“Cantus Firmus” brings four women together on stage as they seek ways to protect a local Latvian bog endangered by a female oligarch’s plans to develop a spa in the middle of it. Within a richly layered musical composition, their concerns intertwine with questions about how much agency an individual can – and should – take when faced with what they perceive as a threat to the common good of others.

In music, cantus firmus is a melody that historically served as the foundation for polyphonic church music. Such music was almost always performed by men, as women’s voices were largely excluded from public church music at the time. However, behind the walls of convents, women—free from forced marriages and the burdens of noble duty—composed and performed complex polyphonic works. Drawing upon sacred texts and Gregorian chants, they created music that became a form of expressing freedom. The performance “Cantus Firmus” leads into a mysterious space where women, through singing, seek answers to essential questions and illuminate their branching realities.