Kat Frankie: B O D I E S
This event is in the past.
Together with seven outstanding vocalists and no instruments in sight, Kat Frankie presents an a cappella performance. The show features new arrangements of Frankie’s familiar songs as well as ambitious new compositions written especially for the ensemble.
This event is in the past.
Together with seven outstanding vocalists and no instruments in sight, Kat Frankie presents an a cappella performance. The show features new arrangements of Frankie’s familiar songs as well as ambitious new compositions written especially for the ensemble.
In 2018, Frankie played an acoustic solo set in St. Katharinen church opposite the Speicherstadt at Hamburg’s Elbjazz Festival. The natural reverb in the main church combined impressively with her dark voice, prompting the Berlin-based Australian singer, songwriter and producer to dedicate the second half of her show to an a cappella experiment. Together with five female vocalists, she performed seven songs, five of which were arranged especially for that performance. The remaining two she had already incorporated into her shows in a cappella formation.
Surprised by the euphoria the performance elicited from the audience, Frankie concluded that there was still plenty to explore here. In 2019, she released the EP B O D I E S, and in January 2020 the now eight-piece ensemble made its full-length debut at a sold-out RBB Sendesaal in Berlin, followed by four sold-out concerts at venues including the Elbphilharmonie and the Konzerthaus Dortmund.
Since the Corona pandemic, she has been waiting to bring B O D I E S back on stage. “There are no instruments, which is somehow incredibly liberating. When you have eight people on stage – eight bodies, eight voices and no more – the usual structures and expectations don’t seem to apply,” she says about the live experience. “I am a songwriter and the stage show carries my song DNA. But there are also pieces I have written about autonomy, work and colonisation. Grand, dramatic songs and very beautiful, almost tender, harmonic moments. I don’t think there’s anything quite like it,” says Frankie.
“Singing is physical. When we sing, our bodies move, vibrate, we harmonise with others. And that’s a very good feeling.”
