The Calls (2022)
(for 18 solo voices)

The Calls was collaboration between artist Brendan Fernandes, composer Niels Rosing-Schow, curator Catherine Lefebvre, fashion designer Henrik Vibskov and The Danish National Vocal Ensemble.

Conceived by Brendan Fernandes, the singers perform words that touch on the unprecedented moment of pandemic and protest we have been living through. Playing on contemporary and mythological associations of the word “sirens” the music includes the sounds of the sea of police sirens. The performers will enact the motive behind this work: a collective call to change our course. The singers change positions and move among the audience during the performance. Special dresses for the performers were created for the first performance by the artist and fashion designer Henrik Vibskov. 

The Calls exists in three versions:
1) 18 solo voices 5.4.4.5 (original version)
2) 16 solo voices 4.4.4.4
3) Installation art. Niels Rosing-Schow has made a surround-sound version to be used at art galleries and festivals. Contact the publisher for more info. 

'We are navigating the changes in our lives brought on by a global pandemic and demanding changes from governments that continue to disenfranchise communities and fund systems that undermine our safety and civil rights. Living in Chicago, Illinois, a consequence of this unprecedented year has been the constant sound of sirens around me. The sound signals, for me, the breaking down of a corrupt and fragile system. It is the sound of a system that has not protected or valued my body. It is the sound of a system trying to force itself back into order, in all the places where so many of us are asking for change. The work aims to push the notion of collaboration and to explore new ways that we can express solidarity in these times.'

- Brendan Fernandes

'I felt a strong need to find ways to articulate the emotional space of the crisis brought on by the pandemic, and not least paths towards openings, hope and inclusion, which were in the same period articulated by the movement Black Lives Matter. With The Calls, based on Brendan Fernandes’ text and concept, the opportunity came to bring the conflict and dreams related to our time to life in compositional, spatial-visual form.'

- Niels Rosing-Schow