Large Bird Mask

Wallin/Skøien’s Large Bird Mask is a 60-minute scenic concert performance about endangered birds and our relationship with them. The performance

consists of the piano concerto Seven Disobediences, the ensemble piece Birds Within Us with the three movements Straling, Nightingale and Skylark , as well as improvisation and theatre.

We are increasingly made aware of animal species on the brink of extinction. The populations of many common birds have been more than halved in the matter of a few decades. This has led composer Rolf Wallin and director Kjetil Skøien to ask: when we exterminate the birds, do we also exterminate what they symbolise deep within us? The dream of flying, the dream of singing freely and exuberantly and indeed the very dream of freedom?

Cikada’s musicians use their instruments to “become birds”: The music they play is extracted from the song of some of the endangered bird species,

stretched in time so that our slow ears can appreciate their fascinating melodic swirls. And with text and choreography they move into a larger scenic unity,

with projected images and videos telling the story of these fantastic creatures and our vulnerable relationship with them.

Large Bird Mask was premiered at Ultima in September 2019, as part of marking Cikada’s 30th anniversary. The work was commissioned by Cikada and

supported by the Arts Council Norway.

The concert is a part of Hamar Chambermusic Festival and is a collaboration between Cikada, Hamar kulturhus and Hamar Chambermusic Festival

Link to tickets here