ÆSTHESIS (aísthêsis in ancient Greek) means the organ of the senses, the faculty of perception, both intellectual and sensory. Abel Zamora, Celeste Lejeune, Jonas Mordzinski and Camille Chopin propose a highly personal and expressive journey that opens minds and hearts. From Monteverdi to John Cage to contemporary composers, they work by associations and correspondences to compose a program that stems from their sensibilities and resonates with those of today’s audiences. No limits of genre, style or era, the decompartmentalization of repertoires is at the heart of this four-voice project.
Camille, Céleste, Abel and Jonas took their first steps together: some of them met within the Sotto Voce children’s choir, but also at the Département Supérieur pour Jeunes Chanteurs of the CRR de Paris. Strengthened⋅es by these experiences, they will perform as a quartet for the first time at the Format Raisins festival in 2019 : ÆSTHESIS was born, and immediately broke away from the tradition of the vocal quartet, changing the spatial arrangement for certain pieces for example, arranging pieces originally intended for choir or proposing spoken passages only. For example, he created the piece “Allô j’m’entends” by composer Jacques Rebotier, written for four voices and cell phone ringtones.
These atypical mixtures give rise to two questions that constantly fuel his research: How can we keep a repertoire dating back several centuries alive and contemporary, while at the same time contributing to current creation? How can we offer audiences a sensory experience of calm and balance? The four voices of Æsthesis blend into a song that is by turns playful and serious, with an intimate repertoire that emancipates itself from the usual expectations associated with the classical quartet.