It is an age-old example of musical magic: two or more melodies work their way through time together. They are made for each other, yet they go their own way – a model of unity in diversity. But what happens when the voices change positions? Or when the listener adopts a different perspective? How much dissonance can the polyphonic fabric bear before it falls apart?

Seventeen singers craft a living soundscape—an open, fluid environment free of fixed hierarchies. The performance unfolds organically, with singers clustering together, breaking into smaller groups, or standing out as individuals. The audience also takes part in the choreography. They move freely through the space and decide for themselves where and when they want to sit, lie down or lean. Even the conductor, Kaspars Putniņš, moves among them, guiding the ensemble through a repertoire that bridges centuries, from 14th-century Guillaume de Machaut to contemporary voices like Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and Kaija Saariaho.

Polyphonies is a new step in Gabriëls’ research into the flexibility of seemingly fixed realities. It is a thought experiment about power dynamics and community formation, individual and collective, equality and difference. How do we resonate with the other? Is the counterpoint that arises in a society reversible? Is polyphony a utopia?