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Music clears space for emotions and thoughts, but it also makes room for mindfulness and mediation. We have decided to capitalize on that created space and to devote a piece of our art to SOS Children's Villages Worldwide. Our goal is to reach out to those who listen to our music and try get them engaged in the organisation.

 

Wir feiern dieses Jahr zwanzig Jahre Sjaella. Neben zahlreichen Gastspielen weltweit möchten wir dieses Jubiläum mit zwei Eigenveranstaltungen in unserer Heimatstadt Leipzig zelebrieren:

Am 1. Juni 2025 erklingt unser Programm „Cantico" in der Heilandskirche Leipzig (@westkreuz_leipzig ).Fur diesen besonderen Abend haben wir den Zinkenisten Josué Meléndez Peláez eingeladen. Freut euch auf Hohelied-Vertonungen aus der Renaissance und dem Barock von Eleonora d'Este, Clemens non Papa und Michael Franck, Werke von Heinrich Schütz sowie zeitgenössische Kompositionen von Laura Marconi, Caroline Shaw und Shara Nova. Erzählt durch historische Verzierungen und neue Text-und Tonsprache ist „Cantico" ein Lobgesang auf die Liebe, die Facetten der Weiblichkeit und die Schönheit des Lebens.

Wir freuen uns auf euren Besuch!

Tickets gibt es ab sofort hier

After our debut tour in Australia in July 2023, one thing was certain: we were captivated by the continent and its incredible people on the other side of the world, and we couldn’t wait to return – the sooner, the better. Today, we are thrilled to share the tour dates for our second Australian tour, scheduled for July 2025. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to all the exceptional partners who make this tour possible!

We are very happy to announce that the virtual reality opera From Dust by Michel van der Aa will premiere on December 3 in Rotterdam. You can find all dates here.

Synopsis:

Step into a realm where reality blurs and identity shifts. In From Dust, we — the vocal ensemble Sjaella — invite you into an experience unlike any other, a virtual reality opera crafted uniquely by and for you, powered by AI. This groundbreaking work, composed and directed by Michel van der Aa, merges technology and art to bring you closer to the essence of human connection.

Imagine: you enter a dark, mysterious space. Before you, a cloud of shimmering particles swirls, moving as if alive, like a flock of starlings in flight. With a simple gesture, you reach out, and the particles respond, transforming into the figure of a woman. As you interact with her, she begins to shift, and suddenly another version of her emerges. Both figures gaze deeply into your eyes, and then — together — they begin to sing. Let our voices guide you on this journey, where boundaries dissolve and the self transforms.

Are you a spectator or a participant in this world?

During this 24-minute journey, each audience-of-one will take part in a personalized story. Through interacting with their surroundings, the audience will meet the protagonist and her five alter egos, performed by the six members of vocal ensemble Sjaella. The audiences themselves are the ones who create new worlds by walking through and touching the installation, bringing the various alter egos to life.

This multi-sensory experience will be tailored for each audience member with generative AI. As a co-creator, you are the counterpart of the main character. You do not just passively watch but actively shape your own story. (All personal data and images are destroyed on completion of the experience.)

Van der Aa has made a career of integrating music and theatre with cutting-edge video and sound technology. His VR installation Eight garnered a headline in the New York Times, “A Breakthrough for Virtual Reality in Classical Music”. From Dust builds on these groundbreaking achievements, and will tell its story through music, live interaction and immersive visuals.

Con Alma 

A documentary by Marta Ferrer Carne & Pedro González Rubio

Production by una comunión

So grateful to have been part of this journey! The first screening of the film will take place tomorrow at 5 PM within the International Film Festival Guanajuato in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Synopsis

Magos Herrera and Paola Prestini, two renowned musicians and composers of the international contemporary scene, created a long- distance strategy through music to build community and foster empathy in a time of uncertainty and pain. From this collaboration, and with the participation of more than 30 outstanding musicians from different parts of the world, the album “Con Alma” was born. In 2022 they decide to take this music to reconnect and heal through live concerts and ultimately bring the conversation of care to the most important global conference on gender equality at the UN headquarters in New York, celebrating resilience and speaking through their artistic voices to transform. A journey full of emotions, achievements and obstacles, where collective creation builds friendship, solidarity and possible futures for the next generations. 

 

We are over the moon to announce that we are part of the opera production "Primero Sueño de Sor Juana," composed by the dream team Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera, commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and VisionIntoArt. The first performances of the opera will be in January 2025 at The Met Cloisters in NYC. In the last ten days, we had the enormous pleasure of starting to bring this piece to life in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), with a team full of love and trust.

 

Director: Louisa Proske

Choreography: Jorrell Lawyer Jefferson

Costume Design: Andrea Lauer

Mask & Props Designer: David Herrera

Gutar & Theorbo: Luca Tarantino

Harp: Celso Duarte

VIA Impact Lab Fellow: Yuririal Fanjul

VIA Impact Lab Fellow / Design Assistant: Kari Love

Ihr habt im Juni noch dreimal die Möglichkeit, euch GISELLE in der Oper Leipzig anzuschauen:

9. Juni, 17 Uhr

12. Juni, 19:30 Uhr

29. Juni, 19 Uhr