The Present - Ex Utero (2023) Hi-Res

When The Present came across Chiara Margarita Cozzolani some time ago during researches, they were fascinated by her story and impressed with her music. The idea came up to build a Marian Vespers from her psalm settings and smaller concerti and to give this festive format a new thematic orientation with con- temporary interludes. For this, The Present combined music by the composers Hildegard Westerkamp, Catherine Lamb, and Michèle Bokanowski with the historical material.
The interweaving of early and new music creates a unique Marian Vespers that literally celebrates birth and life.

The Present is a solo voice ensemble from Berlin that interweaves early and new music in its programmes, always pursuing a conceptual approach and enjoying to play with the boundaries of style and genre. The ensemble made its concert debut at the Schwetzingen Festival in 2019. This was followed by performances with differently cast, mostly custom-made programmes at the Thuringian Bach Festival, the Göttingen International Handel Festival, the zamus: early music festival in Cologne, the Acht Brücken Festival in Cologne, the Schlossmediale Werdenberg and the Bregenz Festival, among others. Musical theatre produc- tions increasingly come into focus as well. In 2022, for example, The Present celebrated the premiere of the three-part production THE PRESENT RETTET DIE WELT (The Present saves the World) at the Neuköllner Oper in Berlin and developed its first own performative work HÄNDEL IM AFFEKT (Handel in the Heat of the Moment) during its residency at the zamus Cologne.