“Thirteen Ways of Being a Blackbird” is a cycle of songs and instrumental works composed alternately by Benjamin de la Fuente and Samuel Sighicelli for six musicians: double bass (Bruno Chevillon), viola (Garth Knox), violin and vocals (Diamanda Dramm), violin (Benjamin de la Fuente), drums, percussion, and electric drum pad (Eric Echampard), sampler and synthesizer (Samuel Sighicelli).

For years, Caravaggio has been waiting for the right opportunity to incorporate “pop” vocals into their music. That moment has finally come, and it’s no coincidence that the voice belongs to a singer who is also an accomplished violinist. Her violin – which made us want to emphasize the string dimension of the group (here, Benjamin de la Fuente and Bruno Chevillon play only violin and double bass) – is joined by the viola, viola d’amore, and medieval fiddle of the talented Garth Knox, key figure of the contemporary music scene.

The addition of vocals to this unique-sounding mini string-section reshapes the landscape of Caravaggio, where rhythm, more than ever blended with electronics, structures a more orchestral thinking that at times approaches song arrangements. The text, drawn from I Mean by contemporary American poet Kate Colby, offers a detailed and direct litany of digressions exploring the torments of the material world and the depth of the universe in a poetic search for meaning and what it means to mean.

Production
“Thirteen ways of being a Blackbird” is an executive production by SPHOTA – coopérative d’invention musicale, in co-production with the Festival Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo.
Commission by the Festival Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo.
La Cité Musicale de Metz is hosting the musicians for five days of rehearsals in March 2026.