Two Envelopes

Two Envelopes consists of a harpsichordist and a percussionist who find their own adventurous path through the early music and contemporary repertoire in order to go beyond their classical fundament while combining it with theatrical elements and performance, as well as with electronic sounds and audiovisual art.
In our programs we walk on the edges between seriousness and humor, the private and the social and the concept of the classical concert formula. We interpret compositions and work on own creations as well.

During the residency in q-02 our aim is to work on a program that consists of very diverse pieces. We combine pieces of renowned composers (such as Georges Apherghis, Thierry de Mey and Karel Goeyvaerts) with pieces of young Belgian composers (Michael Denis and Julia Emmery and a creation of ourselves). The pieces of Aperghis, de Mey and Goeyvaerts explore genres like musical-theatre and visible music and let us profit from the huge experience that these composers already have. The creations of Michael Denis and Julia Emmery are meant to be new repertoire for the Duo Harpsichord-Percussion, as there is repertoire for this instrumental duo, but most of it is from the years 1970-1990, and we think it is time to find out the possibilities of this duo and the sound of it today. Our own creation Alamento finally is an experiment that is giving a contemporary homage to the medieval music-copyist Petrus Alamire while questioning the relation between early music heritage and contemporary musical expression. The polyphonic music, taken from one of the manuscripts of Petrus Alamire and played on the clavichord, and its ancient sound is treated and revised through techniques that are used in electronic music today. Alamento is a trial to climb new mountains with having the musical heritage in the backpack that sometimes is heavy and sometimes provides precious information to find the right way.

This program is firstly a challenge for us as a duo of classical trained musicians and secondly a confession that we may not hide behind our instruments and our music. The job is not done only by playing a nice interpretation, but that we have to take part in the research for new sounds and expressions.

Lisa Kokwenda Schweiger: Harpsichord, Voice, Performance
Jacob Vanneste: Percussion, Electronics, Performance