Ancestral Modernism: EARTH & Tri(o)logy | 20 Years in Denmark
Celebrating 20 years of Ying-Hsueh Chen’s artistic journey in Denmark, Ancestral Modernism: EARTH & Tri(o)logy brings together the primordial voice of Mother Earth, 1,200-year-old Buddhist chant, contemporary masterpieces, and free improvisation in a profound sonic journey across time and continents.
Programme
16:00 Doors open
16:30 EARTH // Solo by Lê Quan Ninh
A single bass drum becomes a vessel for primordial sounds—evoking the hidden voices of the Earth: the rumbling of a storm, the trembling of the ground, the emergence of life, and the forces of nature that surround and precede us.
Lê Quan Ninh is internationally renowned for his unique presence and extraordinary improvisational voice. In this intimate solo performance, he transforms the drum into a vast sonic landscape through subtle gestures, objects, silence, resonance, and vibration.
Through free improvisation, Lê Quan Ninh reveals a raw and astonishing sound world, at once ancient and strikingly contemporary.
17:00–18:00 Ancestral Modernism: Tri(o)logy
Junko Ueda (JP) — shōmyō, Japanese Buddhist chant
Lê Quan Ninh (FR) — percussion
Ying-Hsueh Chen (TW/DK) — percussion
Tri(o)logy brings together Japanese Buddhist chant, free improvisation, and contemporary masterpieces in a deeply immersive listening experience.
For more than 1,200 years, shōmyō, the ritual chant of Japanese Buddhism, has been transmitted from generation to generation. Its powerful simplicity continues to resonate with audiences today.
Alongside this living tradition, the trio performs contemporary masterpieces inspired by Buddhism and Japanese aesthetics, including John Cage’s Ryoanji and selections from Karlheinz Stockhausen’s For Times to Come, composed following his visit to Japan for Expo ’70.
Together, the three musicians move freely between ancient chant, contemporary composition, and improvisation, inviting listeners into a profound experience of sound, silence, and serenity.
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20 Years in Denmark
Twenty years ago, 22-year-old Ying-Hsueh Chen arrived in Denmark with a dream of becoming a classical and contemporary percussionist. Over the years, her artistic journey has taken her beyond the boundaries of contemporary music, toward a deeper fascination with humanity’s oldest ways of listening, sounding, and creating.
Ancestral Modernism grew from this journey. The series reflects the artistic world she has developed through encounters with ancestral traditions, contemporary composition, and free improvisation. By bringing together musicians from different cultures and generations, she explores what these seemingly distant musical worlds have in common—and how they can speak to one another through sound.
This 20-year anniversary concert brings that journey together: from the primordial voice of the Earth, through 1,200 years of Buddhist chant, to contemporary masterpieces and spontaneous improvisation.
The concert is a collaboration with Koncertkirken, and is kindly supported by Koda Kultur, København Kommune Musikudvalg, Solist Forening Art Music Denmark & Statens Kunstfond