KARACHI: The Goethe-Institut Pakistan in cooperation with the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany is hosting a young classical music ensemble, the Arcis Saxophone Quartet, here on a multi-city tour of Pakistan.
The young musicians, based in Munich, are in the middle of a global tour, having previously made stops in Bahrain, Turkey, United States, with the Canary Islands and Italy next, before returning back to Germany.
The group – consisting of Claus Hierluksch on the soprano saxophone, Ricarda Fuss on the alto saxophone, Edoardo Zotti on the tenor saxophone and Jure Knez on the baritone saxophone – was upbeat and excited during its first visit to Pakistan, looking forward to introducing western classical music to a local audience. They are slated to perform at the Arts Council on March 9 before moving to Quetta.
On the importance of such endeavours, especially at a time of such political turmoil within the European world, Consul General Holger Ziegeler explained how “cultural exchange is the first step towards understanding each other.”
“Particularly when it brings a person’s face to a different culture, when you hear how somebody perform music, you get an immediate understanding despite the fact that it sounds different,” he told a group of journalists on Monday.
“The language of music is a language that everybody understands, and that is particularly why I help musicians visit the countries in which I am working.”
Claus Hierluksch shed light on the group’s current tour and the different cities they’ve been visiting, saying they have been enjoying experiencing different people and cultures, especially observing different countries approaches to music.
On what the group has planned on their return to Germany, he shed light on how it plans to experiment with different genres by collaborating with synchronised dancers, incorporating contemporary ballet into their performances.
He added how they are going to be employing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the creative process when building out this collaborative piece, delving into questions like whether AI can create art.
“For the last two years we have been trying to incorporate an element of movement into their performances, and have been trying to create a new genre of music,” he said. “AI is experimental, especially in classical music, for example, sketches of Beethoven’s 10th symphony have been input into AI to produce a symphony, but with rudimentary results so it’s very, very new.
“AI, while interesting to experiment with, however, cannot replace actual human effort and research. The imperfection and struggle is what is interesting in the end.”
Zotti added, “The addition of AI just makes music and collaboration more inspiring, interesting, and gives us a new avenue of sharing and communicating art.”
The group, speaking about what it is like to tour again and perform in front of a live audience, explained how a physical connection in the moment and connecting with the audience is the most important thing. “The audience is an integral part of the experience.”
The group, while in Pakistan, is also looking to collaborate with Pakistani composers, trying to blend the best of both cultures in their attempt to experiment and form new genres.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022