Let Me Tell You A Story

A new, theatrically tinged co-commission with Tongyeong International Music Festival for amplified solo voice and instrumental ensemble inspired by Korean traditional storytelling with text by acclaimed Icelandic writer, Sjón. 

For those of you new to Ondřej 's music, Let Me Tell You A Story has all the hallmarks. Theatre, otherworldly vocal scoring, a broad, sometimes mystical palette of influences, and a host of exotic instrumentation, including the Korean Drum Buk.

The dark, evocative text is supplied by Icelandic poet and frequent Björk collaborator, Sjón. 

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one day a young salesman from boston

who traveled east to sell goods

from his home country:

BUBBLEGUM ... SODA POP ... CANDIES

found himself lost on the dark side

of the old imperial city kyoto ...

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Let Me Tell You A Story comes hot on the heels of 2022's rousing Whence Comes the Voice? for soprano Shikego Hata and Bangladeshi multi-instrumentalist Neel Kamrul, which brought different religious texts together against a Qawwali inspired backdrop.  

"Adámek’s Whence Comes the Voice? brought European and Indian, composed and traditional music into deft juxtaposition. Taking its inspiration from Qawwali singing, and using a scale derived from the Raga Todi, the piece unfolded via tempos which rose progressively across its 20-minute course. Formally self-contained and even inscrutable, it took on a whole range of expressive nuance through its vocal contributions." Arcana, Richard Whitehouse, September 2022