From Dawn to Darkness

 “If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.”

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

Les Sélénites invites you to a day between earth and moon, mythologie and reality, poetry and music, starting at the first light of dawn, finishing in the darkness of the night, combining early music and contemporary music. A journey through the different dimensions of life.

Music by Purcell, Dowland, Monteverdi, Bach, Nick Drake etc. and the world première of “O Tannenbaum” of Liselotte Westerterp.

Les Sélénites

Les Sélénites is a young ensemble created in November 2014 by Glòria Coll (cellist), Bernadetta Astari (soprano) and Jérôme Brodin (harpsichordist). Gathered by the wish to play music together, but also to combine it with poetry and theatre, this ensemble is a place of experimentation for these three musicians. All of them specialized in early music, and playing on historical instruments, their purpose is to create a unique music experience that embraces early music and contemporary music, to work with alive composers and to express in their performances the extra musical skills of each member (poetry, mime, theatre etc.).

Their first program, «From Dawn to Darkness», is structured in five parts following the cycle of a day (dawn, day, dusk, evening and night), and based on an Indonesian poem (from Sapardi Joko Damono) called «Dalam Doaku» (In my prayers). In the program, different music fields coexist to create a unique experience: early music (Dowland, Purcell, Monteverdi), contemporary music (world première of a piece by the Dutch composer Liselotte Westerterp) and popular music (arrangement of a song by Nick Drake). «From Dawn to Darkness» is an invitation to a one day journey through the different dimensions of life.

Les Sélénites have already been asked for several concerts in the Netherlands and in France from September 2015 and are regarded to be a very promising ensemble.

 What are Sélénites?

We are called “Les Sélénites”, which is the name given to the inhabitants of the moon, whose existence was supposed by many writers and scientists in the past 2000 years.

Bernadeta Astari, sopraan

De Indonesische sopraan Bernadeta Astari studeerde zang bij Henny Diemer aan het Utrechts conservatorium, waar ze in 2012 cum laude slaagde. Ze maakte deel uit van Opera Studio Nederland, momenteel is ze verbonden aan het Talentensemble van de Nederlandse Reisopera. Ze wordt gecoacht door Jennifger Dakin en Brian Masuda. Ze won prijzen tijdens het Princes Christina Concours, de Dutch Classical Talent 2012, en de Prijs van de Provincie Noord-Brabant op het 49e Internationale Vocalisten Concours in ’s Hertogenbosch.

Sinds 2009 werkt ze samen met de Japanese pianiste, Kanako Inoue waarmee ze deel nam aan diverse lied masterclasses, gecoacht door Rudolf Jansen en Susan Manoff.

Ze werden geselecteerd voor de International German Lied Master Course in het Franz-Schubert-Instituut, Oostenrijk. Het duo gaf concerten in Nederland, Japan en Indonesië. In 2012 namen ze de, door Radio 4 geproduceerde, CD ’Perjalanan’ op.

Bernadeta Astari concerteerde o.a. met het cello octet van het Concertgebouworkest en het Nederlandse Kamerorkest. Tijdens de Nuclear Security Summit 2014 in Den Haag trad ze op voor 53 wereldleiders.

In augustus 2014 zong ze tijdens de wereldpremière van ‘The Kamikaze’, een nieuwe opera van Nicole Murphy Mind in de Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore).

Bij de Nederlandse Reisopera is Bernadeta in 2015 te horen in rol van l’Amour in ‘Orfeo et Euridyce’.

In 2016 maakt ze haar debuut in het La Monnaie, De Munt Theater in Brussel als Valetto/Amore in ‘L’incoronazione di Poppea’ van Monteverdi, onder de directie van René Jacobs.