Roadrunner Trio and Anat Spiegel Ports Of Departure

Ports of Departure is a one-hour concert/performance created by Roadrunner Trio (Antonis Pratsinakis – cello, Erica Roozendaal – accordion, Michel Marang – clarinet) with guest vocalist Anat Spiegel, and with musical advice and dramaturgy from Thanasis Deligiannis.



The 21st century: more than ever, people are on the move, driven by poverty, war, or simply because they can—curiosity about another life. Transport and communication make the world smaller, but cultural differences remain significant.

What do people leave behind on their journey? What music do they carry with them, and what does it mean to them in their new world?

In the past years, we have conducted several interviews with migrants around the world inspired by the stories of humans around us. With assistance of the Centre on Migration Policy & Society COMPAS / Oxford University) and Dr. Manolis Pratsinakis (Harokopio University of Athens) we created a method to do research based on interviews. This output became the context of our performance. Across the interviews, several themes repeatedly emerged.
Whether speaking with a musician from Taiwan, a worker from Peru, or a scientist from Tatarstan, participants expressed a deep longing rooted in memories of the sounds of their homeland: local birds, ocean waves, traffic in busy city streets and the chatter of crowds. The ensemble intertwines these sounds with traditional melodies, rhythms, and characteristic styles, creating a series of new compositions. From an Ethiopian travel song of loneliness, to a nomadic call from Togo, to a workers’ song from Peru, Ports of Departure weaves individual narratives into an intricate musical tapestry of cultural connectedness.
Through live music, field recordings, interview excerpts, and song, the performance dwells in the space between departure and arrival, between the sounds we carry with us and those we have yet to hear.