BEFORE THE WIND
Exhibition and multi-layered vocal production for voice, choir, live video, live electronic in the Diözesanmuseum Paderborn
March 28 - September 20, 2025: Exhibition in dialog with the collection
September 20 & 21, 2025: 3 UA for voice, live electronics, live video, girls' choir
Concept & artistic direction:
Franziska Baumann (CH): voice, performance, composition for voice, choir, and sonic staging
Claudia Brieske (D): video, visual composition, editing, video production
Collaborators:
Girls' choir of the Paderborn Cathedral conducted by Patrick Cellnik
Scenic direction: Angela Bürger (CH)
Technical assistance: José del Avellanal (E/D)
Production: Diözesanmuseum Paderborn, Christiane Ruhmann
Drawings, videos, sound and video installations:
Claudia Brieske & Franziska Baumann
Costumes:
Carlota Castella (E) and Franziska Baumann (CH)
Curation of exhibition:
Dr. Christiane Ruhmann
Premieres
"Before The Wind" is a sonic and visual reflection on wind as a timeless and powerful natural phenomenon. At the center of this New Opera production is wind as a symbolic and sonic force — transformed into a central instrument through voice, gestural live electronics, immersive video, and spatial staging. The piece draws on allegorical and metaphorical imagery to reference archetypal themes of transience, breath, and continuity across time.
The voices of the Mädchenkantorei Paderborn give form to the elemental and mythic feminine — evoking sirens, winds, and echoes of past generations. Franziska Baumann’s compositional approach blends archaic vocal expression, minimalism, spoken text choreography, and musique concrète into a multi-layered vocal landscape. Her "alchemistic" technique is rooted in individualized creative processes tailored to the young singers.
These staged vocal elements are brought into dialogue with Claudia Brieske’s immersive video environments. Brieske’s visual compositions — layered, amorphous, and responsive — envelop the audience and performers alike, creating a constantly shifting architecture of light and image. The result is a deeply atmospheric, sensorial performance that blurs the boundaries between concert, installation, and ritual.
Videos
Audiovisual installations at the Diocesan Museum in Paderborn, March 28–September 20, 2025.
During a field trip to the Cape Verdean island of Boa Vista in December 2024, three wind figures and “body scores” designed in the desert landscape were developed. For the exhibition, these were realized as video installations (Brieske/Baumann), graphic scores (Baumann), and sound installations (Brieske/Baumann).
Wind figures: Documentation and Exhibition
Videos
Wind figure 1 docu
Wind figure 1 Installation small
Wind figure 2 docu
Wind figure 3 docu
Wind figure 3 Installation
Capo Verde - Boa vista - Fieldtrip docu