Valby Vokalgruppe + Francis Baudevin – Solids for Voices

Vocal trances a cappella for four voices with gobo projection

Valby Vokalgruppe (Anja Jacobsen, Lil Lacy, Sonja LaBianca, Laura Marie Madsen) composition, vocals, Francis Baudevin, gobo projection

A joint project by Ensemble Vide and KorSonoR

In 2008, Danish singer and composer Anja Jacobsen began a series of vocal explorations with eight singers. The group developed music centered on rhythm and voice. These explorations gave rise to the quartet Valby Vokalgruppe, which has evolved over the years and occasionally integrates instruments. The four singers collectively composed four major pieces with a cross-aesthetic approach, some of which included texts from plays, projected texts on walls, and sometimes the participation of dancers and classical singers. With the album Solids for Voices, released in autumn 2025 and premiered in Switzerland on this occasion, Valby Vokalgruppe returns to its roots.

Solids for Voices consists of short but densely concentrated rhythmic explorations that, through repetition, transform into trance. The music combines extreme precision, gentleness, and radicality. Intense concentration and a playful spirit coexist, transcending the moment of sound. Geometric figures, such as Platonic solids, are translated into vocal rhythms, while melodies emerge intuitively. The group completely disappears into voice, rhythm, and trance.

Given Valby Vokalgruppe’s interest in geometric forms, Ensemble Vide and Arta Sperto / KorSonoR invited Francis Baudevin to design a visual contribution for this concert. Drawing on the repertoire of forms present in his works and references, he conceived a composition based on circles (notes) arranged in squares and circles, in positive and negative. These motifs will be projected into the space using gobos.

Presentation of Valby Vokalgruppe’s album Solids for Voices (Hands in The Dark Records) and Francis Baudevin’s monograph Poptones (jrp/editions / KBCB).

Valby Vokalgruppe
Francis Baudevin