Ania Karpowicz, Dominik Strycharski

Syrena:re is a concept programme by Ania Karpowicz and Dominik Strycharski for two flutists and tape. It reinvents and recycles musical motifs released on vinyl by the iconic Syrena Rekord label in pre-war Warsaw. The tape features poignant voices of synagogue cantors, fragments of popular songs, and blended sounds of the Shmul Weinberg orchestra. By using extended techniques and a variety of flutes representing diverse timbres, the artists combine the work of memory with unconstrained improvisation.

“From old, and long forgotten recordings, they capture snippets of musical phrases, weaving them into an intelligent, witty, or moody narrative. The driving force behind the project is the clash of oppositions: the confrontation of two very different artistic personalities, as well as the tension between the analog sound and the music making emerging here and now.”

Syrena:re immerses the listener in a soundscape of a world that has irrevocably vanished by choosing the exposure of flaws and distortions as its creative method. Ania Karpowicz and Dominik Strycharski draw inspiration from the multicultural richness of bygone Warsaw, concurrently opening up the reprocessed archive material for experimentation and unrestrained playfulness.