections are social phenomena connected to music that are associated with participation in music-making or its disappearance. Blecharz regrets that currently only few composers write music for broad audiences, while until the Second World War representatives of various social groups would spend their free time making music for the pleasure of the company and communing with the works and masterpieces of the greatest masters. “The House of Sound” is a performative installation which lets the audience become more actively involved in music than usually, while the type of music positions you in the society and helps to create the canvas for divisions, snobberies, and social games. Wojtek Blecharz strives to obtain a perfect performance of his score, creating “a consonant community”.

A positive context for “The House of Sound” is the former House (Centre) of Culture, a regular meeting place where people spend time together, which bestows a greater sense on music than having it produced in most prestigious concert and philharmonic halls, as it provides a platform for establishing long-term ties and connections.

Wojtek Blecharz’s project does not require all the scores for the musical meetings, as plenty of the parts are written live by the participants, welcomed to develop themes and improvise around them, and even propose some of their own. This is when they become the residents of The House of Sound.

Director and Music: Wojtek Blecharz

Dramaturgy: Ariel Efraim Ashabel

Lights, Stills, Video: Michał Jankowski

Cast: Bożena Adamek, Lidia Bogaczówna, Halina Jarczyk, Ewelina Przyzbyła, Andrzej Bonarek, Tadeusz Zięba

Musicians: Sara Haber, Dariusz Rogowski