MUSIC / INSTALLATION
FIREBIRD
Created by Touki Delphine
April 11-13 & 16-18, 2025
7:30pm
This event takes place outdoors at Kayenta Art Village with General Admission seating.
“An epic update of Stravinsky’s Firebird.” – The Standaard
Inspired by composer Igor Stravinsky’s 1919 “Firebird Suite”, Touki Delphine (visiting Southern Utah from the Netherlands) presents FIREBIRD, a rule-breaking concert program and an extraterrestrial installation in one — including an “orchestra” constructed entirely of light. Over 600 recycled car taillights illuminate the dance of the firebird in this thoroughly hypnotic event that is hard to describe.
“FIREBIRD is an auditory and visual work of art. A composition exploring technological reincarnation. A performance in which the audience becomes a uniform mass, playing the most important role in an alien ritual.” – Touki Delphine
About the Artists:
Bo Koek, Rik Elstgeest, John van Oostrum & Chris Doyle are Touki Delphine, an artist collective of musicians, performers and visual artists. The members draw from their eclectic backgrounds to create stimulating visual works and modern music performances. In their multidimensional works, they pull from classic and modern music from all corners of the globe, and combine reinterpretations with original compositions and new visual concepts crossing and blurring disciplinary boundaries. Committed and resourceful. Serious and playful. An open question or visual stimulant can form a point of departure. Their methods result in a unique, dynamic cross-pollination of the arts.
Inspired by the climate crisis and the insights of Alexander von Humboldt that nature is a living whole, not a dysfunctional mass — that stones, plants, animals, and people are all permeated by creative force — Touki Delphine pursues a restoration of balance between nature and modern humans. With all of our technological advancements, humans have significantly disrupted nature over the past two centuries. There is no going back. But maybe there’s a way forward. Not by deeming technology the leading culprit, but by achieving a new harmony with the help of that technology.
Using recycled materials, technological inventions, and new or adapted compositions, Touki Delphine creates installations that explore these themes and the relationship between nature, humans, and technology.
Arrive Early for the Conversation!
April 12, 2025 // 6:30pm
Guest Scholar: Jeff Jarvis, Doctor of Musical Arts
Discussion: Creative reuse and the value of site-specific experiences.
Inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite, Touki Delphine’s FIREBIRD is a composition written for an “orchestra of light.” Touki Delphine uses 619 recycled car tail lights to illuminate the dance of the firebird, sans musicians or performers, asking audiences to reconsider the boundaries of music and performance. To arm audiences with context in preparation for performances, Jeff Jarvis (Dean of the College of the Arts at Utah Tech University) will host a pre-show conversation with attendees at the Center for the Arts, sharing a framework to help attendees better understand the “hypnotizing” “rule-breaking concert program”.
This program is made possible through a grant from Utah Humanities. Utah Humanities strengthens Utah communities by cultivating connections, deepening understanding, and exploring our complex human experience.
FIREBIRD is made possible by the Performing Arts Fund NL.
The Center for the Arts at Kayenta was supported by New Music USA’s Organization Fund in 2024-25.
