a room with a view by instinc air anicia Kohler(Switzerland)
Hundreds of cargo ships crowd the sea around the harbour. They lie there comfortably, enjoying the nice view and the sea breeze cooling them in the tropical weather. They are waiting, in transition, and they are barely moving, some not at all. Until they are ordered to go into the harbour, they can do as they please, as long as they stay in place, but what if they don‘t want to? What might the crew do to pass the time, what might they think about? New grounds to break, new lands to conquer? CARGO SONGS - a collection of short music pieces for string trio.
Cargo Songs
Anicia Kohler | Composition
Christina Xinxue Zhou | Vio
Benjamin Wong Kin Chung | Viola
Ryan Sim | Cell
A room with a view
Matthias Kohler
29 Nov 2013
Instinc SOHO was filled with a melodic sound. Instead of the usual artwork and banter over wine, the space was filled with emotions and images evoked by the compositions of Anicia Kohler and the jazz blue vibe of Matthias Kolher.
Advocating that everyone should listen to a song a day, a selection of images documenting the couple’s daily experiences paired with a recommended song were displayed on a wall. The documentation gave insights into their stay in Singapore, as well as their wit and interpretation of what would appear to be mundane to the local. For example, pairing the city skyline with Gil Evans Orchestra - Where Flamingos Fly, or a travel agency’s advertisements paired with Sfjazz Collective’s Do I Do … Brilliant!
Cargo Songs depicted compositions of Anicia’s first impressions as her plane landed into Changi International Airport. Hovering over the vessels waiting patiently in the water, local musicians, Christina, Benjamin and Ryan brought those visions to live as they played Anicia’s compositions. Entitled Would You Like to Go AWOL, Follow Me and Sufficient Numbers, the pieces entailed imagined tales of cargo ships. The scenes of vessels along Changi unfolds in one’s mind as the song and melody unfolds before your ears. The close proximity to the musicians was invigorating as one was immersed in the intensity, focus and concentration to execute the pieces. The reverberation of the sound, coupled with the breathing of the musicians was electrifying.
A Room With a View was Matthia’s ode to his experiences in Singapore. The mood and atmosphere was light hearted and informal as Matthia shared anecdotes of these experiences. Local experiences such as being too loud for the Instinc neighbours or being introduced to the tropical Jackfruit inspired new pieces, such as Jackfruit. Blue for Wei saw him paying tribute to his friend Wei, while he improvised on an old favourite on Christopher 1.
The intimacy of the space and the personal nature of the musicians brought a new quality and acoustics to the Instinc space. It was a bona fide performance as the musicians packed up their bags to catch their flight immediately after the rendition, leaving the guests to mingle over Swiss chocolates (the musicians are Swiss) and wine.
Text by: By Fann ZJ