Visions of Venus

The renowned Irish singer-songwriter Wallis Bird and Spark, the classical band - one of the leading formations of the young creative classical music scene in Germany - join forces for a cross-genre concert experience, that spans an entire millennium of female sound art. The six musicians and musicians offer a 360-degree view of the rich and colourful universe created by visionary women from the Middle Ages to the present day. Women are celebrated in all their complexity - as mothers, muses, lovers, sisters, dreamers, sirens, fighters and as voices of the heart and mind. In their exciting new interpretations, Bird, who have won several Meteor Music Awards and the prestigious German Music Writers' Prize her own, and ECHO Klassik award winner Spark offer wonderfully playful and imaginative visions of Venus - performed with ultimate dedication, a lot of passion and an individual flavour that must be heard to be believed.

SPOTIFY

APPLE MUSIC

DEEZER

JPC

YOUTUBE

AMAZON

Spark

Spark re-thinks the classics. The quintet presents Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart & Co in a new light and creates points of contact with the sounds and lifestyle of the present day. Classical at heart, outwardly wilful, inquisitive and nonconformist, the five musicians pitch their tent on the open ground between classical works, minimal music, electro and avant-garde. With enthusiasm and abandon, styles are mixed and a galaxy of sonic options is explored – given that their well-stocked arsenal of instruments offers over 40 different flutes, violin, viola, violoncello, melodica and piano. No one piece is like the next, and yet they all bear the original, unmistakable fingerprints of this exciting ensemble. An ECHO Klassik Award winner in 2011, the ten-year-old grouping has played its way into the vanguard of the young creative classical scene. The quintet is now well established at the world’s biggest venues and festivals – whether in chamber performances or in a solo role with orchestra. The group is cherished by its fans above all for its thrilling, highly energetic live performances, which see the five talented musicians getting physical on stage with ebullient vitality and the pulsating power of a rock band. Together they present music that ignites passion. Together they spark.

Photo: Gregor Hohenberg

Visions of Venus
Album

Facets of Infinity
Album

Wallis Bird

For over a decade, Irish singer-songwriter Wallis Bird has been inspiring audiences around the globe with her passion, temperament and musical power. She has played over 800 shows in Europe, the USA, Australia and
Asia and has built up a steadily growing loyal fan base that loves her explosive mix of Irish folk, rock and pop.
In her songs, she wears her heart on her sleeve, reflecting on personal experiences, but is also a vivid and perceptive advocate for women's rights and the LGBTQI* community, against racism and injustice, and in favour of acceptance and constructive conflict resolution. Bird has won numerous international awards, including two Irish Meteor Awards and the prestigious German Music Writers' Prize - a national award given by composers to their peers, recognising excellence in compositional achievement.
She has also received nominations for the International Folk Music Award 2019 and the Irish Choice Music Prize. Her irrepressible energy on stage is one of her absolute trademarks. Even the Irish Times has stated that she
‘could stimulate an entire economy’. In 2016, she played a 12-hour free gig in aid of a refugee aid organisation and even found enough energy to play an encore!

Even in 2020, the year of the pandemic, Bird has not lost her fighting spirit and vigour. From June 2020, she presented the Retrospective Sessions to her fans. In these sessions, she performed
each of her six albums virtually in six consecutive monthly live concerts from six different locations in Berlin - from the Daily Spa Liquidrom to the stadium of 1. FC Union Berlin. Via livestream, Bird has once again proven that she can't be stopped even in lockdown and moves people all over the world with her music and her personality.
The collaborative programme Visions of Venus with Ensemble Spark is not Bird's first foray into classical music. In 2019, she collaborated with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra for the show A Woman's Heart Orchestrated, where she interpreted her own songs as well as songs by Eleanor McEvoy and Joni Mitchell in a classical setting.
The project, in which her Irish colleagues Eleanor McEvoy and Maura O'Connell were also involved, was presented in four sold-out concerts in Dublin's National Concert Hall and the National Opera House in Wexford.

Photo: Gregor Hohenberg

Visions of Venus
Album

Spark, Wallis Bird

Visions of Venus

Spark

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Wallis Bird

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