My favourite piece is the Goldberg variations
< BackPhilip Venables/Ted Huffman: My favourite piece is the Goldberg Variations (2021)
My favourite piece is the Goldberg Variations is based on interviews with Susanne Borregaard (mother of accordionist Andreas Borregaard) conducted during the summer lockdown of 2020.
Andreas approached me about writing a piece involving extended performativity beyond simply playing the accordion. I was drawn to the idea of the accordionist as storyteller, almost in the troubadour sense. We met with writer Ted Huffman in Berlin to speak about Andreas’ own life and work, which in turn led to interviews with his mother over Skype.
My work with Ted often uses verbatim text and this piece continues our exploration of queer histories. From this interview material, we formed eleven snapshots of a life over seven decades.
The piece is dedicated to Susanne Borregaard with great appreciation for her contribution.
Premiered online at Borealis Festival March 20 2021
Premiered live at KLANG Festival May 29 2021
The piece was commissioned as part of my PhD-project at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
