Ensemble Sarband
Artistic Director: Vladimir Ivanoff
The Ensemble Sarband stands for connection - and, indeed, the name itself is a word which stems from Oriental music theory and denotes
the improvised linking of two compositions within a musical suite. Musical director Dr. Vladimir Ivanoff, who founded Sarband in 1986, connects cultures, people and epochs, as both a scholar and a musician: His programmes unite musicians from widely different cultures
and backgrounds and mediate between past and present, Early Music and living traditions.
In the world of Sarband, musicians from Bulgaria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Sweden, China, Great Britain, Japan, Italy and Germany perform together. The cooperation in the ensemble is not merely a fashionable crossover, but conceived as a continuous dialogue on equal terms.
All artists unrestrictedly contribute their native traditions, their personal histories and their own creativity to the programmes.
While today the religious, economic, cultural and political differences between the Orient and Occident are the focus of public attention, Sarband endeavours to show that music was always not mere decoration, but an enlightened means of mutual respect and can still be that
in the present: an example for understanding and acceptance, a model of peace.
Programmes with Early Music repertoires link historically informed European performance with the living traditions of the Mediterranean.
In cooperations with other ensembles (for example the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, King's Singers, Concerto Köln, Modern String Quartet, Mystère des Voix Bulgares), differences between cultures and religions, between old and new are investigated. Here Sarband often likes to devote itselve to the Ottoman Empire as a culturally developed, tolerant political unity of many different peoples and religions
with a rich musical heritage.
With an unique repertoire, Sarband has gained an international reputation, released more than twenty CDs and performed
at many international venues and festivals; mentioning only a few:
1989: Horizonte - Berliner Festspiele / 1991: Istanbul-Festival / 1992: Romanischer Sommer, Cologne / 1993: Internationale Funkausstellung, Berlin / 1994: Abbaye de Sylvanès / 1995: Stimmen Lörrach / 1996: Copenhagen, Cultural Capital of Europe / 1997: Thessaloniki, Cultural Capital of Europe / Jerusalem 2000 / Schleswig-Holstein-Festival / 1998: 900 Years Hildegard von Bingen / Baalbek-Festival, Lebanon / Festival Oude Muziek, Utrecht / 1999: Boston Early Music Festival / Festival van Vlaanderen, Bruges / 2000: Library of Congress, Washington / Spitalfields Festival, London / Styriarte, Graz / 2001: Lufthansa Baroque Festival, London / 2002: Dresdner Festspiele / Bruges, Cultural Capital of Europe / 2003: Madrid / Sevilla / Festival de Menton / 2004: Ludwigsburger Festspiele / Vezelay Cathedral / 2005: Komische Oper, Berlin / Rheingau-Festival / 2006: Frauenkirche, Dresden / Lincoln Center, New York / 2007: Konzerthaus, Vienna / Accademia di Sa. Cecilia, Rome / Singapore Arts Festival / 2008: Philharmonie Berlin / Théâtre de la Ville, Paris /
2009: Sheik Zayed Book Award, Abu Dhabi / Beethovenfest Bonn / Musikvereinssaal Wien /
2010: Schwetzinger Festspiele, Flanders Festival, Bruges / Ruhrtriennale Bochum.
Sarband has received numerous awards, amongst them a Grammy Nomination 1992, the Echo Klassik 2003 and 2006,
"Premio Mousiké 2007", and "German World Music Award 2008: Ruth 2008".
"With only three instrumentalists and one singer, Vladimir Ivanoff imaginates a whole sound universe." Martin Wilkening, Berliner Zeitung, 26.04.2010
"Vladimir Ivanoff is a sophisticated cartographer of the exceptional." Michael Tschida, Kleine Zeitung, 31.03.2010
"Sarband's music speaks for itself - their message of intercultural understanding does not need any explanations." Frank Heindl, DAZ, 11.11.2009
"… voices that transport us to other worlds …" Martin Caroso, ABC, 27.10.2009
"The result is simply fascinating. A sounding plea for tolerance and peace.“ Elisabeth Schwind, Südkurier (Germany), 10.07.2008
"A huge sensitivity for sound and a genuine understanding of musical expressions of different continents and cultures." Hans Rühl, Rheinische Post, 23.12.08
"It was a performance heightened into Magic … an authentic drama of cultic intensity." Matthias Wagner, Kronenzeitung, Graz, 12.07.2008
"Ensemble Sarband plays and sings the stars out of the sky." Danielle de Regt, De Standaard (Belgium), 11.2.2008