Primero-erscht

We all can easily come up with a ‘first time’ list: the first time we drove a bike without help, the first time our  father told us we were to old to sit on his lap, the first time we were caught lying, the first time we kissed…   We carry this list – consciously or unconsciously – with us and compare our present experiences with this inventory of  originals. And when we do, often the present acquires a certain bleakness: there is nothing that equals the intensity  and the brightness of the first experience.    

Leaving childhood behind is about learning to put experiences into context. “Childhood is a country, childhood is an  invented memory”. Certain images of our childhood never fade. Or so it seems. Our memory is selective,  manipulative and picky. Fictions are installed; facts are altered, storylines rewritten constantly… It is a human  survival reflex to forget the bad and remember the good. Even our worst experiences gain a certain nostalgic glow  over time because they made and shaped us and explain us who and what we are. We all are visitors of Neverland;  we nurture our hidden Peter Pan.     

Having Jewish roots, for Lisi Estaras Klezmer music is very strongly connected to childhood memories. Based on this  musical tradition, composer and clarinettist Yom composes a new score.