'One Collective Breath’ is a new performance work that pays homage to the colourful world of Icelandic choral culture. Situated inside the 'Currently Unnamed Choir', you are intertwined with its members amidst a rehearsal unfolding. Through the highs and lows of learning a new song, what begins as an ordinary evening practice evolves into a living, expanding encounter with a composition. The work is a celebration of our simultaneous existence - exploring community, note by note - the moments we unconsciously share every time we breathe together. Like becoming entangled inside a piece of music, 'One Collective Breath' is an invitation to those who want to have their coffee and cake while singing about it too. Participation not required, but enthusiastically welcomed! 

 

lost-aeti-5.jpg
 
lost-aeti-40.jpg
 
Participants: Brett Smith in association with Hilmar Örn Agnarsson and Kammerkór Suðurlands. 
 
Thanks: Sincere thanks to my teachers, mentors and classmates at Listaháskóli Íslands.  
This would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and generosity of Hilmar Örn Agnarsson and Kammerkór Suðurlands, Meredith and James McClements and the Australian Cultural Fund. 
I am, as always, indebted to my extraordinary and astonishingly attractive family and friends. 
And to Lucy Stoelwinder, thank you for more than I can ever express. No, you hang up.
 
Bio: Brett Smith lives and works in Reykjavík. He is an artist, composer, sound designer and performer currently exploring the threshold into the unknown. His work entangles music composition, live performance, mixed-media installation and improvisation as a way to engage with the unknowable and see, hear and feel it in a new way. 
Originally trained as a jazz saxophonist in Australia, Brett gained experience performing in a variety of ensembles before a period of detachment and discovery completely changed his way of creating. Brett is actively engaged with interdisciplinary practices and unravelling the audience-performer relationship in music performance practice. 
A frequent collaborator with a wide range of musicians, theatre-makers, choreographers and visual artists, Brett continues to act as a creative co-conspirator while cultivating new solo works.
 

One Collective Breath (2020), by LHÍ Sviðslistir