Geçişler

**TRANSITIONS [ÜBERGÄNGE]** **Gerhard Stäbler and Kunsu Shim** **Hezarfen Ensemble String Quartet** The performance titled TRANSITIONS [ÜBERGÄNGE], which will have its Turkish premiere at Arter on Wednesday, October 28th, centers around new compositions for string quartet by Gerhard Stäbler and Kunsu Shim. Building upon the numerous world premieres that the two composers have presented at Arter in previous years, the project brings together Stäbler and Shim's compositional practices with videos by Anton Lukoszevieze, Kyungwoo Chun, and Taejoong Kim. The program references Turkish-German relations in the first half of the 20th century through Paul Hindemith's String Trio No. 2, and pays homage to Turkey's contemporary music tradition through a string quartet composition by Ahmed Adnan Saygun, and concludes with a new work by the young composer Taygun Yıldız. TRANSITIONS [ÜBERGÄNGE] explores the phenomenon of "transitions" – something we encounter every day in everyday life and in art – and also on a philosophical level – through music and art. The notion of transitions points to changes that are not yet clearly visible. This uncertainty inherent in the process of becoming is precisely what defines transitions. Transitions empower us and encourage us to be brave. While calling for clarity, they also require vigilance. The unknown is like a lamp that shines between darkness and light: it can be extinguished, but it can also emit a very bright light. This uncertain process of becoming can easily be exploited for manipulative purposes. Above all, many of the new agendas that emerge in today's politics and society – promising a better future through the latest technologies – aim to establish a pervasive influence over the masses and to minimize all the nuances between light and darkness. In doing so, they seek to erase heterotopias – symbols of freedom that represent the uncertain, the indefinable, the unspeakable, and the invisible. In an aphorism from the book *Passagen, Durchgänge, Übergänge [Passages, Passageways, Transitions]*, Walter Benjamin warns us early on: "The emergence of science, the emergence of art, the emergence of the state and law. Thus, the religion of the soul – all the beliefs we hold for the soul – is taken from us. It stems from the false romanticism of believing that we must see the extraordinary not in the emergence of humanity and in the history of humanism, but in each of the infinite individual things. It is precisely at this point that music and art come into play, for they refine perception and thought, allowing us to see beyond manipulation and to redirect our senses, guided by common sense, back to humanity." A joint project by Kunsu Shim and Gerhard Stäbler, featuring the Hezarfen Ensemble String Quartet (Istanbul) and the EarPort Trio (Duisburg). **Performers:** Hezarfen Ensemble String Quartet Özcan Ulucan (Violin) İmge Tilif Yalçınkaya (Violin) Ulrich Mertin (Viola) Mehmet Gökhan Bağcı (Cello) **EarPort Trio** Elisabeth von Leliwa Kunsu Shim Gerhard Stäbler **Music, performances, and videos:** George Brecht, Alican Çamcı, Kyungwoo Chun, Paul Hindemith, Taejoong Kim, Anton Lukoszevieze, Ahmed Adnan Saygun, Kunsu Shim, Gerhard Stäbler, and Taygun Yıldız Supported by the NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia) Arts Foundation and the NRW Ministry of Culture and Science.