Lucerne Festival Forward I Program

17. – 19.11.2023

Founding Partner

Program

Fri 17.11.

Concert 1 19.30 Filmtheatre at the Swiss Museum of Transport

Sofia Jernberg © Jon Edergren

Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) Johanna Malangré conductor Sofia Jernberg soprano Markus Güdel lighting design “Video/Opera” Clara Maïda Web Studies for violin, viola, harp, prepared piano, live electronics, and interactive video Swiss premiere 12 min

Julius Eastman Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc for solo soprano 12 min

Fausto Romitelli An Index of Metals video opera for soprano, electronics, ensemble, and multimedia projection based on texts by Kenka Lèkovich video by Paolo Pachini and Leonardo Romoli 50 min This concert has no intermission.

CHF 50

The third edition of Forward starts on the biggest screen in Switzerland: the Filmtheatre at the Swiss Museum of Transport, where we will show An Index of Metals. In this video opera created shortly before his premature death in 2004, the Italian Fausto Romitelli transgressed all boundaries of genre. Sound, video projection and lighting, new music, rock and techno, instrumental sonorities and the electronically filtered soprano of Sofia Jernberg all merge together into a “magma of flowing tones, shapes, and colors” — an overwhelming synesthetic, and even psychedelic, experience. The French artist Clara Maïda similarly intertwines video and music in Web Studies, reflecting on our hyper-connected world in which “every micro-movement can induce an intense upheaval …”

Sat 18.11.

Concert 2 18.30 KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

© Christine Chapman

Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) Marco Blaauw trumpet Sebastian Schottke sound design Markus Güdel lighting design “Film/Music” Marcus Schmickler Richter’s Patterns for large ensemble, computer, and film a film by Corinna Belz and Gerhard Richter Swiss premiere 34 min

Rebecca Saunders Moving Picture 946-3 Kyoto music for solo trumpet and acoustically manipulated sound for a film by Corinna Belz and Gerhard Richter Swiss premiere 35 min CHF 50

The KKL Luzern will itself turn into a cinema with two works that combine music, painting, and film into a total work of art. Director Corinna Belz assembled segments from paintings by Gerhard Richter into an algorithmic film. In parallel to this, Marcus Schmickler created a score based on the same constructive procedures: film music that doesn’t merely provide accompaniment but functions independently. Another joint project by Belz and Richter inspired Rebecca Saunders to write a piece for the trumpeter Marco Blaauw: the film Moving Picture 946-3 fascinated her with “its radiance, its mesmerizing and absolute focus, and in particular how one’s sense of time becomes suspended.”

Sat 18.11.

Concert 3 — Late Night

Julius Eastman © Ron Hammond/ronfstop.com

22.00 KKL Luzern, Concert Hall Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) Markus Güdel lighting design “Ritual” Julius Eastman Femenine 70 min This concert has no intermission.

CHF 20

Right in the middle of things instead of merely in the audience: in a special late-night setting, you can get to know Julius Eastman. As a gay Black man, he was a unique figure among the American Minimalists. He was a trailblazer in addressing racism and homophobia in his work but died impoverished and forgotten in 1990 — only to be rediscovered in recent years. You will share the stage with the musicians in this concert, becoming part of the performance. Using delicate bell sounds and a catchy vibraphone motif, Eastman develops a repetitive sound stream in Femenine that expands Minimalism by using improvisational elements: a trance-like ritual. “The end sounds like the angels opening up heaven …

Should we say euphoria?”

Sun 19.11.

Concert 4 18.30 KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Liza Lim © Maria Sturm

Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) Mariano Chiacchiarini conductor Sofia Jernberg soprano Winnie Huang gestural performer Markus Güdel lighting design “Death/Life” Charles Uzor 8’46’’ George Floyd in memoriam 9 min

Improvisation by Sofia Jernberg 5 min

Charles Uzor Katharsis Kalkül (“Catharsis Calculation”): George Floyd in memoriam for ensemble world premiere commissioned by Lucerne Festival with support from Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland 20 min

Liza Lim Multispecies Knots of Ethical Time for 15 musicians, gestural performer, and video video by Morena Barra world premiere commissioned by Lucerne Festival 45 min CHF 50

8 minutes, 46 seconds: ever since the brutal killing of the African American George Floyd during a police operation in Minneapolis, this time span has symbolized racist violence. The Swiss Nigerian composer Charles Uzor has worked through his reactions to this event in a nightmarish piece comprising nothing but the sounds of breathing; his new work Catharsis Calculation takes this further. Liza Lim’s new ensemble piece is also about time: about our individual finiteness and about the ecological crisis. The protagonist is a river — a symbol for transience and (endangered) continuity. In a video by Morena Barra, the performer Winnie Huang translates it into sound using two violins, performing on the stage in an interactive dialogue with the film.

Sun 19.11.

Family Concert 14.30 KKL Luzern, Rehearsal Hall admission with a kultissimo day pass is CHF 10 | information on how to purchase tickets at kultissimo.ch a production by the company Frakt’ with the support of Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland, the City of Biel, the canton of Bern, the Sociéte des Amis du Théâtre Bienne, and the Basel Sinfonietta

Estelle Costanzo Celtic harp Pascale Güdel actor “Harpapier” musical performance featuring music

by Estelle Costanzo, Liao Lin-Ni, Florian C. Reithner, Toshio Hosokawa, and Lou Harrison 40 min for young listeners from 0 to 4 years (accompanied by an adult)

in collaboration with Kultissimo

Sun 19.11.

Film 16.00 stattkino Luzern CHF 18/15 (with discount) tickets available only through the stattkino starting 4. August: t +41 (0)41 410 30 60 | info@stattkino.ch

“Gerhard Richter Painting” a film by Corinna Belz Germany 2011, 97 min, in German and English (with German subtitles)

Gerhard Richter Painting provides unique insights into the artist’s work.

Fri 17.11. – Sun 19.11.

Vocal Sculpture 15 minutes before each concert in the foyer of the KKL Lucerne and at the Swiss Museum of Transport Filmtheatre free admission

Ragnheiður Erla Björnsdóttir Young Voices of Lucerne Joined by young people from Lucerne, the Icelandic composer, poet, and performer will develop a vocal sculpture to get audiences in the mood for the concerts over the course of a five-day workshop.

THANK YOU! New music experiences need strong partners with vision. We sincerely thank our Partners for their forward-looking commitment!

Founding Partner

Partners Carla Schwöbel-Braun Gitti Hug John and Patricia B. Ziel Landis & Gyr Foundation Pro Helvetia, Swiss Art Council Walter B. Kielholz Foundation AMAG Audi Center Luzern, Car Partner | Kanton Luzern | KKL Luzern, Event Partner | Luzern Tourismus | MetaDesign, Partner in Communication | Radio SRF Kultur, Media Partner

Many thanks also go to the Lucerne Festival Friends and to all those supporters who do not wish to be mentioned by name.

Lucerne Festival is a member of

Official Rail Carrier

LUCERNE FESTIVAL FRIENDS Support Lucerne Festival and enjoy many benefits: • priority booking • invitations to Friends events including rehearsals, meetings with artists, and concert introductions • access to the Friends Lounge during the Summer Festival • organized Friends trips featuring an exclusive cultural program Become part of our international patrons’ community of music enthusiasts.

We look forward to meeting you!

YOUNG FRIENDS Join us up to age 35!

CHF 200/100 (students)

American Friends event: Michael Haefliger in conversation with Anne-Sophie Mutter

Please contact us for more information at Isabelle Köhler t +41 41 226 44 52 friends@lucernefestival.ch lucernefestival.ch/friends

TICKETING INFORMATION Online ticket sales begin on 3 August 2023, 12.00 noon (Swiss time) Mail sales begin on 4 August 2023 Telephone sales begin on 4 August 2023 Mon – Fri from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon (Swiss time); also from 2.00 to 4.00 pm between 4 August and 10 September The Festival Pass for fans of Forward — and for anyone who wants to become one Attend all four concerts and take advantage of a 20% discount compared with the purchase of single tickets: Our Festival Pass costs CHF 136 (instead of CHF 170).

Sales & Visitor Services Lucerne Festival | P.O. Box | CH–6002 Luzern t +41 (0)41 226 44 00 | ticketbox@lucernefestival.ch | lucernefestival.ch

Publishing Credits Curators Lucerne Festival Contemporary Leaders: Chloë Abbott | Jack Adler-McKean | Cecila Bercovich | Ettore Biagi | Winnie Huang | Helga Karen | Edward Kass | Marina Kifferstein | Alex Lipowski | Ben Roidl-Ward | Nathan Watts | Johnna Wu Responsible for Lucerne Festival: Felix Heri and Mark Sattler Publisher Foundation Lucerne Festival | Executive and Artistic Director: Michael Haefliger Hirschmattstrasse 13 | P.O. Box | CH–6002 Luzern t +41 (0)41 226 44 00 | info@lucernefestival.ch | lucernefestival.ch Editing and Content Malte Lohmann, Susanne Stähr English-Language Editor and Translator Thomas May Layout and Realization Denise Fankhauser | Cover Jason Planzer Printing Engelberger Druck AG, Stans This program was published in June 2023 and is subject to alteration without prior notice. Printed prices are subject to correction.

Printed in Switzerland | © 2023 by Lucerne Festival

Lucerne Festival Forward 2022 © Peter Fischli/Lucerne Festival

BOARDS FOUNDATION LUCERNE FESTIVAL Board of Trustees Markus Hongler, Chairman* Dr. Christian Casal, Treasurer* Dr. Rolf Dörig* Dr. Christoph Franz Christian Gellerstad Regula Gerber Andrea Gmür-Schönenberger Dr. Marianne Janik Walter B. Kielholz* Dr. Hariolf Kottmann* Michel M. Liès

FOUNDATION LUCERNE FESTIVAL FRIENDS Giovanna Maag Anne-Sophie Mutter Prof. Klaus Schwab Marcel Schwerzmann Anne Schwöbel Isabelle Welton* Beat Züsli * committee member Honorary Chairman Jürg R. Reinshagen

Board of Trustees Markus Hongler, Chairman Dr. Christian Casal, Treasurer Dr. Franz Egle Andrea Gmür-Schönenberger Elisabeth Oltramare EXECUTIVE AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Michael Haefliger EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT Michael Haefliger Danièle Gross Christiane Weber

TICKET ORDER FORM Lucerne Festival Forward | 17 – 19 November 2023 Online ticket sales begin on 3 August 2023, 12.00 (Swiss time) Mail and telephone sales begin on 4 August 2023

Time/Venue Concert

No. of tickets

Ticket prize

Fri 17.11.

19.30 | VH

Concert 1

50

Sat 18.11.

18.30 | KS

Concert 2

50

Sat 18.11.

22.00 | KS Concert 3 — Late Night

20

Sun 19.11.

18.30 | KS

Concert 4

50

Festival Pass (all four concerts)

136

17. - 19.11.

Processing fee

Total

CHF 10

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Invoice We will send you an invoice indicating the amount due plus a processing fee of CHF 10. If you prefer to pay the amount by credit card, please notify us by phone after receiving the invoice at +41 (0)41 226 44 00. Unfortunately, due to reasons of data protection, we cannot accept credit card details in writing.

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Lucerne Festival Sales & Visitor Services | P.O. Box | CH–6002 Luzern t +41 (0)41 226 44 00 | ticketbox@lucernefestival.ch | lucernefestival.ch/en