Dionysos Now & Tore Tom Denys
Biography Dionysos Now & Tore Tom Denys
Dionysos Now!
Those who read carefully will discover in the name Dionysos Now! the reference to Denys: Tore Tom Denys is the founder and artistic director of the ensemble.
Also in Greek mythology, Dionysos Now! is the growth force of the earth and human civilisation, spirit and enthusiasm, god of wine (construction) and fruit growing, poetry, theatre and music. As god of peace, he brings people together and as victor over death, he is god of the underworld. He had an important influence on the life, thinking and work of the Greeks and Romans in several ways.
Dionysos Now! would like to show you that vocal polyphony of the Renaissance is very captivating music, and deserves to be heard by a wider audience.
Dionysos Now! wants to create cathedrals from sounds, in which you perceive the music as if you were flattering the cathedrals with a drone from far above. The brick stones are overall but they seem to merge into the whole, into the 'gestalt', where the radiant music generates much more effervescent energy than the sum of the tones, the contagious flow in the music is sought and captured, like a surfer who seems to have found the perfect wave and seizes his chance to float on it before it goes away again.
With the wise words of Winston Churchill in mind "Never waste a good crisis", Tore Denys started studying the scores of his fellow townsman Adriaen Willaert during the lockdown and so he rediscovered the wonderful music of this Venetian chapel master over the past few months. A new initiative was born: Dionysos Now! Vienna is a brand new project that aims to spread the magnificent heritage of Adriaen Willaert. With Dionysos Now!, Denys would like to demonstrate that Renaissance vocal polyphony is very captivating music that deserves to be appreciated by a wider audience.
Ensemble Dionysos Now! is a flexible project where the base consists of 6 voices that can be expanded to polyphonic or supplemented with an instrumental ensemble depending on the programme. To this end, a permanent collaboration will be established with several internationally renowned ensembles.
Tore Denys
has felt a passion for music and singing for as long as he can remember. At family parties, he was the entertainer who played guitar on the table and enjoyed imitating singers. ” I knew very early on that I wanted to do music. My mother says she always heard me singing in the house too.” Tore studied trumpet at the music school and completed his education at the conservatories of Ghent and Antwerp. Meanwhile, however, singing continued to attract him. Still during his studies, he toured with the World Youth Choir and went on to study singing at the Vienna Conservatory. Tore joined the Arnold Schönberg Chor and the choir of the Vienna State Opera. As a tenor, he was able to deepen his interest in early music and polyphony within the Belgian Capilla Flamenca. Since 2004, however, most of his time has been devoted to the ensemble he himself founded, Cinquecento. In doing so, Tore aims to bring Renaissance music out of libraries. From Vienna, they travel the world performing at concerts and festivals within the unique realm of historical music.
Now, a second ensemble, Dionysos Now!, emerges, aiming to focus primarily on showcasing the musical heritage of Adriaen Willaert.
