monastery

Saxony: A divine break in the St. Marienthal monastery

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Whe comes here for the first time in the romantic valley of the Neisse in the border triangle Germany-Poland-Czech Republic, rubs his eyes in amazement. On the German side of the river, close to the border with Poland, there seems to be a fairytale castle. With domes, towers and decor in the Bohemian Baroque style.

And yet St. Marienthal is nothing less than that. Behind the magnificent facades, simplicity, obedience and renunciation prevail. Women who have dedicated their lives to God and their community live here.

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The music sculpted on the portico of the monastery of Ripoll will cross the Pyrenees

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The project focused on the instruments that appear on the portal of the monastery of Ripoll, Waking up sleeping instruments, will arrive in France with two concerts and an immersive exhibition. The European project, led by Ripoll City Council and in collaboration with the European Union’s Creative Europe program, has been working for some time on the most reliable possible reproduction of the musical instruments sculpted in the Stone Bible. and now begins its international adventure with various activities in the abbeys of Fontfreda and Valgmagna organized by the French partner of the initiative, Trob’ArtProductions.

The exhibition will present a video, made in Ripoll by the company Trimersiva, in which it is shown how “the sleeping instruments of the portal of the monastery wake up and how the sounds travel space and time to connect the European citizens with their past common through music and its instruments ”. It will be done by means of an immersive 180º projection inside a dome made especially for this project.

The first stage where the show will arrive will be the abbey of Fontfreda (Aude), near Narbonne, where you can visit from 10 to 25 September. The abbey itself will also host a Troubadours Art Ensemble concert in which some musicians from the countries participating in the European project, Catalonia, France and Cyprus will take part. The concert will take place on the evening of September 29th.

From September 26 to October 9, the exhibition will move to the abbey of Valmanya (Erau), the same concert will also be played on October 3.

During the stay of European artists in France, a CD will be recorded in a studio in Toulouse to offer a sample of the common musical past of Catalonia and its connection with the music that was composed in France, Italy and Cyprus and the instruments who interpret them. Registration will take place from September 29 to October 3.

Resumption of activities

In addition, the international activities of the project also continue in the other partner countries, with music courses and local concerts. It is also planned to resume the programming of events with the participation of all the musicians involved, both in Italy and in Cyprus, next year 2021 after the forced stop by the covid-19.

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