A Conversation Through Us

A Narrative Performance Ritual for Voice and Violin

Two women, centuries apart, speaking into the same echo.

Join violinist Negar Dena Afazel and vocalist Tricia Tetzlaff for an immersive performance that bridges the distance between the ancestral past and our modern world. In this unique collaboration, the violin provides the wordless, ancient pulse—the "warp" of the loom—while the voice weaves the "weft" of immediate human experience.

Featuring works by Holst, Villa-Lobos, Vaughan Williams, and Milhaud, the project serves as a "sensory sanctuary" in an age of normalized global aggression and digital isolation. By rejecting the traditional "stage-and-listener" divide, the performance pulls the audience into a shared psychological flow—a necessary sanctuary in a fragmented world.

At the heart of the work is Memory as a tool for Ownership. In an era defined by the "bold distances" of digital screens, our personal stories are at risk of becoming mere consumable data. This performance is a reclamation of those stories.

Through original narration by Hamidreza Ostovar, delivered as visceral testimonials, the audience is guided through a symbolic journey across history. It is an invitation to stop observing and start participating in a collective reflection on what it means to be human—and an individual—today.

Event Details

Thursday, June 4 | 7:30 PM Dormouse Theatre 1030 Portage Street, Kalamazoo, MI

Admission: Ticket info at: https://www.dormousetheatre.com/

The Program

• Gustav Holst | 4 Songs for Voice and Violin

• Darius Milhaud | Quatre Poèmes de Catulle

• Ralph Vaughan Williams | Along the Field

• Negar Dena Afazel | Song for the Nameless

• Heitor Villa-Lobos | Suite for Voice and Violin