Eternally Frozen by Andrea Belfi consists of a series of canon-based compositions for brass ensemble, percussion, and synthesizer by Andrea Belfi. The canon is an ancient compositional technique in which an initial melody is imitated by one or more parts at a specified time interval, creating illusionary, never-ending musical journeys.

The work is inspired by the evocative image of the Deprong Mori, a mythological bat with the alleged ability to fly through solid matter by bending atoms through its natural skill of audio echolocation. The myth suggests that one of these bats had been “eternally frozen” in a wall of solid lead in 1952 by a researcher at Rockefeller University, Donald R. Griffith. This story is displayed at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, renowned for speculative, fantastical reinforcement of mythology and playful and beguiling distortions of mysterious could-be truths.

The canon and the “frozen” Deprong Mori are man-made illusory simulations of eternity. They attempt to create mirages where the insinuation of facts is more meaningful than reality.

Andrea Belfi, drums, electronics
Hilary Jeffery, trombone

Italian-born Andrea Belfi is a drummer, composer and experimental musician based in Berlin. Over the years he has built a sound world blending the complex timbres of the acoustic with the endless possibilities of the electronic. Belfi has a strong live reputation internationally and his performances are known to be energetic and hypnotic, featuring long-arching immersive soundscapes.
He was invited by Thom Yorke to open for his solo show on an international tour in 2019. His releases “Ore” and “Strata” gained Belfi many new fans including tastemakers Mary Anne Hobbs, Gilles Peterson and Sasha Frere-Jones among others.
Over the last few years, he’s been collaborating and touring with artists such as Nils Frahm, Mouse on Mars, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Mike Watt, Circuit des Yeux, David Grubbs. He has been on stage at Philharmonie de Paris, Montreux Jazz Festival, The Greek Theater (Los Angeles), Unsound Festival (Krakow), Barbican Center (London), Issue Project Room (New York), and CTM Festival (Berlin).

Hilary Jeffery was born in 1971 in Surbiton, England and works as a musician. Following studies at Dartington College of Arts, University of York and with James Fulkerson at the European Dance Development Centre in Arnhem, he embarked on a colourful musical life playing throughout the world in many settings including theatres, jazz clubs, cathedrals, night clubs, festivals, dance studios, bars, cinemas, galleries, streets, forests and mountains. As well as composing Hilary plays trumpet, trombone, tuba, piano, electronics, and sometimes sings. He is currently based in Berlin where he plays in many groups including Zinc & Copper, Minor Tom, Tonaliens, Inconsolable Ghost, Mullet and Mouse On Mars Dimensional People Ensemble. He has composed music for the David Kweksilber Big Band (Amsterdam), Slagwerk Den Haag, the Acousmonium (GRM Paris), Zagreb Experimental Ensemble and for his own ensembles.

photo: Roberto Brundo