READINGS FOR THE FUTURE (2024)

What is the future for the human race? It’s one of the many questions this piece can help us reflect on with the help of 22 compositions created for each of the Major Arcana tarot cards.

The piece is inspired by an Artist in Residency stay on a dark and stormy November 2019 in Andøya in Northern Norway together with my friend, composer colleague, and tarot-reader Vanessa Massera. Five years later, “Readings for the Future” had its world premiere with Tøyen Fil og Klafferi and Vanessa Massera at Nordlyst – Vinterfest i Andøy, on February 25th, 2024.

“Readings for the Future” can be performed as stand-alone pieces, by combining some or all of the pieces, or by letting a tarot reading before or during the performance decide the amount and order of the cards / pieces to be performed.

The original performance was done as a concert ritual by Tøyen Fil and Klafferi based on a tarot reading done during the performance by tarot reader soloist Vanessa Massera. The question asked was “What is the future of the human race?” and the audience helped pick five cards for the reading which were then turned and read aloud to the audience and the musicians. The performance was structured in a way where the cards were being read, interpreted and performed one by one, with the musicians playing the “intro” of the card in the background of the reading and immediately after performing the “main piece” of the card. Each card was being interpreted before moving on to the next card in the reading. Afterwards, additional cards were pulled with the help of the audience for guidance on the upside-down-cards in the reading. As a bonus, a short two-card reading was done asking the question “What is the future for Andøya?” (the location of the concert).