Making music made of glass

 
Our loose group of around 4-9 people, has been rehearsing and performing since Autumn 2001. Håkan Almqvist, Girilal Baars and Jan Winter created the basic musical material, with Jörgen Adolfsson, Tuomo Haapala and Chinaski Nymark later adding flesh to the skeleton, so to speak. The instruments of our ensemble were assembled using whatever we could find made of glass and willing to produce a musically useful sound. We had some invaluable help from a glass laboratory at Uppsala University (now defunct). Four singers have also graced our ranks: Horshid Biyabani, Kristina Westas (January 2002, Västerås), Marie Selander (March 2003, Stockholm) and Anita Livstrand (June 2003, Uppsala). Anna Franklin's and Reza Rezvani's poems and performances have also been an integral part of the Glass Orchestra concerts.
 

Our latest performance at the Linneaus' Botanical Garden in Uppsala, impressionistically captured by Lilly Källander

 

Concerts:

25 January 2002, Västerås konstmuseum

28 September 2002, Galleri 1, Uppsala

25 October 2002, Grand Hotell Hörnan, Uppsala

1 March 2003, Kulturhuset, Stockholm

14 June 2003, Orangeriet, Botanical Gardens, Uppsala

19 August 2003, Orangeriet, Botanical Gardens, Uppsala

21 August 2003, Orangeriet, Botanical Gardens, Uppsala

23 October 2009, Stadsbiblioteket, Västerås

 

 

 

A brief history of the project

When Västerås Art Museum in 1999 commissioned Teymor to create the Glass Room, he finally had a setting and a framework within which to realise his idea of having music performed using only glass, an idea we had been talking about for years.

Teymor studied the art of traditional glass mosaiques in Iran for many years as an apprenticeand a professional. Now, many years later, he has refined his techniques far beyond the scope of tradition. His is an open-ended approach towards using glass in his art, which includes sculpture, paintings and installations.

 


Jan Winter and myself blowing
on glass instruments in 2002

     

The Glass Orchestra in Västerås City Library, October 2009

 

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