O/Modernt

AWARENESS OF AND THROUGH MUSIC

Founder and artistic director of O/Modernt, Hugo Ticciati, has a holistic view of the performance and the experience of music – what he refers to as ‘musicking’. For the past decade he has fostered a concept that has turned into something quite unique in both the performing arts and in the education of young musicians. Ticciati tells us how music can link the past with the present and the future, how it invites the listener to be in the ‘now’, and how this might help us to embrace change.

What is O/Modernt?

O/Modernt (Swedish for ‘Un/Modern’) is, simply put, a creative way of music-making that aspires to awaken an innovative mode of listening. Since 2011, when the organisation was founded, the highlight of the year has been the summer Festival O/Modernt. Here we gather a wonderful array of artists from around the world to share the stage with emerging talents for a week of concerts and arts events at Ulriksdal Palace Theatre Confidencen in Stockholm. Our flagship on the international touring scene is the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra.

What makes O/Modernt stand out is an inclusive, boundary-free approach to music-making and to the arts more generally. By continuously exploring the artistic links between contemporary culture and the cultures of previous epochs, we find what connects people – irrespective of different times, distances and cultures.

What is your vision?

O/Modernt’s vision is the nurturing of new talent, and with the O/Modernt Academy we have established a unique education programme. Young musicians are not only mentored by world-class professionals in their respective instruments, they also get to meet some of the leading thinkers and voices of our time in a variety of fields. The programme offers a mindful learning environment that nourishes intellectual openness and creativity – one that stimulates collaboration and freedom of thought. We call it Interconnected Musicking. The Academy will enable the next generation of artists to navigate the complexities of the future with greater awareness and share with their audience profound experiences of beauty and creativity that we hope will inspire an ever-expanding landscape of awakened perspectives.

What has O/Modernt been up to during 2021?

In 2021 Festival O/Modernt celebrated its tenth anniversary. With travel restrictions and quarantine requirements there was an unprecedented number of uncertainties along the way. With the unstinting support of sponsors and volunteers and the hard work of the entire team, we managed to bring it off! Internationally acclaimed artists, emerging talents and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra presented a colourful programme of six concerts, one of which was staged in London in partnership with the Wigmore Hall. We also collaborated with a digital platform to make the festival performances available as live streams.

Even though most of the past year’s scheduled concerts were postponed for future seasons, the Chamber Orchestra was fortunate to perform in a number of special venues, notably the Berlin Konzerthaus, Köln Philharmonie and Berwaldhallen.

O/Modernt Academy transitioned to an online format, which, though it lacked the irreplaceable element of in-person interaction, enabled us to reach and ‘interconnect’ students and speakers from across the globe. Our educational focus in 2021 was devoted to one of the world’s greatest living composers, the Estonian Arvo Pärt. Following a series of talks that explored Pärt’s universe and legacy, we travelled with 25 international students to the Arvo Pärt Centre for an immersive five-day study trip. It was a very powerful experience to meet one another in person, and the maestro himself.

What were your experiences of the pandemic and what is the hope for O/Modernt in 2022?

While the lack of concerts, rehearsal time and interaction with fellow musicians posed many questions, O/Modernt, as always, embraced the challenges with a positive spirit. The pandemic also offered us time to enquire deeply into our values and priorities. This among other things led to developing our use of digital technology to reach a wider audience and to re-evaluating how to rehearse and perform while travelling less, primarily through expanding our base of players and extending one-off concerts into residencies with educational components.

From an even broader perspective, it became clear that the future is largely unplannable. By embracing this we relearn that the only sure thing about existence is its impermanence. Living this realisation, we are drawn powerfully into an awareness of the present moment. This feeds into our philosophy of performance practice. Participating in the flow of music, players and listeners are invited to share a moment where the past and the future unite in the present. Creating the conditions in which everyone can lose themselves in the ‘now’ of a performance is what O/Modernt endeavours to do every time we stand on stage. This is the greatest gift of music.

10

In 2021 the chamber music ensemble celebrated its 10th anniversary. Thanks to digital technology a large audience was able to watch the anniversary programme despite the restrictions on live audiences resulting from the pandemic.

25

The number of international students who travelled during the summer to Estonia and the Arvo Pärt Centre, where they met and were inspired by Pärt himself, one of the world’s greatest living composers.

>40

The number of new works commissioned by O/Modernt during its first 10 years. The new works include short solopieces, full cantatas and symphonies.

ABOUT THE PROJECT Recipient: The O/Modernt Foundation

Title: ‘The second decade of O/Modernt’.

What it involves: In brief, O/Modernt can be described as a creative way of making music which aims to invoke a new way of listening.

Funding: The Erling-Persson Foundation is supporting the project with a total of SEK 3 million over two years.