What's On Dec '19 - Jan '20 Contemporary New Music at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

CONTEMPORARY AND NEW MUSIC

NOV 2019 – JA N 2020

0121 331 5909 | BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS /RoyalBirmCons

@BirmCons

TUE 21 JAN

MILLENNIAL PERCUSSION

Photo by Lee Kirby

Birmingham City University

WED 6 NOV

INTEGRA LAB 7pm The Lab £10 (£8) Researchers from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Integra Lab present a selection of new and exciting works that combine interactive technologies with musical performance. Spanning a broad range of genres, expect performances that examine ways in which technologies – new and old – can be used to generate, expose and explore musical ideas using novel and unconventional approaches.

SAT 9 NOV

TIME MEASURES 3pm The Lab FREE ADMISSION

FRI 8 NOV

VOXBOX: LIEDERKRAZZ 6.30pm Eastside Jazz Club

Stockhausen’s Zeitmaße - or in English, Time Measures - is a chamber work for five woodwinds that explores the relationships between music and time. Hear the first cohort from the NEXT course - Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s study scheme for emerging contemporary performers - perform this seminal work, plus pieces

by Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio.

£10 (£8) 6.30pm support 7.45pm main show Join us for the latest in our innovative VoxBox song series.

Liederkrazz will bring Schumann’s masterful song cycle, his Liederkreis, Op.39, into sparky dialogue with jazz responses.

Students from the Vocal and Operatic Department will join forces with the Jazz Department to bring together the seemingly opposed in this startling evening of music making. Come and experience what happens when jazz and classical meet and break down the perceived barriers of freedom versus preconception, creativity versus re-creativity.

This project attempts to build bridges rather than divide, unite where differences occur, encourage and celebrate diversity, support each other’s styles rather than mitigate their idiosyncratic ways, and prove Aristotle right when he said, ‘many things are not merely a complete aggregate but instead some kind of a whole beyond its parts’. Do join us for what promises to be an exciting, controversial and invigorating evening as we juxtapose two styles that seem so different, yet have so much in common.

FURTHER PROGRAMME DETAILS AVAILABLE AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS

From left to right: Emily Abdy, Peter May, Dave Scott-Morgan and Rob Roberts

SAT 9 NOV

DAVE SCOTT-MORGAN AND ROYAL BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE ORCHESTRA PRESENT EARTHRISE 7pm The Bradshaw Hall £25 VIP, £15 (£12)

By Dave Scott-Morgan and Richard Tandy (Electric Light Orchestra musicians) Conductor Daniele Rosina Arrangements Peter May, Emily Abdy and Rob Roberts Amazingly, it’s fifty years since the first moon landing and the first earthrise was seen by men but still Earthrise - the music of Richard Tandy, long time keyboard player for The Electric Light Orchestra and Dave Scott-Morgan (guitarist, vocals and composer) - chimes on… weightless and timeless, an evergreen commemoration to the excitement and mystery of the time.

It was on Christmas Eve 1968 when the crew of Apollo 8 first orbited the moon as a reconnaissance for the Apollo 11 mission and took the iconic photograph of the earth rising out of the lunar landscape, but was a long time later - in 1985 - (when the British pop group ELO were between touring dates), that the Tandy Morgan Duo recorded the album of songs Dave had written about that defining event.

We are delighted to invite you to this première orchestral presentation of the symphonic concept album Earthrise. The concert is a unique opportunity to hear Richard and Dave’s album as interpreted and rearranged

by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire postgraduate composer Emily Abdy and graduate composers Rob Roberts and Peter May.

FURTHER PROGRAMME DETAILS AVAILABLE AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS

Luc Ferrari

Jeffrey Skidmore

Eve Egoyan

TUE 12 NOV

FRI 15 NOV

ROYAL BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE CHAMBER CHOIR AND BAROQUE ORCHESTRA: GENTLE FLAME

THALLEIN ENSEMBLE: LUC FERRARI PORTRAIT CONCERT

MON 18 NOV

EVE EGOYAN (PIANO)

TUE 26 NOV

7pm Recital Hall

PHILIP BATES PRIZE FOR COMPOSERS AND SONGWRITERS

7pm The Bradshaw Hall

£15 (£12)

7pm The Lab

7pm The Bradshaw Hall

£10 (£8) Conductor Daniele Rosina

Conductor Jeffrey Skidmore Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Baroque Orchestra

Ferrari Madame de Shanghai Ferrari Après Presque Rien Oliver Mack Cartoon (world première) George West Concerto No: for Clean Water and Sanitation (world première)

Nicole Lizée David Lynch Etudes for piano and video (2015) Chiyoko Szlavnics Constellations I-III for piano and sinetones (2011) Ann Southam Selections from Simple Lines of Enquiry (2007) with the video Machine for Taking Time by David Rokeby (2006-2007)

£10 (£8)

£10 (£8)

JS Bach Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf JS Bach Cantata BWV 61/62 Nun komm der Heiden Heiland Liz Johnson Gentle Flame (première) Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the candle-led ‘Peaceful Revolution’ which took place in Leipzig in autumn 1989, this programme explores an Advent theme of darkness into light through two cantatas by JS Bach and a new cantata from Liz Johnson entitled Gentle Flame.

This special Thallein ensemble concert celebrates the work of the subversive French composer, Luc Ferrari who would have been 90 this year. In 1958, Ferrari co-founded the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris with Pierre Schaeffer and François-Bernard Mâche.

Since then, Ferrari has been considered one of the most important, uncompromising and influential pioneers of electronic music. His work is particularly known for its use of environmental sounds and ambient recordings which often suggest dramatic narrative. Ferrari’s music is playful, and full of wit, drawing upon a multitude of diverse and unexpected influences.

Eve Egoyan is an artist whose medium is the piano.

Her performances encompass diverse sensibilities, from Alvin Curran’s five-hour long Inner Cities to Erik Satie’s miniatures; from minimalist Simple Lines of Enquiry by Ann Southam to works of maximalist complexity by Michael Finnissy; from the barely audible to roaring overtone-filled resonances; from rigorous interpretation of a score to free improvisation.

Join us for an evening celebrating the very best in new compositions, and help shape the landscape of future music.

The Philip Bates Trust and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire jointly run the annual Philip Bates Prize for Composers and Songwriters, an exceptionally broad competition which has recognised talent in a variety of genres.

It encourages entries in everything from classical, jazz and folk, to singer-songwriter ballads, Asian music and rock, as long as the work is suitable for live performance and appealing to a wide range of concert goers.

“Eve Egoyan’s pianism has strengths in abundance, fully justifying (composer) Michael Finnissy’s testimony that ‘she illuminates the music she plays; an alchemy, authenticity and fearlessness’.”

International Piano Magazine

Two world premières by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire musicians, Oliver Mack and George West complete this energetic and exciting programme.

FURTHER PROGRAMME DETAILS AVAILABLE AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS

FURTHER PROGRAMME DETAILS AVAILABLE AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS

TUE 10 DEC

PERFORMING WITH TECHNOLOGY 6pm The Lab £10 (£8)

Zubin Kanga

TUE 3 DEC

THU 28 NOV

MIXED WIND, BRASS AND PERCUSSION ENSEMBLES

TIMP 2019 SYMPOSIUM (TECHNOLOGY IN MUSICAL PERFORMANCE)

6pm The Bradshaw Hall

Symposium 10am – 6.30pm The Lab (registration from 9am)

£10 (£8)

£20 early-bird, £30 full price

Kenneth Hesketh The Doctrine of Affections Gunther Schuller Double Quintet for Wind and Brass Quintets Morton Feldman Instruments 1 Elizabeth Maconchy Music for Woodwind and Brass

Evening concert 7.30pm Recital Hall £10 (£8) (evening concert only)

Come and hear the Conservatoire’s woodwind, brass and percussion musicians showcase some of the best chamber music for their instruments in a stylistically eclectic Anglo-American programme, including rare live opportunities to hear a seminal work by Morton Feldman, a jazz-inflected double quintet by the criminally underrated Gunther Schuller, an octet by vibrant British composer Kenneth Hesketh and a magnificent work for 18 players by Elizabeth Maconchy.

SYMPOSIUM Technology in Musical Performance (TiMP) is a forum for all who engage with electronics in live music performance. The group aims to stimulate discussion and collaboration between performers, composers, sound artists, practitioners, programmers, software developers and sound designers on musical performance with/mediated by technology.

The symposium will feature a dynamic mix of performers, composers, technologists and academics, presenting cutting edge work in a variety of formats.

EVENING CONCERT Zubin Kanga piano and interactive media Alexander Schubert WIKI-PIANO.NET Claudia Molitor You touched the twinkle on the helix of my ear Oliver Leith I spend most of my life with a screen Nicole Lizée Scorsese Etudes Acclaimed pianist and composer, Zubin Kanga performs newly commissioned works for piano and multimedia, drawing from a range of inspirations including internet culture, film, TV, video art and sci-fi culture.

FURTHER PROGRAMME DETAILS AVAILABLE AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS

Music Technology students from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire present a selection of new and exciting works that combine interactive technologies with musical performance. Spanning a broad range of genres, expect performances that examine ways in which technologies - new and old - can be used to generate, expose and explore musical ideas using novel and unconventional approaches.

THU 12 DEC & TUE 21 JAN

#BIRMINGHAMNEWMUSIC 7pm The Lab £10 (£8) Frontiers presents a concert of new works by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire composers, featuring a wide range of styles utilising the flexible layout of the Lab in creative and inventive ways.

TUE 21 JAN

MILLENNIAL PERCUSSION: STAR ME KITTEN 8pm Centrala, Digbeth £5 (includes free drink) Millennial Percussion Producer/Piano Katherine Tinker Producer Toby Kearney Alexander Schubert Star Me Kitten Anna Meredith Flex Alexis Bacon Ojibwe Song Iannis Xenakis Okho Millennial Percussion continue to showcase some of the most adventurous music written for percussion in the first of two extraordinary programmes at Centrala in 2020.

Drawing on cutting edge repertoire, this concert combines virtuosic playing with immersive lighting, screen and audio, and features a rare performance of Alexander Schubert’s Star Me Kitten alongside unmissable music from Anna Meredith and Iannis Xenakis, and world premierès by Fumiko Miyachi and Katharina Wallace.

FURTHER PROGRAMME DETAILS AVAILABLE AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS

SUPPORTERS & EVENT FUNDERS

HOW TO FIND US Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is situated at 200 Jennens Road, Birmingham B4 7XR, opposite Aston University and behind Millennium Point.

PARKING

There is a multi-storey car park owned and managed

by Birmingham City Council situated adjacent to Millennium Point. The car park entrance is on Howe Street off Jennens Road. If you are using a sat nav please use the postcode B4 7AP.

BUS ROUTES Please note all listings correct at time of going to press.

The 14, 55, 66 and 94 all go from Priory Queensway (B & M Bargains) and stop on Jennens Road. There is a stop almost opposite Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with a pedestrian crossing nearby.

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair users are entitled to concessionary priced tickets with a complimentary companion seat. Guide Dogs are welcome at all Royal Birmingham Conservatoire venues. If you wish to bring a Guide Dog or wheelchair, please let the Events Office know by calling 0121 331 5909.

BOOK NOW AT WWW.BCU.AC.UK/CONCERTS