MUHAMMAD
The stage is transformed into a boxing ring: the ensemble Ikarai takes the audience into the tale of the boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
A daring fight between classical, jazz and audio samples of Ali’s famous Rumble in the Jungle and his charismatic speeches.
In MUHAMMAD, the ensemble Ikarai takes on a whole new approach to the sport of boxing. The epic fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaïre (now Congo), The Rumble in the Jungle, is a perfect fit to be given a musical score: rhythmic, gracious, honest but with heavy blows.
The composition of MUHAMMAD premiered in the Bimhuis in Amsterdam in september of 2018 and was widely regarded as a succes. The performance was played over 20 times in The Netherlands, toured through the UK, Germany, Italy and China, was selected to be the Dutch representative to the 12Points Festival in 2019 and was critically acclaimed. It was performed for a private audience including Dutch royalty at the Voorlinden Museum in The Netherlands.
'A pretty musical expose consisting of three strings, piano, bass and drums.'
- Music Frames
FLY
The myth of Icarus, told through sound. A composition that emphasizes that there is ecstacy to be found in freedom and that challenges the age-old moral of the story that pride comes before the fall.
On FLY, the ensemble Ikarai tells the tale of the Greek myth of Icarus in sound. The ancient story is told through the music, and a question arises: ‘was Icarus overconfident and naïve, or brave and free? Is there beauty to be found in his fate?
Once you can fly, all boundaries disappear. FLY tells the story of a boy who took a leap of faith and found ecstacy in freedom.
FLY premiered in 2016 and was performed over 15 times throughout the Netherlands.