RDAM singers make their mark on the artistic scene

The vocal ensemble ÆTLA, which includes six current RDAM students, recently participated in the DR program ’Kunst til tiden: Romantikken’ (‘Art for the Times: Romanticism’). In the program, performance artist Filip Vest and composer Louise Alenius had 24 hours to create a collaborative work inspired by Romanticism, with ÆTLA contributing to the project's performance component.

According to the ensemble, their artistic discussions are grounded in ideas of inclusion, diversity, passion, and curiosity. They value the richness of diverse perspectives and backgrounds and strive to incorporate a wide range of voices into their creative processes.

"In ÆTLA, we call ourselves both a vocal ensemble and an artist collective because, first and foremost, we are classical singers, and singing is the craft that unites us. However, creativity rarely comes alone, and we’ve all engaged with other art forms, which we try to integrate into our work. We invite other artists into our rehearsal space to inspire us and provide new perspectives on ourselves as artists and the art we create and communicate," says Liv Larsen-Lechuga.

Although ÆTLA is not directly rooted in RDAM, the vibrant musical life at and around the Academy has been pivotal to ÆTLA’s formation, according to Hávard Magnussen. Regarding the students' participation in the program, President Helene Gjerris remarks: “We are proud to see that some of our students are already working during their studies to define such a clear artistic project as ÆTLA.”

The vocal ensemble ÆTLA was founded by vocal student Liv Larsen-Lechuga at the Southern Denmark Academy of Music. Its name, a combination of Icelandic and Faroese, means “to want” or “to strive” for something. In addition to Liv Larsen-Lechuga, who serves as the artistic director, the ensemble includes Christine Bach Tofft (graduate of RDAM’s AM program), Rögnvaldur Konráð Helgason (composition graduate from Iceland University of the Arts), Sara Amalie Heise (RDAM AM student), and RDAM vocal students Elisabeth Rosenberg, Nikolaj Vangdrup Høybye, Johan Kullander, Astrid Elise Zeciri-Thomsen, and Hávard Magnussen. Learn more about ÆTLA.

The intersection of art forms and the outcome of the collaboration between Louise Alenius and ÆTLA can be seen in Art for the Times: Romanticism on DR’s website.

In addition to ÆTLA, three RDAM-trained singers—Benjamin Nellemose, Mads Skovgaard, and Kristoffer Appel—have recently made a splash on the Danish music scene. They performed as soloists in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins at the DR Concert Hall. You can listen to the Thursday concert here.

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