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are UK orchestras a no-go zone for new music? new arrivals from poland previews by yannis kyriakides
new notes
the month’s new music listings
04 09
Orchestras and new music
Is the orchestral world a no-go zone for new music, or is there a hive of activity happening below the radar? new notes editor SHOËL STADLEN spoke to programmers of seven leading professional orchestras...
orchestras to drop Brahms for a season or two and programme more new music in its place in order to keep classical music from becoming irrelevant to modern life. To quote the conference report (rather than his exact words):
music is a self-perpetuating circle: only star artists can guarantee audiences; star artists compete for the same conservative musical territory; orchestras therefore have to programme conservatively; and audiences therefore grow ever more conservative.
Steve Martland: […] The absence of many
Unsurprisingly, this isn’t a view shared by orchestral programmers. Different programmers cite different challenges, but attracting audiences and the costs of programming new music are key common themes.
representatives of the London orchestras from these discussions on the future of classical music suggest[s] arrogance. Management assume they know what people want, but in fact defer to artists’
The idea that the orchestral world is a no-go zone for new music is a widely held one. The seeds of this article were sown in September 2005, when I attended a conference called ‘A Future for Classical Music in Britain’ (click here to download the report of the conference). Sally Groves, of Schott Music Publishers, chaired a session on how to engage new audiences with new music, with two composers published by Schott, John Casken and Steve Martland, joining her on the panel.
agents, because they must engage certain star soloists to ensure audiences: it’s all about money. The London orchestras’ programmes this season are staggeringly dull, with hardly any contemporary music. Classical music has become a museum with no relevance to modern life. The same composers, and the favoured few of their works, appear repeatedly. London wouldn’t sink if the four Brahms symphonies were rested for a few years. But agents want their conductors and solo artists to perform just those pieces which all the other artists are doing, and this
In reply to a question about why the contemporary visual arts, and Tate Modern in particular, are able to draw people in, while contemporary music struggles, Martland said that it was perhaps Tate Modern’s savvy-ness in focusing on a few particularly mediafriendly, conceptual and often controversial artists. Similarly, he said, there were only a few composers whom audiences like, and consequently whom orchestras will programme – John Tavener, John Adams, Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Martland went on to call for UK
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Andrew Cornall of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) describes the challenge as ‘maximising your audience to come and hear new work and getting the investment not only to have it created but also to fund the “hidden” costs behind the actual commission’.
lack of imaginative programming is destroying classical music.
At the same time, you could look at the new music programming of the UK orchestras and find a large amount of activity, notable for the range of different approaches to programming. So we set out to find out what these are and where orchestras see new music fitting in.
James Williams of the Philharmonia Orchestra highlights the rehearsal time required and the additional forces often required in new pieces: ‘Funding is a major obstacle in programming contemporary orchestral music because of the amount of rehearsal time it takes to do something well. If you’re creating a new piece of music, you would probably need a bespoke rehearsal to really work through the piece, and often to dedicate a rehearsal to a single piece is a luxury in today’s environment. The other operational factor is that a lot of contemporary music is written for vast forces.’
The challenges Steve Martland’s view suggests that the barrier to the programming of more new
Ann McKay, the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s chief producer, agrees: ‘We run an orchestra of a certain size.
The LSO is an example of an orchestra building a ‘family’ of composers, pictured here with the LSO artistic support team. Raymond Yiu, Lady Panufnik, Charlie Piper, Joshua Penduck, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Matthew Sergeant, Andrew McCormack, Sasha Siem, Colin Matthews, Philip Flood. Photo: Kevin Leighton
In much contemporary music, particularly that written in Germany and France, where the orchestras are bigger and have more money, The forces required go well beyond the standard symphony orchestra, with six horns, six or more percussionists and extra keyboard players etc. That is an issue: we can't afford to do big pieces all the time. The amount of percussion you have to hire and whether electronics are required are also big financial factors.' Programmers are highly aware of the challenges both of attracting audiences for performances of new music and of
making their experiences of new music positive ones. ‘Encouraging the audience to take a risk on repertoire that is unfamiliar will always be a challenge’, says BBC Philharmonic’s general manager, Richard Wigley. The difference in audience numbers for standard repertoire pieces and for new work is certainly striking in some cases. Tim Thorne of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) says that when the orchestra plays a contemporary programme in St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, which seats 2,000 people, it’s difficult to get the right ‘vibe’, with audiences falling to around 200.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic • Gave c.40 first performances over last two years. Resident composer Kenneth Hesketh. • Also has specialist new music ensemble, 10/10, which performs established, emerging and local composers. Andrew Cornall, Executive Director (Orchestra & Ensembles): “Ensemble 10/10 takes the major share of premieres but the orchestra has given first performances to some important new work – John Taverner’s Requiem, John McCabe’s Symphony Labryinth, Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater.” “In the RLPO series we will have preconcert talks with composers… to get the audience interested and
curious in what they are going to hear.” “We have to refresh repertoire or our art form becomes a museum exhibit. We simply have to do it – it should be part of everyone’s remit to create as well as recreate.” “I’m very keen on a multiple-venue commissioning strategy. That will help us create more work and make sure that those works get a number of performances.” “A good piece in the right context will always have a good effect and build trust in the audience.” www.liverpoolphil.com
Indeed, this risk is so great that many orchestras have devised specific strategies for programming new music in order to deal with the challenge, ranging from taking new music out of the main concert hall, or placing it outside the main programme, to focusing on composition as education work or working with only a trusted few composers. So what are these strategies? Below is a summary of the activities of the professional UK orchestras we interviewed.
New music as part of orchestras’ main programmes While the amount varies, all the orchestras interviewed have recently programmed new music as part of their main programmes. Of the major composer-led focuses, festivals and events, a large proportion are programmed by the BBC groups, as would be expected of their public service remit and funding. The BBC SO has recently changed its annual singlecomposer weekends in January to a series of days each focusing on a particular composer - this year three composers whose common focus was space and architecture: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tristan Murail and Iannis Xenakis. Meanwhile the BBC Philharmonic regularly works with the Royal Northern College of Music on composer festivals and BBC NOW recently put on a weekend profiling Henri Dutilleux. But beyond the BBC groups, the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and the Philharmonia contined on page 4 >> april 2009
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BBC Symphony Orchestra • Has has three venues, each with a different type of programming: Barbican, Maida Vale studios, and the Proms • Runs annual composer ‘immersion’ days: this year Murail, Grisey and Xenakis. • Artist-in-Association: Oliver Knussen. • Does not accept speculative submissions. All work with emerging composers done through spnm – annual projects with Shortlist and through open call. Ann McKay, Chief Producer: “What the composer’s there to do is to use their imagination, and to see what worlds they can create with the forces of the orchestra – developing new sound worlds, new ideas… it’s being part of a living, breathing art form. “ “With the Proms we can be the most brave and speculative – people tend to come to the Proms because of the event itself rather than the concert programme.” “Our remit is to produce orchestral music and not chamber music…There’s so much fantastic contemporary orchestral music that’s never heard…we will always present the orchestra as an
orchestra.” “We have Oliver Knussen as Artist in Association, and we had John Adams as Composer is Association before me, and Mark AnthonyTurnage as our first Artist in Residence.” “From the moment the piece is programmed into the concert, the conditions have to be met to enable the piece to get a proper performance: enough rehearsal time, the right conductor, the right rehearsal venue, the right performance space…We would minimally have two days of rehearsal before any Barbican concert or any studio concert.” “I think, often, new music needs to be set in the context of the classics. Just to bring an audience a concert of non-stop contemporary music is not necessarily a good thing.” “We say to composers, go to the spnm, because there is an organisation that is able to give you a chance. “I go to a lot of concerts, I listen to a lot on the radio, I listen to recordings, I take advice and I sit on competition juries internationally to pick composers up, and I rely very much on people in the business.”
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Meanwhile at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, new music features fairly often as part of the main programme. The composers programmed are either tried, tested and trusted, as in the case of Mark-Anthony Turnage, or highprofile international composers chosen by the orchestra’s musical director, Vladimir Jurowski, who in the current season has programmed music by post-Soviet composers Vladimir Martynov, Valentin Silvestrov, Giya Kancheli and Benjamin Yusupov, as well as the German composer Torsten Rasch.
www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/so
Meredith. BBC NOW has Welsh composer Guto Puw in residence and Simon Holt as Composer in Association. Meanwhile the RLPO and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra have recently had Kenneth Hesketh and Beyond these headline new music events Stephen McNeff as resident composers respectively, in both cases with funding that focus around particular composers and conductors, one unifying factor in the from the Royal Philharmonic Society’s programming of new music in orchestras’ Composer in the House scheme. In all main events series is the importance of these cases, the composer’s role has trusted individuals – primarily composers been an important one, not only in and conductors – in whom orchestras creating works for the orchestras’ invest their confidence. Central to this is programmes, but also in creating links the composer-in-residence. The BBC between the orchestras and other less Scottish Symphony Orchestra has well-known, often local, composers. recently worked with two resident composers, the internationally-established The resident composer’s role is even Jonathan Harvey and the fast-emerging more important if it is combined with young Scottish composer, Anna that of conductor. The BBC also take part in large-scale, multiensemble new music events at the Southbank and Barbican centres in London – perhaps once or twice a year on average.
Philharmonic has employed a Composer/Conductor for almost 20 years now, with Peter Maxwell Davies succeeded in 2000 by James MacMillan, who, following his appointment to the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, will hand over the reins to Austrian composerconductor HK Gruber in September this year. The role enables the incumbent to advocate composition through his or her own works but also to advocate music by other composers directly to the orchestra. The BBC SO has a larger portfolio of new music to cover and therefore is less likely to appoint a single composer-conductor, but it has followed the Philharmonic’s example, appointing John Adams as a composing-conducting Artist in Association in 2003, followed by Oliver Knussen, who will take over the role from July this year to 2012.
What this demonstrates is that figures such as James MacMillan, John Adams, Oliver Knussen, HK Gruber and Vladimir Jurowski are key advocates of new music within their orchestras. Tim Thorne of BBC NOW takes up this theme: ‘The toughest challenge is how to programme new music in mainstream concerts. I think the biggest key here is the right personality. The biggest successes we’ve had happened when the conductor can turn around to an audience just before the performance and explain why they have such a huge passion to bring this work to their attention. I remember when Thierry Fischer did that with a work by Heinz Holliger. I’ve never heard such a warm, enthusiastic response to such a difficult listen!’
Finally, one of the most striking ways of including new music as part of the main programme has been the LSO’s UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers scheme (previously known as Sound Adventures), a programme that enabled lessestablished British composers to develop pieces through workshop-based development processes. The final pieces have then been premiered in the LSO’s main Barbican series, but interestingly have been inserted into the programmes as ‘surprise’ pieces, not being publicised in advance. However, Philip Flood says the orchestra is now re-thinking the way this works: ‘For the first three years, the UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers works were programmed as surprise pieces. We’ve now re-evaluated that, because we actually value them incredibly highly and reaised that we needed to acknowledge them appropriately. They are programmed quite late in the day, so they may not make it into our season brochure, but they will be fully publicised in the programme book, website and other publicity.’
New music outside the main programmes Once you look beyond the main programmes, you find a lot going on. As James Williams explains, the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Music of Today series minimises the risks of programming new music by using chamber forces and taking box office targets out of the equation: ‘The Philharmonia Orchestra focuses most new music programming through the Music of Today series, which is a series of free pre-concert events that take place at 6pm in the Royal Festival Hall. Each of these focuses on a living composer, ranging from the most established international composers, such as Magnus Lindberg and Hans Abrahamsen, to younger and less established composers, who are looking to make their presence felt on the London music scene. We run around six of these a year, co-ordinated by our artistic director, Julian Anderson.’ Another similar strategy is to set up a separate ensemble, made up from players from the orchestra, to
specialise in new music and develop its own brand. Birmingham Contemporary Music Group started its life in this way in 1987, while the RLPO and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra have since set up Ensemble 10/10 and Kokoro respectively as groups specialising in new music, including the music of local composers. Andrew Cornall of the RLPO: ‘Ensemble 10/10 has its own regular series and because the group draws its personnel from the RLPO it can be as large or small as we want for any individual programme. This gives us great flexibility in what we can programme in any one concert. Every 10/10 concert has at least one piece from a local composer, often more, and a number of those have been featured regularly over the years. We’ll also perform something from a talented local youngster to give them a taste of a professional premiere.’ The strength of these smaller new music ensembles is their flexibility, independence and ability to perform music by less-established composers. BCMG, 10/10 and Kokoro all play strong roles in advocating new music to communities that neither new music nor orchestral music usually reach
(BCMG’s rural tours, Kokoro’s performances in small towns in Dorset and Hampshire, 10/10’s links with Liverpool Hope University). Both the pre-concert series and the separate chamber ensembles treat the orchestra as a collection of individual musicians, who can be invaluable resources for composers. James Williams: ‘There is a sense that an orchestra can only serve a composer by giving an opportunity for a full orchestral performance. However, I think that, particularly for young composers, the opportunity to work with professional musicians, even if only in a chamber context, is incredibly valuable.’ Not all programmers share this view. Philip Flood of the LSO feels the orchestra’s main role in working with less-established composers is to give them experience of writing for the full orchestra, and in this way to build a ‘family’ of composers with whom the orchestra has worked and commissioned, to take orchestral writing forward: ‘New music sits within LSO Discovery, which is the orchestra’s education and community programme, but it is increasingly being described as our
London Symphony Orchestra • New music sits within LSO Discovery, the orchestra’s education and development arm • Panufnik Young Composers’ Scheme runs annually - open call with deadline in November • UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers commissions six composers per year to write for main Barbican programme. Open call in June. Philip Flood, Head of LSO Discovery (LSO) “For us, new music is really the lifeblood of what takes the agenda forward. It has been central to the LSO, it’s central to the Discovery programme; it’s about discovering new work and engaging composers, in this instance, engaging
composers with the orchestra.” “Our commissioning work tends to be almost exclusively with the whole orchestra…if you’re going to write for the LSO, then you should have the opportunity to write for the whole orchestra.” “We interview the composers on the stage, because I think that helps to break down any preconceptions that there may be about what new music is.” “I think co-commissions are a very good thing: you can pair up with an international orchestra and get lots of performances.”
www.lso.co.uk
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research and development arm. This in turn sits within our Talent programme, about developing the composers, conductors and performers of the future. Our commissioning work tends to be almost exclusively with the whole orchestra: we do have a number of chamber ensembles, which we’ve commissioned new work for, but really, if you’re going to write for the LSO, then you should have the opportunity to write for the whole orchestra.’ LSO has two programmes for composers. The Panufnik Young Composers’ Scheme is for composers at an early stage of their careers, with six composers selected from an open call to work with mentor Colin Matthews on pieces that are workshopped by the orchestra. Following this, one composer is selected for a 10-minute commission. The second scheme is called UBS Soundscapes: Pioneers. ‘Since 2005, eighteen composers have been through that scheme, writing 3–5 minute pieces for the main stage at the Barbican’, says Philip Flood. ‘Some of those
BBC Philharmonic • Collaborates with the RNCM on three living composer focuses each year`
closer reflection of modern culture. For this reason it is important to give it a high profile in our concerts.”
• Performs orchestral works by the spnm Shortlist each year
“BBC Philharmonic would normally place commissioned work in a standard symphonic context. However, we reduce our ticket prices for exclusively new music concerts in the Bridgewater Hall to attract a wider audience.”
• James MacMillan about to hand over Composer/Conductor role to HK Gruber Richard Wigley, General Manager : “The Composer/Conductor provides a valuable insight into new and neglected work.”
“I advise composers to work hard to ensure that many people (not only publishers) are talking about their music.”
“New music brings a revitalised repertoire for orchestras and a
www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/philharmonic
composers have since become more established: they’ve got publishing contracts, they’ve had commissions from other major symphony orchestras, and it’s great to see that we’ve picked them up and that they’ve moved on to do other things.
Philharmonia Orchestra • New music primarily run through Music of Today pre-concert series, curated by Julian Anderson, with players from the orchestra. • A year-round composers’ academy in association with the Music of Today series is under development James Williams, Dir. of Residencies and Regional Programming: “The purpose of the Music of Today series is discovery... I think the Music of Today series is a great mouthpiece with which to develop new audiences.” “I think the series provides a stepping stone for audiences who may come to see one of our Music of Today series, and then take the next step of say, going to see a Sinfonietta concert.” “I think an orchestra has to play more than the traditional symphonic repertoire of Beethoven, Brahms and
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Mahler. New music is a great way of contextualising these great works.” “New music is about making orchestral music more relevant to a wider audience.” “Generally we get around 300-400 attendees for a Music of Today concert, though we’re looking to improve on those numbers.” “The Music of Today series is done on a voluntary basis, so the players who sign up want to be an active part of the series.” “The Music of Today series is put together on a minimal rehearsal. If you can have a second performance of a piece, that is a sign to me of a real success.” “Certainly the best way to engage my interest is for composers to invite me to a concert of their music.”
www.philharmonia.co.uk
Composers are again chosen through an open call, and this year Matthew King, Dorothy Ker and Paul Newland were selected. There’s a significant development process and a lot of nurturing, and those pieces end up getting played by the full orchestra on the stage at the Barbican, so there’s no second best. It’s not pre-concert; it’s not in the foyer – we place it within the main programme, and we’re really proud to give it that profile.’
So how do I get my music performed? So much for the orchestras’ new music strategies. For composers with no connections to orchestras, this may all seem fairly remote. Indeed, getting performances is very tough. While there is a certain amount of new music being performed in orchestras’ main programmes and we have seen examples of schemes that are open for anyone to apply, most commissions are awarded to high-profile composers and orchestras use publishers as quality control filters. Professional orchestras will not commission you out of the blue – the Proms commissions are perhaps as close as you will get, but you still have to have a certain amount of profile. Nor, unless the programmer already knows your work, will sending orchestral scores speculatively result in performance (you have slightly more chance with the spin-off chamber ensembles). For some composers, this advice will be difficult
BBC National Orchestra of Wales • Channels new music through composer weekends, Vale of Glamorgan festival, and various concerts around Cardiff • Simon Holt Composer in Association; Thierry Fischer is now resident conductor, with Guto Puw as resident composer • Annual work with Welsh student composers Tim Thorne, Senior Producer: “We are a BBC orchestra, and Radio is at the heart of what we do.” “We’ve enjoyed a tremendously fruitful association with Michael Berkeley…We’ll be performing his last commission for us this June in St. David’s Hall.” “Education is another vitally important element in our identity. Each year our orchestra plays works written by young composers. It is important that we nurture the composers of tomorrow as best we can.” “I think we do have an obligation to to accept: why do orchestras not want to see what is being written? The answer is that it is very difficult for orchestras to programme works by non-established composers, and the mountains of unsolicited scores received make even keeping up with what is coming in virtually impossible. In addition, several of the orchestras are pro-active in creating opportunities for emerging composers and therefore feel
these “voices of today”. If there hadn’t have been people who believed in contemporary music around in Mozart’s time, or Beethoven’s, what music would we have left to play today?” Don’t waste time mailing unsolicited scores and CDs. The bar is set high, the opportunities are few. If the smaller scale music is strong enough then it’s only a matter of time. Be passionate about your music. If you can’t stand up and promote yourself, nobody is going to do it for you. I get the feeling the majority of the conductors and soloists we meet week after week really enjoy playing new music, perhaps we need to hear from our audience more often that this is the kind of thing they want to hear from us.
www.bbc.co.uk/wales/now there ought to be no need for composers to send in scores ‘cold’. So how can you get onto the ‘radar’ of orchestral programmers? Here are a few pieces of advice: • Don’t send in submissions ‘cold’. You’re unlikely to receive a response or feedback. • Do try to have as much contact with orchestras as possible, but don’t expect too much to come of any one
item of communication. • Ask questions of orchestras where the answer is more likely to be ‘yes’ or a helpful piece of advice. Find out what opportunities there are and when these opportunities arise. • Find out who the programmers and the key new music advocates in the orchestras are and ask them if they would be happy to receive general email updates from you. • The BBC groups focus much of their work by non-established composers through spnm, so do apply for the Shortlist and for the specific calls that are announced every year.
How can Sound and Music support orchestras in programming more new music? This article was designed to provide information about what the orchestras are up to. But with our new organisation, Sound and Music, opening for business in just a few months, it has been tempting to think about what the interviews tell us about how we can support orchestras and composers. The following is a short list of opportunities that occur to me: • Work with the existing new music advocates in orchestras, and work with other artists and conductors to develop more advocates. • Help the orchestras join up their new music work so that each is aware of what the others are doing. • Help orchestras develop audiences for new music. • Help orchestras keep up to date with which composers are doing what. • Work with amateur orchestras to develop opportunities for more composers to write for orchestra.
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra • Has specialist new music ensemble, Kokoro, which performs established, emerging and local composers • Composer Stephen McNeff recently resident
Stephen McNeff was the BSO’s Composer-in-the-House (2 years), Resident Composer (1 Year), alongside the pieces Stephen was writing for the BSO, Kokoro also performed five of his pieces (all premieres), so really benefitted from his post with the company.”
Andrew Burn: During the three seasons when
www.bsolive.co.uk
What do you think? Do post your responses on the spnm forum at www.spnm.org.uk. And do also let us know what you think of the online version of new notes, by emailing newnotes@spnm.org.uk.
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New arrivals from Poland Migration is a hot topic in the UK today, but what does the UK know of Polish culture beyond builders and beer? The programmers of two upcoming new music festivals, Sounds New and Fertilizer, tell us about the Polish cutting edge, from ‘contemporary classical’ to ‘postrock psychedelia’... What have you discovered that’s exciting in the Polish new music scene? Paul Edlin: (Artistic Director, Sounds New): There’s such a lot going on in Poland! Pawel Mykietyn’s music is certainly very exciting and is an eclectic mix which makes such good sense and is so colourful. I heard the premiere of his recent St. Luke Passion and it made a real impact on me. Pawel Szymanski’s music may be better known in the UK. His music presents real challenges, yet one can easily hear its intensity of thought and expression almost immediately. Agata Zubel is, in my opinion, someone very special – and she is unknown in the UK. She is a wonderful singer in her own right, but, as a remarkable composer, her music is a heady mix of all that we associate with Polish music of Lutoslawski and early Penderecki, and yet it breaks new ground. Through Agata, I have become aware of Cezary Duchnowski’s electro-acoustic music. This is both enigmatic and challenging, and combines those Polish traits of wit and seriousness. Looking at a different style, Hanna Kulenty’s music is extremely engaging. Its rhythms are vibrant and there is a lightness which gives constant pleasure. Polly Eldridge (Sound UK, producers of Fertilizer): A new jazz scene that undoubtably has its roots in the strength of the Polish jazz scene of the 1960s but is completely owned by the new generation. Bands like Pink Freud are mixing jazz with a punky rawness – or with a psychedelic funk sound like Sing Sing Penelope. It isn’t jazz as such, but draws on both the Polish scene’s jazz heritage and a very new sound. Male Instrumente also intrigued us, a sextet that perform only on very small or toy instruments. It
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takes this charming concept from cute to cutting edge – experimenting with the more eerie and challenging sounds that they can create. Jacaszek we are really excited by and contrasts significantly with the rest of the programme. Gorgeously delicate electronic music combined with the acoustic cello and human voice, this is atmospheric, subtle music that reveals itself over several hearings. Do you think the East European scene is much different to the UK’s? Paul Edlin: The Polish music scene is certainly a very exciting one. Their composers seem fearless, they are happy to be uncompromising, and yet their music has that inherent mix of earthiness and lyricism. This is a heady mix indeed. Polish performers seem to be very keen to try new ideas. The remarkable cellist Andrzej Bauer is a fantastic exponent of contemporary work, and he is one of a number of outstanding artists who can play Bach like few others, yet can push boundaries and capture their audiences’ enthusiasm. When it comes to larger forces, I have been hugely impressed by the AUKSO Orchestra. Then there’s Polish jazz, folk music, etc. Poland is certainly making its mark and saying ‘Let’s say it as it is and go forward with gusto’. Polly Eldridge: The scene in Poland is very different. It still seems that the Communist pride and investment in classical music means it dominates, alongside a really strong jazz scene – they have over 100 jazz festivals. What we found realy intriguing was all the leftfield music outside of this. At the moment the scene is definitely grass roots; most labels and clubs are little cottage industries run by artists. There are few distribution channels for either CDs or, in terms of agents, live acts.
Funding in this area is scarce compared to classical and contemporary classical – in fact the funding we have raised from the Instute Adam Mickiewicz seems rare for this type of music. It really feels like a fledgling scene on the verge of breaking through. Obviously migration and the recent EU accession states are big issues in the UK at the moment. But does programming a festival like yours connect with these issues? Polly Eldridge: The whole raison d’etre of Fertilizer is to highlight the sounds from a new country each year – it is always focused on a national scene. For us we felt that the influx of Polish people into the UK had been making front-page news, but that in the main we were ignorant about the country and the culture they came from. Fertilizer seemed well placed to show a different side from the stereotypes of builders, waiters and Tyskie beer and could present the innovation and creativity of Poland. Fertilizer publises itself as discovering and promoting ‘the freshest new music’ from a different country each year, while Sounds New describes itself as a ‘contemporary music festival’. Can you tell me about what you see as ‘contemporary music’, ‘new music’, ‘new sound’, ‘the freshest’? Paul Edlin: Gosh, what a massive question! If only contemporary music was easier to pigeonhole -– but it isn’t. There are just so many genres. It is Sounds New’s mission to support ‘serious’ contemporary music in its very many genres. That includes the more ‘mainstream’ contemporary work (instrumental, chamber, orchestral, etc.),
electronic and electro-acoustic work, jazz, and it includes music that crosses boundaries and embraces innovation. ‘Fresh’ is fine in our books, but not at the expense of the really wonderful and serious work going on at the moment. Polly Eldridge: We see new music as forward looking – having something unique and distinctive that may simply be an original twist on a tradition or may be unapologetically on the frontier. We aren’t about those musicians directly following a certain lineage of a genre, but those that take a bit of this and a bit of that to create something that is truly individual and original. I like the fact that British musicians are now crossing between areas of music and exchanging ideas and working with musicians from very different backgrounds. When we founded the festival we felt that a lot of musicians were quite insular in their musical peer group, and that jazz and folk weren’t moving forward here like they were in Norway (the first country we featured). Now I think that’s really changed. Folktronica, skronk, the increasing subtleties and sophistication of how musicians are using technology is really creating some interesting music in the UK. There is a new generation of producers, promoters and musicians working in contemporary music who are fighting to break out of the traditional venues and formats and open up new music to a more diverse audience.
SOUNDS NEW CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009 23 April - 3 May in Canterbury, Kent Main image: Agata Zubel Left: Male Instrumente Below: Motion Trio
Featured composer: Krzysztof Penderecki. Line-up includes the RSAMD Brass, Motion Trio, London Sinfonietta, Rolf Hind, Olga Pasiecznik + Silesian String Quartet, and the Aurora Orchestra.
www.soundsnew.org.uk
FERTILIZER FESTIVAL 2009: Good Shit from Poland 13 - 17 May in London On UK tour 13 - 18 May Line-up includes: Sing Sing Penelope, Jacaszek, Contemporary Noise Sextet, Pink Freud and Male Instrumente.
www.fertilizerfestival.com
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new music opportunities CHOIR AND ORGAN: CALL FOR WORKS Deadline: 30 April 2009 This call is open to composers of any nationality who are under the age of 30 on 1 May 2009. Entrants are invited to submit an original work for solo organ (with pedals) of 4–10 minutes’ duration. The piece must be unpublished and should not have received any public performance or commercial recording. The composer of the winning entry will be interviewed in Choir & Organ magazine and the score will be published on the magazine website. Thomas Trotter will premiere the winning piece in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, later in the year. For more information, visit: www.choirandorgan.com
2ND SOND'AR-TE COMPOSITION COMPETITION 2009, PORTUGAL Deadline: 30 April 2009 This competition is open to composers of any age and nationality. Works are sought for Sond'Ar-te Ensemble: flute, clarinet in Bb, violin, cello, piano with tape or with liveelectronics mandatory. The works submitted may include a maximum of eight channels loudspeaker system and can use the following audio sequencers: Ardour, Digital Performer, ProTools, Logic Pro. Works should be of between 7–20 minutes’ duration. Works submitted must have been composed in or after 2001, and must not have been commercially published or awarded a prize in any national or international competition. The winning composition will be performed and recorded by the Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble. Entry costs 35 Euros. www.misomusic.com/ingl/crea/comcomp/2009.html
BRISTOL COMPOSERS: CALL FOR WORKS Deadline: ongoing Compositions are sought for four or six (or more) hands at a single piano for a possible recording project. For further information, contact: John Pitts at bristolcomposers@blueyonder.co.uk
UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN MUSIC PRIZE Deadline: 29 May 2009 This call is an open to composers of any age and nationality. Only one work per composer may be submitted. Composers from around the world are invited to submit new works for any combination of Clarinet and String Quartet of between 5 to 10 minutes duration. Five works will be selected from the initial 'call for scores' and performed by members of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a workshop session led by the composer James MacMillan, in November 2009. After the workshop session one composer will be offered the University of Aberdeen Music Prize: a £5,000 cheque in the form of a commission for a new work for orchestra to be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. For details on how to apply, visit: www.abdn.ac.uk/aberdeenmusicprize
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We advise you to contact the organisers of advertised opportunities before applying. spnm is not responsible for external opportunities advertised.
MUSICA NUEVA MÀLAGA INTERNATIONAL: CALL FOR WORKS Deadline: 31 May 2009 Composers of any age and nationality are invited to submit solo or ensemble works for Musica Nueva Màlaga International 2009 (MNMI). Selected works will be performed and recorded by resident international soloists. Selected composers will be invited to give a presentation on their music and will be recognized as Guest Composer of the Musica Nueva Malaga Festival. Composers may submit more than one work. There is a fee of 250–350 Euros, though payment made for unselected works will be refunded. For further details, visit: www.musicanuevamalaga.com
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER MUSIC COMPETITION 2009: PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITY Deadline: 10 July 2009 This is an opportunity for performers of contemporary chamber music under the age of 30 on 19 August 2009. Instrumental and vocal soloists or chamber groups of up to six players are invited to submit applications. Competitors will be required to give a public performance of two contemporary pieces of their choice, one of which must be a Polish composition. The competition aims to popularize international contemporary chamber music and promote young, talented musicians. There is a Grand Prix of PLN 35 000, and category prizes of PLN 10 000. Award winners will take part in concerts following the competition and will have their competition performances released on CD. Applications cost 30 Euros. For more details, visit: www.instytutsztuki.pl
BBC PROMS: INSPIRE FOR 12–18 YEAR OLD COMPOSERS Deadline: 14 August 2009 BBC Proms is inviting composers aged between 12–18 years to submit for the BBC Proms Young Composers’ Competition and take part in national Composer Labs UKwide between February and April. Selected works will be performed as part of the BBC Proms and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. For information on Young Composers and Composer labs, visit: www.bbc.co.uk/proms
MUSIC ORBIT’S OPEN SOURCE Deadline: Ongoing Open Source takes place during spnm’s monthly Sound Source event at Kings Place. Its curators, Music Orbit, are looking for material to make up their set. It can be in any style, just so long as it is new and evocative. More information on Open Source and other Music Orbit projects can be found at: www.musicorbit.co.uk
news Henri Pouseer
Poems Of Bob Dylan (Hila Plitmann with JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra) Best Classical Contemporary Composition Winner: John Corigliano (JoAnn Falletta] Mr. Tambourine Man – Seven Poems Of Bob Dylan www.grammy.com
OTHER NEWS
DEATHS: HENRI POUSSER Henri Pousser has died aged 79. Pousser was active in the European avant-garde scene, alongside Boulez, Stockhausen, Berio, and others. He taught in Germany, Switzerland, and the United States, and then at the University and Conservatory of Liège from 1970, founding the Centre de recherches et de formation musicales de Wallonie. Until 1999 he was composer-in-residence at the K.U.L. (University of Leuven). Pousseur composed some 150 works of varying dimensions for different functions. He was author of numerous articles and books and held honorary doctorates from the Universities of Metz and Lille.
Former spnm Shortlisted composer, Mica Levi released her debut album, Jewellery, under the name Micachu on Rough Trade Records on 9 March. The Times gave the album 4/5 for its ‘ear-bashing 35 minutes of crazy-paving beats, junk-shop punk, electronic drones and deceptively mellifluous bedsit pop.’ Kaija Saariaho has received the Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis. The prize was created in 1987 by the singer Roswitha Sperber to honour the work of female composers. The recording of Scattered Rhymes by former shortlisted composer, Tarik O'Regan has been nominated in the choral category of the BBC Music Magazine Awards. The winners, who are voted for by the magazine's readers, will be announced 7 April 2009. www.bbcmusicmagazine.com
MIDEM CLASSICAL AWARDS 2009
Mica Levi
On 21 January the winners of the 5th Midem Classical Awards were announced. Held during the record industry’s annual trade fair in Cannes, the MCA honoured a host of musicans at a ceremony in the Théâtre Debussy in the city’s Palais des Festivals. Award winners included the following: Contemporary Music Winner: Kaija Saariaho Notes on Light, Orion, Mirage DVD Opera/ Ballet Winner: John Adams Doctor Atomic www.midemclassicalawards.com
GRAMMY AWARDS 2009 The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2009, and was broadcast on CBS. For the sixth year in a row, the ceremony was held in the Staples Center. Awards included the following: Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra) Winner: Piano Music Of Salonen, Stucky and Lutoslawski (Gloria Cheng) Best Chamber Music Performance Winner: Elliott Carter String Quartets nos.1 And 5 (Pacifica Quartet) Best Classical Vocal Performance Winner: John Corigliano Mr. Tambourine Man – Seven
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The Guest Artist Q&A What do you see as the current role of the composer? The role of the composer is certainly shifting, just as the function and aesthetics of music are constantly shifting. It's difficult to pin it down. Musical institutions sometimes move more slowly than the musical imagination, so composers have to create their own scenes and expressive means in order to not be compromised by the conventions of their predecessors. Of course composers can come in all shapes and sizes, but I tend to be drawn to the ones that create something from the experience and perceptions of our contemporary world, those that find the necessity in using new technologies to create new forms. You’ve developed your career in quite an interesting way: can you tell us a little bit about why and how you’ve done this? The only conscious choices I've made regarding 'career' have been in musical choices. It tends to go wrong if I think about career opportunities over and above the music. This translates in the belief that one should just compose the music one wants to hear. So in terms of career that means not necessarily doing the standard commissions that come may way, but choosing to create my own groups and projects. On the other hand most choices one makes have simply to do with coincidences, the kind of influences one has as an artist, the musical environment one operates in, and I've often been drawn to working with non-mainstream musicians and artists. Most of my work involves electronic or multi-media in some way, but often with a performative element. Using electronic media allows me to somehow redefine the acoustical space, to decentre the traditional concert practice, and to look for new ways of perceiving the function of music. What I’m interested in exploring seems to lie at the cross-points of different media. I love the perceptual
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Yannis Kyriakides and Andy Moor
Composer Yannis Kyriakides on multi-media music, his label
shifts involved in moving from the musical to sound to text to visual information, and the interplay between these. The idea of composition for me encompasses how other media is organised into something coherent and musical. I also feel more free as a composer if I bring in other material into play; faced with a conventional form and a conventional acoustical setting, I feel the weight of music history bearing down on me and I struggle to feel inspired. Can you tell us about your time studying at the University of York? York was an intense musical environment. There was a fantastic creative buzz at the time I was there, predominantly amongst the students and the recently graduated. The Icebreaker founders, who were influenced by Dutch music, were there: James Poke, John Godfrey, Damien le Gassik, as well as composers such as Gordon McPherson, Matthew King, and Richard Causton. Amongst the lecturers Roger Marsh had just started teaching there, and he was very supportive. In retrospect it was something like a cross between a conservatory and a university as there was a lot of emphasis on creating and performing rather than the purely academic. I had just spent a gap-year travelling around Greece learning traditional music and it was a culture
shock to return to an academic music environment. Thankfully I found myself in a scene of composers who were questioning the status quo of contemporary music and who wanted to do something new. You’re not only a composer, but also a recording artist and performer: how easy is it to build up a profile in these areas? Are they self-enforcing or exclusive to one another? I wouldn't really call myself a performer or recording artist, certainly if I compare myself to artists who have dedicated their life to the art of improvisation. Actually in the last few years, I have been doing less performing as an improviser, tending only to operate the electronics in my own pieces, and limiting myself to a few collaborations with musicians I love playing with. This is mostly due to lack of time, but also partly out of choice on focusing more on composition, on designing the sound world and context in a compositional format. I do love improvising and it has greatly influenced how I think about music, but it's often not a given how the two worlds come together. And what about your record label, Unsounds? I started Unsounds about 8 years ago with guitarist Andy Moor and artist Isabelle Vigier, simply as a way that we could release our own music and
Unsounds and his involvement in the next Sound Source.
Can you tell us about the web commission that you have just created for Sound and Music? QFO (which stands for Queer Foreign Objects) is a web composition I've created with Isabelle Vigier (the Unsounds designer). The text is from a Swiss traveller's description of a Wunderkamer or Click on the image Cabinet of to play QFO online Curiosities he witnessed in London in 1599. I've made quite a few pieces in the past with music and text projection, and I've always had a plan in my mind to do something that is suited for the web, a click-through-composition that is simply one sound to one item. I asked Isabelle to come up with a design concept for the piece, something graphic to capture both the innocence and foreboding of the beginning of the European colonial era. She came back with something irreverent, playful and poetic which was more than I could have asked for. What can the audience expect to experience at The Sound Source in April? There will be some composed pieces, some composed pieces with improvisation, and improvisation. Joost Rekveld will show his new film
#37 based on computer generated crystal patterns – a stunning film – I’ll be presenting a live mix of the soundtrack I composed for the film. Andy Moor and I will present a new piece called Folia, which is inspired by folk music from South America and European baroque music, smashed together in a guitar 'n electronics landscape. John Butcher will be
remains undiminished, still as mesmerizing as ever. We'll have the honour of performing with him this month at MaerzMusik in Berlin.
playing solo and in an improv setting together with Andy, and Angie Atmadjaja will be presenting a new sound installation. It's difficult to say what the audience will experience, certainly in some of the pieces we have a preference for immersive sound environments, and the physicality of sound.
to see as much other art as I can, especially when there are friends involved, I spend most of my free time with my wife and two boys, so that means indulging in their interest: robots, Lego, Barbapapa and Hot Wheels.
What are you interested in outside of music? As most musicians would admit, there is hardly any time to indulge in other interests except music! Apart from trying Yannis Kyriakides and family
the music of our friends. It's actually something that came out of a friendship rather than an artistic goal. We've released sixteen CDs so far, about two a year, so not a huge output. Apart from our own projects we've released CD's of musicians we admire such as John Butcher, Kaffe Matthews, Robert Ashley, Francisco Lopez, Justin Bennet, Cor Fuhler, Marko Ciciliani, Anne James Chaton and others. On a musical level Unsounds represents the span of musical interests and projects between Andy, who comes from the post-punk/improv scene and myself from the classical/electronic scene.
What have you listened to recently and found interesting and surprising? I've been relistening to some of electronic composer John Wall's albums recently; they’re amazingly well crafted and original works. (We are working with him this year, with Ensemble MAE). One of my biggest influences, a composer who I adore, and who the ensemble and Unsounds has worked with is Robert Ashley. I've just been recently listening to his new opera Concrete (on Lovely Music). It amazes me how his creative output
What’s next for you? I have three big commissions coming up this year, all large scale pieces over thirty minutes in length, for ensemble and electronics: for The Seattle Chamber Players (US), for Musikfabrik (Germany) and for ASKO (Netherlands). I'm also planning to release a double CD of my electroacoustic chamber music later this year, on Unsounds of course. Yannis Kyriakides will perform at The Sound Source at Kings Place on Tuesday 14 April. His online piece for Sound and Music can be found at www.spnm.org.uk
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previews yannis kyriakides Each month a guest artist selects events from the listings for preview. This month’s previews have been chosen by composer Yannis Kyrikides. Dave Fennessey
OLIVER COATES: CELLO Sunday 26 April CAMBRIDGE Yannis Kyriakides: I have fond memories of performing in Kettle's Yard several years ago, at the invitation of Richard Baker, who was then programming there – I'm glad they are still continuing the adventurous music tradition. This looks like a great concert. I'm not acquainted with Oliver Coates, but I know most of the composers on the programme. Larry Goves I have met in Huddersfield, what I've heard is really exciting. Mira Calix is also someone I know and keep bumping into – always interested to hear her new projects. And that Xenakis, who's he? Dave Fennessy is one of my favourite young composers, I have heard quite a number of his pieces and I would be very curious to hear the new piece and how it came about. Dave Fennessey (composer): I was asked by the Camberwell Composers Collective to write a piece for a concert series they’re running at Kettle’s Yard as part of their role as New Music Associates there. I had heard of Oliver Coates without ever actually having heard him play but was assured by Anna from C3 that he was ‘up for anything’ which is always music to a composer’s ears. We met up in London in January to try some things out which was useful in thinking about the piece. The piece I’ve written for Oliver is called The Room is the Resonator. Throughout the piece, the cello plays against a long, held chord which I recorded on an old harmonium in the garage of my girlfriend’s mother in Aberdeen. There’s something about that instrument, that garage, that day – there’s a stillness in that room, you can hear yourself. As I sat there listening to the pedals pushing air through the instrument my mind drifted to other places, other rooms…
Stephen Newbold
BCMG FAMILIES@4 CONCERT Sunday 26 April BIRMINGHAM Yannis Kyriakides: This looks like a fantastic work for children. I can imagine it causing parents a lot of frustration when they get home after the event to find their children re-imagining the house as a percussion studio. Sounds like a great project. Children, even toddlers, should be exposed to John Cage's music! Will the concert hall to living room transformation also allow the kids to freely roam around and experiment with sounds as well as the musicians?
Richard Barrett
Stephen Newbold (BCMG aristic director): Families@4 will be a very informal concert setting, designed to enable the young people to be as close to the music as possible. Although there is still a ‘concert’ format there will be opportunities for the children to have a go themselves and experiment with the sounds inspired by the music. Children will also be given ideas to take away and try out at home with their families, very much in the spirit of Ives and Cage whose music was designed to be played in many different contexts. We are very excited by this concept, particularly as this is the first Families@4 BCMG has done.
FRACTURE/FISSURE Tuesday 28 April LONDON Yannis Kyriakides: I've always felt in the past that there was a big divide between the so-called complexity composers and the minimalists, or the experimental composers, whom I had more sympathy for. At a certain point I realised that we are all interested in sound after all and the theory or processes that you use to get there are in some ways irrelevant, when it comes to the end product. I have a huge respect for Richard Barrett's music and I know some of the musicians in the concert, such as Peter Veale, quite well. This is one that I would love to see. How has contemporary improvisation practice influenced the techniques and approach of classical composers and performers, and is it two-way traffic? Richard Barrett (composer): I should say at the outset that I don't think the term ‘classical’ is very useful here, since it implies something that's already in the past, although actually there's a very great deal of supposedly ‘contemporary’ music being composed now which maybe does deserve the description, on account of having more to do with the past than the present. Free improvisation has since its beginnings in the 1960s been influenced by (notated) compositional models, although composers on the whole have been more wary of improvised music, often for reasons which don't stand up to very close scrutiny and have more to do with those composers' own insecurities. That aside, I'm not sure how appropriate it is to think in terms of ‘traffic’ between composition and improvisation - as far as I'm concerned composition denotes the creation of music, and improvisation denotes one way of doing this. I think it's limiting to see them as opposites.
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Key: First names indicate living composers and composers of works written post–1960. *** World premiere ** UK premiere * London premiere
Tuesday 31 March
SARGASSO: C
6pm
TIENSUU AND LINDBERG 7.30pm PREMIERES
NINA VIRDEE URBAN LOVE AND TABLATURE!
Barbican Hall, Silk Street, London EC2 John Storgårds conductor Kari Kriikku clarinet BBC Symphony Orchestra Magnus Lindberg Ottoni** Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge Jukka Tiensuu Missa; Clarinet Concerto no.2* Walton Partita for Orchestra £8–£24 020 7638 8891 www.barbican.org.uk
Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre, London SE1 Part of Darbar South Asian Music Festival Nina Virdee presents new music that crosses boundaries in the mould of Nitin Sawhney, while spnm’s Tablature! project brings together Eastern and Western percussion. See page 19 for details. £15 (£12) 0871 663 2500 www.southbankcentre.co.uk / www.spnm.org.uk
Monday 6 April
8pm
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Part of This is Tuesday (Break Your Sound Barrier) Sargasso:C presents an exclusive music 'happening' featuring world-famous improviser Philipp Wachsmann (viola/violin/electronics) together with established Sargasso artists Daniel Biro (keyboards) and Rob Palmer (guitar). As part of the evening Biro will present A Still, Thin Sound, his new work for virtuoso bass-clarinettist Gareth Davis and electronics. From £9.50 online, £12.50 offline 020 7520 1490 www.kingsplace.co.uk
Thursday 2 April
UBS SOUNDSCAPES: 3pm PIONEERS COMPOSERS' OPEN WORKSHOP LSO St Luke's, 161 Old Street, London EC1V 9NG An opportunity to hear the LSO rehearse three new works by composers Dorothy Ker, Matthew King and Paul Newland. Watch the composers experiment with ideas, drawing on advice from LSO players and conductor Xian Zhang. Free admission (booking required) 020 7382 2524 www.lso.co.uk/lsostlukes
JOBY BURGESS 6.30pm PERCUSSION & ELECTRONICS The Louise T Blouin Institute, 3 Olaf Street, London W11 4BE David Lang The Anvil Chorus Frederic Rzewski To the Earth Steve Reich Electric Counterpoint Tansy Davies Dark Ground Richard Baker Sleepsong Graham Fitkin Chain of Command £12 (£8) 020 7985 9600 www.ltbfoundation.org
BEING DUFAY
Sunday 5 April
Friday 3 April
8pm
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU John Potter tenor Ambrose Field live and studio electronics Mick Lynch video Ambrose Field Being Dufay An hour-long exploration of vocal fragments by the 15th Centuy Flemish master. £12 0844 848 2727 www.beingdufay.com
7.30pm ADVENTURER: THE FIRE AND THE ROSE City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow G1 1NQ Radovan Vlatkovi horn Joseph Swensen makes a welcome return to Scotland, not only as conductor but also as composer. With his new symphony, featuring the horn player Radovan Vlatkovic, he joins a distinguished line of musicians to be inspired by TS Eliot's Four Quartets and, specifically, by the powerful closing lines of Little Gidding – a mystical yearning for completeness. Sibelius' melancholy score for Pelléas and Mélisande neatly contrasts with Respighi's The Birds in the first half. £12 0141 353 8000 www.glasgowconcerthalls.com
NEW NOISE
7pm
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1 Hannah Marcinowicz saxophone Daniel Swain piano Juice: Kerry Andrew and Sarah Dacey soprano Anna Snow alto Demersseman Fantasy Debussy/Londeix Syrinx Giles Swayne Leonardo's Dream Andrew Luna-cy Robert Fokkens new work*** Gabriel Prokofiev new work*** Stephen Hatfield 1 of 3 ways to Vacuum your House Nicola LeFanu Rosa Sine Spina Lucy Mulgan Lowlight Grieg Once Upon a Time from Lyric Pieces Dubois 5 Characteristic Pieces £8–£15 020 7935 2141 www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
8pm
Artrix, Slideslow Drive, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 1PQ Janey Miller oboe Joby Burgess percussion Harrison Birtwistle Pulse Sampler John Lely Desk Bells Howard Skempton Random Girl Adrian Lee Peace for Vayu Simon Holt Sphinx David Lang The Anvil Chorus John Cage Ryoanji Simon Holt Banshee £3.50–£11.50 01527 874 163 www.bromsgrove-concerts.org..uk
Saturday 4 April
WASIFUDDIN DAGAR AND 6.30pm PANDIT TEJENDRA MAJUMDAR Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London SE1 Part of Darbar South Asian Music Festival A performance from one of the foremost dhrupad singers in India, followed by a sarod recital by Tejendra Majumdar. £25 0871 663 2500 www.southbankcentre.co.uk
7.30pm ADVENTURER: THE FIRE AND THE ROSE Queen's Hall, Clerk Street, Edinburgh EH8 9JG See 3 April listings for programme details. £12 0131 668 2019 www.thequeenshall.net
THE MONDAY SERIES
Tuesday 7 April
PHILHARMONIA 6pm ORCHESTRA: MUSIC OF TODAY Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London SE1 André de Ridder conductor Julian Anderson presenter Hans Abrahamsen Abrahamsen Schnee – Part I for ensemble; Märchenbilder Free admission 0871 663 2500 www.southbankcentre.co.uk
7.30pm PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA: LORIN MAAZEL 50TH ANNIVERSARY GALA SERIES Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London SE1 Lorin Maazel conductor Han-Na Chang cello Lorin Maazel Monaco fanfares; Music for Cello and Orchestra Shostakovich Symphony no.5 in D minor £8–£45 0871 663 2500 www.southbankcentre.co.uk
THIS ISN'T FOR YOU
8pm
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Part of This is Tuesday (Break Your Sound Barrier) Curated by Matt Fretton Peter Herresthal violin Eirik Raude percussion Ingfrid Nyhus harpsichord Works, including several world premieres, by Arne Nordheim and other Norwegian composers plus the premiere of Sussie Ahlburg's film Partita For Arne. From £9.50 online, £12.50 offline 020 7520 1490 www.kingsplace.co.uk
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Friday 10 April
Monday 20 April
LIVE PERFORMANCE ON 3: EASTER AT KING'S
7pm
King's College, Cambridge CB2 1ST Guy Johnston cello Daniel Hyde organ BBC Singers Stephen Cleobury conductor Poulenc Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence Alain Trois danses Judith Bingham See and keep silent*** Landowski Leçons des ténèbres £10–£20 01223 357851 www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/easterfestival
ROYAL COLLEGE OF 7.30pm MUSIC: FROM THE SOUNDHOUSE Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Royal College of Music, London SW7 Michael Oliva electronics Rosie Coad soprano Carla Rees alto flute The Mercury Quartet Tristram Cary I Am Here Xenakis Orient-Occident Stockhausen Solo Tristan Murail Allégories Free admission, tickets required 020 7591 4314 www.boxoffice.rcm.ac.uk
Tuesday 14 April
VIENNA PIANO TRIO
7.30pm
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1 Beethoven Piano Trio in D 'Ghost' Hummel Piano Trio in Eb Gyorgy Kurtag Piano Trio Mendelssohn Piano Trio no.2 in C minor Free tickets available for 8–22 yr olds. Call the box office quoting 'Cavatina'. £12–£24 020 7935 2141 www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
8pm
THE SOUND SOURCE: YANNIS KYRIAKIDES' THE SOUND OF UNSOUNDS
Saturday 18 April
7.30pm
High Street Methodist Church, Harpenden AL5 2RU Mike Mower Obstinato and Scareso Patrick Nunn Sprite Shiva Feshareki She Cried £8 (£5–£6) 01582 713056 www.altoflute.co.uk
7.30pm
Barbican Hall, Silk Street, London EC2 Daniel Harding,Tan Dun conductors Lang Lang piano London Symphony Orchestra Tan Dun Internet Symphony 'Eroica'; Piano Concerto** Mahler Symphony no.1 £9–£35 020 7638 8891 www.lso.co.uk
MULTIPLIER 5
3.30pm
Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London SE1 National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain Paul Daniel conductor A programme of dance music including George Benjamin’s Dance Figures and the tango-flavoured suite from Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face, plus works by Rachmaninov and Ravel. £6–£25 (£5) 0871 663 2500 www.southbankcentre.co.uk
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RNCM Concert Hall, Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD Mark Heron, John Miller, Ciaran McAulay, Edwina Wolstencroft conductors James MacMillan They saw the stone had been rolled away; Jebel for brass band; Festival Fanfares for brass band; Le Tombeau de Georges Rouault for solo organ; Exsultet (version for symphonic brass); Sowetan Spring for wind orchestra Gillian Menichino new work*** £8 0161 907 5555 box.office@rncm.ac.uk
LONDON PHILHARMONIC 7.30pm ORCHESTRA Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London SE1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Mischa Maisky cello Giya Kancheli Another Step Benjamin Yusupov Cello Concerto** Valentin Silvestrov Symphony 5 £9–£55 (new notes readers 20% off, quote ‘new notes offer’) 020 7840 4242 www.lpo.org.uk
1.10pm QUATUOR DANEL: CAMDEN REEVES PREMIERE
Tuesday 21 April
Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Coupland Street, University of Manchester M13 9PL Quatuor Danel:Marc Danel, Gilles Millet, Vlad Bogdanas, Guy Danel Schubert Quartet no.1 (in various keys) Camden Reeves Fireworks Physonect Siphonophore*** Debussy Quartet in G minor Free admission 0161 275 8951 www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre
Friday 24 April
8pm
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Part of This is Tuesday (Break Your Sound Barrier) Curated by Graham Fitkin The Multiplier Series continues to explore multiples of similar instruments. Flute player Nancy Ruffer has put together a quartet of flutes to start the evening off whilst members of percussion group Ensemble Bash provide a rhythmic counterpoint to the evening. Throw in some pianos, music by Reich, Crane, Fitkin and more for a solid evening's entertainment. From £9.50 online, £12.50 offline 020 7520 1490 www.kingsplace.co.uk
Wednesday 22 April
Sunday 19 April
STRICTLY ADÈS & BENJAMIN
7.30pm
Cochrane Theatre, London WC11 4AP Apartment House with Loré Lixenberg and Stephen Gutman A rare opportunity to hear Cage’s late theatre piece. Plus short pieces by contemporary American Peter Garland. £15 (£10) 020 7269 1606 www.cochranetheatre.co.uk
UBS SOUNDSCAPES: LANG LANG
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Curated by spnm/Sound and Music Immerse yourself in a night of slowly evolving sound from the Dutch label, Unsounds. Yannis Kyriakides will lead a programme including the first UK performance of Folia, his new collaboration with guitarist Andy Moor, and perform live sound for #37 with visuals by filmmaker Joost Rekveld. The night will also feature improvised saxophone from John Butcher. From £9.50 online, £12.50 offline 020 7520 1490 www.kingsplace.co.uk
RARESCALE FLUTE ACADEMY
CAGE & AFTER: EUROPERA NO.5
RNCM WIND ORCHESTRA, 7.30pm RNCM BRASS ENSEMBLE, RNCM BRASS BAND
MATHIAS EICK QUARTET 7.30pm RNCM Concert Hall, Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD Stian Carstensen pedal steel guitar Mathias Eick Quartet: Mathias Eick trumpet Andreas Ulvo piano Audun Kleive drums, percussion Audun Erlien electric bass, guitar £14 (£12) 0161 907 5555 box.office@rncm.ac.uk
PSAPPHA: BEAT THE RUSH HOUR CONCERT
5pm
Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Coupland Street, University of Manchester M13 9PL Tim Williams director Psappha is a new music ensemble. Here they perform premieres of works by Jae Hong Lee, Joy Chou, Louis Brehony and Steven Calver, plus Kevin Malone's Three Ancient Nightclubs, which suggests that Stonehenge may have actually been a druid disco hall, not a place of ritual sacrifice. Free admission 0161 275 8951 www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre
BCMG INSIGHT EVENT: MUSICAL PIONEERS
6pm
CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF This free inight event with BCMG Artists-in-Association John Woolrich and Peter Wiegold will explore and discuss the pioneering and experimental work of composes such as Charles Ives and John Cage with leading musicologist David Nicholls. Free admission, booking required 0121 616 2616 www.bcmg.org.uk
7.30pm HEINER GOEBBELS/ SONGS OF WAR I HAVE SEEN Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX London Sinfonietta Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Anu Tali conductor Described by The Times as ‘a thought-provoking, hauntingly tender work for troubled times’, this is a theatrical portrait of domestic life during World War II. The programme also includes Goebbels' Sampler Suite (from Surrogate Cities). £9–£22 (early booking discounts available) 0871 663 2581 www.southbankcentre.co.uk
QUATUOR DANEL
7.30pm
Manchester Grammar School, Old Hall Lane, Manchester M13 0XT Quatuor Danel: Marc Danel, Gilles Millet,Vlad Bogdanas, Guy Danel Haydn Quartet in E flat ‘The Joke’ Camden Reeves Fireworks Physonect Siphonophore Beethoven Quartet in E flat £10 (£4) 0161 275 8951 www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre
Saturday 25 April
FUSILLAGE
12.30pm
Leeds Parish Church, St. Peter's House, Kirkgate, Leeds LS2 7DJ Leeds Parish Church has a history of peal ringing dating back over a quarter of a millennium and to launch fuseleeds09, the original means of public service broadcasting is brought bang up to date with new commissions by composer Gavin Bryars and multi-instrumentalist Colleen (The Leaf Label). Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
ANDY SHEPPARD'S SAX MASSIVE
2pm
Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square, Leeds LS2 8BH A site-specific saxophone fanfare for the recently opened Leeds City Museum. Composed and led by UK saxophonist Andy Sheppard, the performance features soloists from LIMA (Leeds Improvised Music Association) and Leeds College of Music together with a massed choir of saxophonists from across the region. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
PANDAEMONIUM
6pm
Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD Barry Russell Chansonnier LCM Sinfonietta John Anderson conductor Pandaemonium: a day of performances around HK Gruber’s Frankenstein!! Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
7pm FUSELEEDS: EFTERKLANG WITH BRITTEN SINFONIA
IAN BUCKLE, RICHARD 3pm CASEY, TIM WILLIAMS & JOHN MELBOURNE
Leeds Academy, 55 Cookridge Street, Leeds LS2 3AW Efterklang's score to their 2007 album Parades (The Leaf Label) for band and orchestra*. £17.50 (£15.50) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.com
Clothworkers’ Centenary concert Hall, School of Music, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT Ian Buckle piano Richard Casey piano Tim Williams percussion John Melbourne percussion A n opportunity to hear Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion, alongside Stravinsky’s Concerto and John Caskens Salamandra. £8–£12 (£3) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
KOKORO
7.30pm
Bourton, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5BN Mark Forkgen conductor Strauss/Brett Dean Overture from Die Fledermaus Robin Holloway Serenade in C Schubert Octet £6 (£3) 01747 840328 www.bsolive.com
NEBULA
7.30pm
Holy Trinity Church, Boar Lane, Leeds LS1 6HN Nebula is a new night dedicated to the exploration of improvised and experimental music from across the genres. Bringing together musicians from both self taught and classically trained backgrounds, elements of jazz, rock, electronics, tape collage, noise, music concrete, folk and world music will be explored. £7 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
Sunday 26 April
OLIVER COATES: CELLO
12pm
Kettle's Yard, Castle Street, Cambridge CB3 0AQ Xenakis Kottos Larry Goves The Terminus Wreck Mira Calix Ort-Oard Elspeth Brooke Lullaby Dave Fennessy new work*** Squarepusher, arr. Coates tommib help buss £6 (£4) See 01223 748100 Previews www.kettlesyard.co.uk/newmusic
BLOWING A FUSE: JAZZ SUNDAY AT SEVEN
1pm
Seven Artspace, 31(a) Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3PD A full day of music for fuseleeds with seven bands and one special stroller ticket which enables you to spend a full day, a few hours or whatever suits you taking it in. £15 (£13) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
COLLISION
2pm
Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square, Leeds LS2 8BH A collaboratinon between Michael Berkeley & visual artist Kevin Laycock exploring the two-way relationship between music and visual perception. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
4pm
BCMG FAMILIES@4 CONCERT
CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF This short, interactive performance will feature Living Room Music by John Cage for percussion and voice quartet and is aimed at children aged 7 and over and their families. The concert hall will be transformed in to a living room, complete with cushions and cakes for a close-up experience of the music and musicians. £4 (Free admission for under 16s) See 0121 767 4050 Previews www.bcmg.org.uk
7.30pm BCMG 2009 SEASON: MUSICAL PIONEERS CONCERT CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Peter Wiegold conductor Ives A host of short pieces Cowell Aeolian Harp; Sinister Resonance; Ensemble Grainger Free Music nos.1 & 2; Random Round Cage Living Room Music Brant Music for a Five and Dime Store £14–£15(£5–£9) 0121 767 4050 www.bcmg.org.uk
LONDON SINFONIETTA/ 7.30pm SOUNDS NEW CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009 St Gregory's Centre for Music, Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury CT1 1QU A programme of chamber music from Eastern Europe which reflects the changing face of Polish composition, including Panufnik's early Piano Trio, Penderecki's Clarinet Quartet and work by Mykieten. Also including Igor Stravinsky's Suite from The Soldier's Tale. £14 01227 780 800 www.soundsnew.org.uk
BEIJING NOW!
7.30pm
LSO St Luke's, 161 Old Street, London EC1V 9NG A showcase of Beijing's new music scene featuring four artists making their UK debuts. These include Yan Jun 'the godfather of the Beijing avant-garde' (The Times), and the group White who make cosmic noise on guitar, theremin, toys, synth and tape. Plus pioneers of Chinese electronica and creators of the Buddha Machine loop box – FM3. £15 (£10) 020 7638 8891 www.barbican.org.uk
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Monday 27 April
MARY DULLEA
1.05pm
Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD Joe Cutler Clavinova Music George Crumb A Little Suite for Christmas A.D. 1979 Colin Nancarrow Sonatina Frank Lyons TEASE Michael Finnissy From Gershwin Arrangements; They cant take that away from me; Embraceable You Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
FUSEFILM: LAYA PROJECT 7.30pm Seven Artspace, 31(a) Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3PD Laya Project is a musical journey through the coastal communities in the 2004 tsunami-affected regions of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar and India. The Laya Project is a personal and collective tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, and is dedicated to the survivors of the 26th December 2004 Asian tsunami. £5 (£3.50) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
DINNER MUSIC FOR A 8pm PACK OF HUNGRY CANNIBALS Howard assembly Room, Opera North, Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU Musicians from Leeds own musical laboratory LIMA take on the many and varied aspects of Raymond Scott in this project for his centenary year. £10 (£8) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
Tuesday 28 April
VAGANZA: 1.10pm CONTEMPORARY MUSIC SHOWCASE Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Coupland Street, University of Manchester M13 9PL Manchester University Music Society and Vaganza collaborate for a day of new music. To feature performers and composers from Manchester University, plus a performance of Peter Maxwell Davies' Fantasia on a Ground and Two Pavans (after Purcell). Free admission 0161 275 8951 www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre
ANDRZEJ BAUER: CELLOTRONICUM
7.30pm
University Concert Hall, Corbett Road, Cardiff CF10 3EB Cellotronicum is a unique collaboration between one of Poland’s leading cellists, Andrzej Bauer, and some of the outstanding young composers. Reaching for new possibilities, the project explores the sound of the cello, transformed and enriched by the computer. The first performance of Cellotronicum took place during the Warsaw Autumn Festival in 2002 and was immediately acclaimed the most important artistic event of the festival. £9 (£3.50–£7) 870 013 1812 www.ticketsource.co.uk/cardiffmusic
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VAGANZA: 7.30pm CONTEMPORARY MUSIC SHOWCASE Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Coupland Street, University of Manchester M13 9PL See April 28 listing for programme details. £3–£8 0161 275 8951 www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre
7.30pm FUSEFILM: RIP – A REMIX MANIFESTO The HiFi Club, 2 Central Road, Leeds LS1 6DE RiP: A remix manifesto is a polemical exploration of copyright issues in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. Followed by a DJ set by Matt Bradshaw (Jumbo Records). £5 (£3.50) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
7.30pm THE SOUND SOURCE: YANNIS KYRIAKIDES’ THE SOUND OF UNSOUNDS Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD See April 14 listing for programme details. £12 (£10) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
8pm
FRACTURE/FISSURE
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Part of This is Tuesday (Break Your Sound Barrier) Curated by ELISION Ensemble fracture/fissure presents new compositions challenging the capabilities of musicians and their instruments. The concert celebrates a twenty-year performance history between Richard Barrett and ELISION and includes works by James Dillon, Roger Redgate and Aaron Cassidy. Musicians Graeme Jennings (violin), Richard Haynes (clarinets), Peter Veale (oboe), and Séverine Ballon (cello) present unique performance practices at the cutting edge. £9.50 online See 020 7520 1490 Previews www.kingsplace.co.uk
ICEBREAKER
8pm
Howard assembly Room, Opera North, Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU Michael Nyman Think Slow, Act Fast Gavin Bryars Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet Phillip Glass Music with Changing Parts £15 (£13) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
1.05pm
Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD This programme was first presented last November as part of the BMIC Cutting Edge series at the Warehouse, London and will include works by Roger Marsh, Juliana Hodkinson, Georges Aperghis, Kerry Andrew and Ed Bennett. Black Hair is currently Ensemble in Residence at the University of York. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC MASTERCLASS: KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
2pm
Inner Parry Room, Royal College of Music, London SW7 Perhaps best known for his Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has received accolades and awards from all over the world and been one of the most influential composers of recent years. This rare UK appearance sees him working with RCM composers. Free admission www.rcm.ac.uk
MELT: PANEL SESSION
5pm
Howard assembly Room, Opera North, Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU Continuing from the earlier student composition workshop, this informal panel session invites artists and practitioners to discuss the notion of collaboration and their experiences of bringing creative partnerships to projects. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
THE PRINTMAKERS
7pm
Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD ECM recording artist Norma Winstone is joined by Leeds College of Music alumna Nikki Iles and guitarist Mike Walker. Completing the line up are saxophonist, Mark Lockheart, and drummer Jeff Williams. £12 (£10) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY 7.30pm CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUP University Concert Hall, Corbett Road, Cardiff CF10 3EB Student Showcase: Cardiff University Contemporary Music Group presents its annual concert showcasing the latest works by composition students in the School of Music. Free admission
7.30pm ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC: (UN)CONSUMMATED SYMBOLS
Wednesday 29 April
BREAKING THE ICE: COMPOSITION WORKSHOP
BLACK HAIR
1pm
Howard assembly Room, Opera North, Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU In association with Dare, the collaboration between Opera North and the University of Leeds, this workshop will see members of Icebreaker rehearse and perform compositions by students of University of Leeds and Leeds College of Music. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London SW7 The second annual concert/screening of collaborations between award-winning young composers and filmmakers. The diverse programme intersperses selected film scores with screenings of some of this year's best works, plus brand new scores performed live to picture on the night. £5 020 7591 4314 www.boxoffice.rcm.ac.uk
FUSEFILM: DUB ECHOES 7.30pm The HiFi Club, 2 Central Road, Leeds LS1 6DE Dub Echoes is a newly produced film about Dub, featuring original Jamaican artists – U Roy, King Jammy, Lee Perry, Sly Dunbar, Bunny Lee – alongside artists who have been taking Dub into new directions in electronic dance music – Kode9, Roots Manuva, Howie B, Adrian Sherwood and many more. Followed by a DJ set by Matt Bradshaw (Jumbo Records, Boogaloo) and Adam Gillison (Jumbo Records). £3.50–£5 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
LABYRINTH
7.30pm
Clothworkers’ Centenary concert Hall, School of Music, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT Labyrinth have been working together as a trio (violin, clarinets, piano) since 2007, and focus on the performance of new works. They work with both established and emerging young composers across the country. £4–£7 (free for Unider 18s and students) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
7.30pm ANDY SHEPPARD: MOVEMENTS IN COLOUR + SAMAY
SPANISH BOMBS: A TROPICAL TRIBUTE TO THE CLASH
The Venue, Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD The UK premiere of Movements in Colour, Andy Sheppard’s debut recording for ECM, featuring longterm collaborators guitarist John Parricelli and tabla player and percussionist Kuljit Bhamra, alongside guitarist and electronics artist Eivind Aarset and bassist Arild Andersen. £15 (£13) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UP This special evening promises Clash repertoire reinterpreted and reinvigorated through a Latin filter. £17.50 (£15.50) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
ELIZA CARTHY WITH ED HARCOURT + ROYST TRIO
8pm
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UP Folk musician Eliza Carthy is joined by Ed Harcourt and Royst Trio, in a fusion of styles and sounds. £15 (£13) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
8pm
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UP David Gedge vocals/guitar BBC Big Band Steve Sidwell conductor Tommy Laurence arranger David Gedge turns to the BBC Big Band to give cultfavourite tracks a contemporary big band sound. £17.50 (£15.50) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
Thursday 30 April
EXAUDI VOCAL ENSEMBLE 5.45pm Leeds Parish Church, St. Peter's House, Kirkgate, Leeds LS2 7DJ James Weeks director Machaut Ballades; Virelais; Rondeaux Cage Litany for the Whale; Ear for EAR; The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs; A Flower; In a Landscape; Dream £8 (£6) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
N.ONE
7.30pm
Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PD n.one, Leeds College of Music's electroacoustic music ensemble is directed by Dr Dale Perkins and was established in 2002. The concert will be introduced with a pre-concert talk by Dr Adrian Moore who will then diffuse original work alongside new compositions by guests and Leeds College of Music staff and students. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
PHIL MINTON'S FERAL CHOIR
7pm
Holy Trinity Church, Boar Lane, Leeds LS1 6HN Avant-garde vocalist Phil Minton has been workshopping his Feral Choir throughout the festival week, culminating in this informal showing of the groups work. Free admission 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
8pm
Howard assembly Room, Opera North, Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU The Polish accordian trio present an avant-garde genre reminiscent of the tango and the waltz, replete with jazz and baroque inflections. £8–£10 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
Saturday 2 May
ARBORESCENT Friday 1 May
DAVID GEDGE & THE BBC BIG BAND + VESSELS
THE MOTION TRIO
8pm
6pm
Howard assembly Room, Opera North, Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU Psappha Nicholas Kok conductor Taking inspiration from Xenakis' creative approach, Arborescent has commissioned three new graphic scores by practitioners who explore the boundaries of visual art, architecture, and composition, framing the event with a screening of Kidels BBC documentary of the composer and his influences. £12 (£10) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW + THE ACORN + NANCY ELIZABETH
8pm
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UP A Hawk and Hacksaw, The Acorn and Nancy Elizabeth preview their latest material. £15 (£13) 0113 213 7700 www.fuseleeds.org.uk
Tuesday 14 April, 8pm
YANNIS KYRIAKIDES’ THE SOUND OF UNSOUNDS Kings Place, London Immerse yourself in a night of slowly evolving sound from the Dutch label, Unsounds. Yannis Kyriakides will lead a programme including the first UK performance of Folia, his new collaboration with guitarist Andy Moor, and perform live sound for #37 with visuals by filmmaker Joost Rekveld. The night will also feature improvised saxophone from John Butcher. Tickets: from £9.50 online, from £11.50 offline (price increases nearer performance date). Tel: 020 7520 1490 Web: www.kingsplace.co.uk
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Wednesday 18 February | 7pm Martynov Vita Nuova (world première of complete work) Wednesday 22 Apr il | 7.30pm Kancheli Another Step Yusupov Cello Concerto (UK première)* Silvestrov Symphony 5
From the gentle, reflective soundscapes of Silvestrov, to the romantic outpourings of love by Martynov and the harsher realit ies of love drawn by Rasch, join the London Philharmon ic Orchestra to explore and expand your horizons.
Sunday 31 M ay | 7.30pm Rasch Mein H erz brennt (UK première) Vlad imir Jurowski conductor *Mischa M aisk y cello For fu rther details, visit www.lpo.org.uk/explore
BOOK NO W Tickets £9-£55 Save 20% off an y ticket price when you book all t hree concerts Quote ‘ New M usic Offer’ Subject to availab ilit y. Cannot be combined wit h any other offer or used again st tickets already bought. London Philharmon ic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 | www.lpo.org.uk Mon-Fri 10am-5p m. No booking fees
Southbank Centre Ticket Office
0871 663 2530 | www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpo Daily, 9am-8p m. £1.95 t elephone / £1.45 online booking fees
spnm present Two new interactive online musical tools: Create your own Raga at www.ragaexplorer.com & Expore Yannis Kyriakides’ new multimedia work at www.spnm.org.uk
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Vladimir J urowski © Rich ard Cannon
www.lpo.org.uk/explore
Miscaa M aisky
Music to expand your horizons at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival H all
An evening of live music/cinema curated by London based project space no.w.here. Lam projector performances, curates avant-garde archivist. His performances teeter on the brin expectations we might have of film/art/perfor unfixed, improvisatory and playful approach artist, performer and audience. The evening performance, including a collaboration betwe maverick musicians; Korean cellist/improviso instrumentalist/free improvisor Steve Beresfo saxophone from John Butcher. diary The programme will also be repeated trumpeter/composer/improvisor Peter Evans
spnm this month TABLATURE! – 5 APRIL, LONDON Part of the Darbar International South Asian Music Festival, Tablature! will showcase the work of our tabla notation project. During an intensive devising process, twelve musicians created the basis of a brand new, universal system of notation that could enable anyone anywhere to learn the tabla, and western composers to communicate their music to tabla players from the Indian tradition. Composers Evangelia Rigaki, Roberto Rusconi and Luke Styles created pieces for the performance. spnm’s Barbara Palczynski explains what has made the project so special: ‘There was a level of engagement within the group that went beyond professional commitment. The demands on the composers to write in the new notation, and on the players to learn and read the new notation, were enormous, and the timescales within which we are working were very tight. But everyone in the group had a deep personal belief in what we were doing and this drove us forwards.’
THE SOUND SOURCE: YANNIS KYRIAKIDES’ THE SOUND OF UNSOUNDS 14 APRIL, LONDON 28 APRIL, LEEDS 13 MAY, BELFAST Former shortlisted composer Yannis Kyriakides will lead this month’s Sound Source in a programme including the first UK performance of Folia, his new collaboration with guitarist Andy Moor, and perform live sound for #37 with visuals from Joost Rekveld. The event will also feature improvised
as part of the FuseLeeds festival two weeks later.The events will also feature a sound and light installation from spnm shortlisted composer Angie Atmadjaja. And Ahead of The Sound Source, Yannis has created an online interactive piece consisting of 50 slides and snatches of sound. QFO: on visiting Sir Walter Cope’s Cabinet of Curiosities can be found on the spnm website.
RAGA MELA – 6 MAY, LONDON Raga Mela, a collaboration between spnm and the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, will be a feast of Indian culture with a western twist. An all-day extravaganza, with Bollywood films, Indian instrument stalls, readings and a late-night bhangra club, will frame the main event, a concert exploring ragas for orchestra composed by Kuljit Bhamra and spnm shortlisted composers Richard Glover, Graham Ross, Matthew Sergeant and Charlie Usher have created pieces for Indian musicians and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Meera Syal will introduce the event which also involves young people from London schools and colleges and a performance featuring Bollywood playback singers.
RAGA EXPLORER – ONLINE NOW Another interesting project to look at online is the Raga Explorer. Visit www.ragaexplorer.com to try out this specially built ‘web toy’ and create your own piece of music. Choose from a variety of ragas and alter the tempo, scale and rhythmic accompaniment to create something distinctive.
5 APRIL London Tablature!
14 APRIL London The Sound Source: Yannis Kyriakides’ The Sound of Unsounds
28 APRIL Leeds The Sound Source: Yannis Kyriakides’ The Sound of Unsounds
6 MAY London Raga Mela
members’ offers Richard Barrett: Negatives NMC D143 This Ancora+ reissue presents Richard Barrett's works for chamber ensemble, recorded by his long-term collaborators ELISION. It includes another heavenly day, which takes its title from Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days (in which the protagonist is buried up to her waist in sand throughout); the series Negatives; and ne songe plus a fuir, for solo cello, inspired by a painting by Robert Matta. To these is added codex I, recorded live at the 2007 Warsaw Autumn Festival. spnm £6, inc. p+p • rrp £8.99
How to order
news from the shortlist Adam Melvin's shorlisted piece Speak for voice, saxophone, electronics and video screen will receive its Irish premiere at 7pm on Friday 3 April in The Great Hall, University of Ulster, Derry as part of Imagine Create 2009. Speak will be performed by Sarah Dacey (voice) and Adam Melvin (saxophone).
To order, please send a cheque for the correct amount, payable to spnm, and include your spnm membership number and the discs you wish to order. Send to: Jacob Thompson, spnm, 4th Floor, 18–20 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TJ Allow six weeks for delivery. Deadline: 1 May
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Hear and Now
Saturday nights at 10.30pm on BBC Radio 3
Saturday 4 April: Maida Vale Studio Concert and David Fennessey at HCMF
The BBC Symphony Orchestra perform D a v i d F e n n e s s e y Dead End, the BBC commission of Gwyn Pritchard The Firmament of Time*** and Matthew Taylor Symphony No. 2. Recorded 23 January, Maida Vale Studio. Kevin Bowyer (organ) performs D a v i d F e n n e s s e y Big Lung. Recorded at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2008.
Saturday 11 April: Cutting Edge 2008 – The House of Bedlam
The House of Bedlam ensemble perform Larry Goves Sinew, Deaf John’s Dark House, Riviniana & the vermillion border and Talking Microtonal Blues, M a t t h ew S e r g e a nt Drowning***, La rr y G ov es / M at t hew Wel t on Poppy, I an V ine X, Ma tt hew Wel to n Spoken Word and Simon Holt Brief Candles. Recorded 14 November 2008,The Warehouse London.
Saturday 18 April: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra – A Portrait of Michel van der Aa
Franck Ollu conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Elizabeth Layton (violin) in performances of Michel can der Aa Here**, Second Self**, Memo for solo violin & cassette recorder, and Imprint for orchestra & solo violin. Recorded on 28 February 2009, City Halls Glasgow.
Saturday 25 April: Manchester portraits 1
The first of four programmes focussing on individual composers from Austrailia, Finland, America and Germany. Brett Dean (recent winner of the 2009 Grawemeyer Award) Ampitheatre**, Viola Concerto, Moments of Bliss**. BBC Philharmonic, Brett Dean (viola), James Macmillan (conductor). Recorded on 14 June 2007, NBH Studio 7 Manchester.
James MacMillan 50th Birthday Concert Join the BBC Philharmonic and Composer/Conductor James MacMillan as they celebrate the composer’s birthday at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on Wednesday 29 April at 7pm. Maxwell Davies MacMillan MacMillan
Symphony No.5 The World’s Ransoming Symphony No.3 Silence
James MacMillan Gillian Callow
conductor cor anglais
Preview at 6pm Students from Chethams School of Music perform works by James MacMillan. Tickets: £10 for any seat in the house Phone: 0161 907 9000 Online: www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk In Person: at The Bridgewater Hall Box Office – open from 10am–6pm (8pm on event nights) Please visit www.bbc.co.uk/philharmonic for much more on James MacMillan and the BBC Philharmonic.