LA CONFÉRENCE DES OISEAUX: AN AIX EN JUIN CREATION

La Conférence des oiseaux, created at the Festival d’Aix as part of Aix en juin, is an a capella work sung in Arabic and French, based on the eponymous masterpiece of Sufi literature written by Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār in 1177.

The musical was was written by the Syrian poet Fady Jomar and adapted by the French stage director Victoria Duhamel, and has been set to music by the Franco-palestinian composer Moneim Adwan.

The tale recounts the journey of a group of birds in search of Simorgh, their King. During their trek, which takes place under the aegis of the Hoopoe, they travel through seven marvelous valleys. This initiatory journey symbolizes the soul’s spiritual elevation as one searches for the divine.

Begun as part of the socio-artistic activities of the Passerelles department of the Festival d’Aix, the project brings together singers from the Antequiem and Ibn Zaydoun amateur choruses, who perform, respectively, the parts in French and in Arabic.

La Conférence des oiseaux is the kind of story we need today. It reminds us that everyone is free to choose their religion and to be themselves.

Moneim Adwan, composer

On June 25, 2019, come discover La Conférence des oiseaux at the Hôtel Maynier d’Oppède.

The event will be followed by a panel discussion with Fady Jomar, Moneim Adwan and Victoria Duhamel.

On tour:

• Château de la Tour d’Aigues – July 1, 2019, at 7 p.m.: free entry without reservations.
• Théâtre de la Sucrière in Marseille (15th arrondissement) – July 2, 2019, at 7:30 p.m.: free entry by reservation only, tel. +33 4 91 14 61 24.