Happy to announce the upcoming premiere of my new violin solo Idioclick to be performed by Sif Tulinius in Salurinn concert hall on November 25th. It may be considered to be one of my 'big' solos such as the ones for double-bass, accordeon or saxophone.
On March 7th and 9th in Cottbus Cottbus Diptych I: Profile was premiered, conducted by Markus Frank. The orchestra did a very good job in what was a very delicate and strange form. The second part, Cottbus Diptych II: Slur, will be performed in Cottbus on April 11th and 13th, Ivan Repusic conducting.
In between the aforesaid performances I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Pregnant, for sax quartet, string trio and percussion, at the remarkable Ludwig Museum in Cologne on April 3rd. It was a joint commission from the Musikhochschule in Cologne and Deutschlandfunk for the latter’s Forum neuer Musik. It was performed by the Musikhochschule’s Ensemble 20/21, conducted by David Smeyers, an outstanding and ambitious combination. This piece will be played again at the Kasseler Musiktage in October.
As if that weren’t enough, I must also announce the birth of a violin solo commissioned by Icelandic violinist Sif Tulinius. It will be premiered in Iceland in the autumn.
In the meanwhile, some of my choir arrangements continue to be performed such as Vid gaefunnar dyr, included in a tour programme by Kammerkór Norðurlands (Northland Chamber Choir) at the end of March.
I am hoping to compose a bit less in the following weeks and catch up on correction and improvement projects which grow alongside the creative work but tend to be neglected.
Soon enough I will however be busy again on a new music-theatre project with Cinnober Theater in Gothemburg, the third one. I will give news of that in due time.
I enjoyed a very useful and agreeable Sound Lab residency in Cottbus in September (see previous post), for which I thank conductor and Music Director Evan Christ and the Orchester des Staatstheaters Cottbus. This is a new and generous approach to modern music making for the orchestra: Invite the composers and have them actually interact with the orchestra in rehearsal sessions, without having to finalise everything. I believe I did find and test some ideas which will become part of the two pieces to be composed for the concerts in March and April. The working title is Cottbus Diptych, thus, two parts premiered separately but part of a ten minute Diptych form.
During my stay the orchestra also perfomed Mani once more at the final concert of the Brandenburg summer concert series. A rather packed Johanneskirche in Trebbin hosted the event, which was also broadcast on RBB. Mani will be performed yet again at the ISCM festival in Vienna on November 13, by the Webern Symphony Orchestra this time, in the Sendesaal of the Radiokulturhaus in Vienna at 19:30.
Ensemble 61 gave the American Premiere of my quintet The Elves’ Accent in Saint Paul, Minnesota on June 1st.
Radioflakes for accordeon might probably claim Norwegian citizenship…if it weren’t just a piece of music. Oslo is the city of Frode Haltli who commissioned it and in Oslo – at the Music Academy - it will be played on October 22 by Luca Pignatta, who prepared it’s performance with Haltli.
Here is a link to Chiara Telleri's performance of the small and lyrical Trattofor oboe, composed for the ten year anniversary of FontanaMix Ensemble in Bologna, of which I am cofounder.
