You can now listen to Limun and have a look at the score.
Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik
I am happy and thrilled to announce I will be the artistic director of the Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik for the next two years. The festival takes place over a weekend every autumn and earlier directors have included Wolfram Schurig and Georg Friedrich Haas, as well as Alexander Moosbrugger who stands down at the end of this year’s festival. A local news report on the handover can be read here.
We are busy planning next year’s festival and I look forward to being able to announce an exciting programme. Having the chance to give my contribution to contemporary music, besides composing, is a great opportunity and I will try to do my very best.
Hear: A Failed Entertainment
You can now listen to an excerpt of the premiere of A Failed Entertainment, performed by Quatuor Diotima on 10 November 2013 at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin.
And this video shows part of a presentation I did at the DAAD Galerie last May, where Barbara Maurer and Melise Mellinger of ensemble recherche performed Limun.
A Failed Entertainment première in Berlin
On November 10, Quatuor Diotima will give the first performance of A Failed Entertainment at the Kunstquartier Bethanien, in Berlin.
The concert will also include 6. Streichquartett, by Georg Friedrich Haas. Hope to see you there!!
D’après at Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2013
From 2 to 9 September I will be in Utrecht (The Netherlands), for the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, during which the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble will perform D’après. For more details you can find the program of the whole festival here.
New Work for String Quartet
It seems this year is dedicated to string instruments!
Since finishing 3 sur 5, for accordion and 2 percussionists, in late January, I have been working on my first ever string quartet.
Strings are my favourite instruments, and after Limun and Clangs I thought I might be ready to finally write a string quartet. That’s why when Julia Gerlach — the head of the music section at the Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD — asked me what project I would like to develop during my residency in Berlin, I proposed a string quartet. I am already looking forward to the premiere in November with the musicians of Quatuor Diotima.
In the last few years I have had the chance to work very closely with musicians — Séverine Ballon, Barbara Maurer, Melise Mellinger and Gilles Durot amongst others — and I hope to continue in this direction. I like to shape my pieces according to the qualities of the musicians I’m working with; the music should fit them, almost like set of clothes. Besides, it gives me the chance to discover the piece step by step, and not just a week before the concert.
It is such a privilege to work with the musicians of Quatuor Diotima and I thank them all for their commitment in these projects!
Interview with Daniel Vezza
In March, I spoke to Daniel Vezza for his ongoing Composer Conversations podcast and the interview is now online or you can subscribe in iTunes. You can hear us talk about how I started composing, my time in Paris and why I’m in Berlin amongst other things. We also talk about my piece Àphones, which you can also hear during the podcast.
Click here to listen and head over to Facebook to like Dan’s page.
Talk + Limun at the DAAD Galerie
On Thursday 23 May, I will present my music and my work with musicians at the DAAD Galerie in Berlin. We will be joined by Barbara Maurer and Melise Mellinger of ensemble recherche who will give a performance of Limun, and by composer Ondrej Adámek and musicologist Barbara Barthelmes for the discussion. Hope to see you there for some questions.