This project with the string quartet Seme explores the tradition of the accordion – a relatively modern instrument (c. 1820) that moved across the globe, often in an emigrant’s suitcase, from Europe to America and Africa, and informing new traditional music in Argentina, Brazil, USA, Canada, Madagascar, and Kenya, and beyond. In pairing an accordion with a string quartet, Claudio Prima and Seme create a rich and complex musical environment that investigates the expressive possibilities of traditional music, in its continuous flow and dialogue with modernity.
