Sirba Octet ǀ Schola de Sion

With the Tsuzamen project (‘together’ in Yiddish), the Sirba Octet, an ensemble of musicians drawn from the greatest Parisian orchestras, has shared a humanist creation across Europe, accompanied in every city by children’s and youth choirs. Through songs, lullabies and poems, the ensemble pays tribute to three peoples scarred by genocide: Roma, Jews and Armenians, whose paths of exile have crossed all over Europe, bearing their languages and cultures with them. At Noda BCVS, we are fortunate enough to experience this adventure with the Schola de Sion, the heir, since 1930, to the tradition of the medieval choral schools (or ‘maîtrises’), where musical training and spiritual legacy go hand in hand. Under the inspired baton of Marc Bochud, a conductor renowned for both the great sacred repertoire and contemporary works, the young voices unite with the instrumentalists, who were trained in preparation for the project by Richard Schmoucler, violinist and Artistic Director of the Sirba Octet. The klezmer-style clarinet and the crystalline tones of the cimbalom enter into a dialogue with the strings, responding to the children’s voices in Cyrille Lehn’s carefully constructed arrangements. From scene to scene, these wandering songs finally find a new home: that of a vibrant ensemble where memory and hope move together with a single breath.