• How could an imaginary encounter between cultures have affected the music we know today?

• How can a creative understanding of reality teach us something new about our own culture?

The theme for the ensemble's performance is Infection Control in a Historical Perspective. Previous pandemics and plague outbreaks have affected music history in a number of ways. Several of the instruments that, like the Fake News ensemble, play on lost status and prevalence when the best performers died of plague in the 17th century. We are based on historical sources and the work of Athanasius Kircher, one of the first great researchers in diseases and infection. Kircher was remarkably modern in his exploration of diseases, in which in 1658 he advocated hygienic measures such as isolation, quarantine and the use of face masks to inhibit the spread of disease.

With a wide perspective to history, the ensemble presents a musical journey of discovery that connects the past with the present, Northern Norway with Europe, in a reality where Monteverdi draws alternates on northern Norwegian folk music, and Gregorian chant is woven into tones from neverlur.

A timely and serious theme, combined with the Fake News ensemble's infectious mood and imaginative angles on historical realities, is a good starting point for an entertaining and educational concert experience.

The members are PhD students and employees at the Music Conservatory in Tromsø and are participants in the art project Art VAPO - True North. The project investigates dimensions of northernness, and tells new stories about the north through performing arts.