[silence] OSTRAVA DAYS 2009

[S.E.M. Ensemble]

The Fifth Biennial OSTRAVA DAYS Festival
August 21-30, 2009
 
16 concerts, 90 contemporary works, 31 premieres
 
Featuring resident orchestras Ostravská banda and Janácek Philharmonic
 
Music by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Lejaren Hiller, Charles Ives, Petr
Kotík, Bernard Lang, György Ligeti, Phill Niblock, Luigi Nono, Wolfgang
Rihm, Rebecca Saunders, Salvatore Sciarrino, Michael Schumacher, Elliott
Sharp, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Galina Ustwolskaja, Christian Wolff, and
Iannis Xenakis, among others
 
New York, NY - Jointly produced in by the Ostrava Center for New Music
(Czech Republic) and S.E.M. Ensemble (New York), Ostrava Days Festival will
take place in the city of Ostrava, August 21-30, 2009, as part of Ostrava
Days Institute, one of the largest international new music summer programs
in existence. Ostrava Days focuses on works for large-scale ensembles and
features a vibrant mix of emerging and established composers, including key
figures of 20th-century music. Its two resident orchestras are the 95-piece
Janácek Philharmonic and the 35-piece Ostravská banda (an international
chamber ensemble composed of young performers from Europe and the U.S.).
This year, both orchestras will join forces with nine other ensembles -
including the prestigious Amadinda Percussion Group from Budapest,
Berlin-based Phosphor Ensemble, Dutch string quartet DoelenKwartet, and
Czech rock group Koistinen (Brno) - as well as with soloists from around the
world, for the performance of 16 concerts, featuring 90 compositions, of
which 31 are premieres.
 
Established in 2001 by Petr Kotík, Ostrava Days Festival places a strong
emphasis on contemporary American repertoire, making it unique in the
context of the European music scene. "You will not hear Feldman's large
orchestra works in New York but in Ostrava," remarked Christian Wolff, who
has been part of Ostrava Days since its beginnings. The performance
highlights include the world premiere of Christian Wolff's Rhapsody for 3
orchestras (August 29), Elliott Sharp's OVOXXOVOD for a cappella choir
(August 27), as well as the rarely performed Flute and Orchestra by Morton
Feldman, featuring Petr Kotík, soloist, and Peter Rundel, conductor (August
23). There will also be a 3-hour Phill Niblock performance-environment with
multiple projections and two orchestras (at Vitkovice Steel Hall No. 6), and
a performance of Kotík's Fragment for large orchestra (conducted by Peter
Rundel), and his String Quartet No. 1 Erinnerungen an Jan (performed by the
Fiser Quartet). György Ligeti's Concert for Piano and Wolfgang Rihm's
Gesungene Zeit (both conducted by Kotík) will also be performed. Ostrava
Days Festival 2009 will also present large-scale compositions by Richard
Ayres, Petr Bakla, John Cage, Lejaren Hiller, Charles Ives, Bernard Lang,
Luigi Nono, Michal Rataj, Rebecca Saunders, Salvatore Sciarrino, Michael
Schumacher, Galina Ustwolskaja, and Iannis Xenakis, among many others.
 
Ostrava Days runs from August 10-30, 2009, and Ostrava Days Festival (August
21-29) is its culmination. Extraordinary in its length and scope, the
three-week Institute offers student composers a packed schedule of
workshops, lectures and rehearsals in an environment of close collaboration
with leading personalities in contemporary music and with a large symphony
orchestra. 
 
A distinctive characteristic of the program of Ostrava Days Festival is the
inclusion of works by student composers. This year, more than 30
compositions were selected from 33 young composers, ten of which are from
the U.S., with others coming from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica,
Czech Republic, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the
Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. These student
compositions are programmed alongside internationally renowned works.
 
With a body of established and emerging composers and performers from
Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Ostrava
Days is a crossroads where ideas about the creation and performance of new
music are not only exchanged but also realized.
 
The Fifth Annual Ostrava Days Festival
August 21-30, 2009
 

Resident Composers:

Richard Ayres (British, based in Amsterdam)

Peter Kotík (Czech/American)
Bernhard Lang (Austrian)
Phill Niblock (American)
Rebecca Saunders (British, based in Berlin)
Michael Schumacher (American)
Elliott Sharp (American)
Christian Wolff (American)
 

Resident Orchestras:

Janácek Philharmonic Ostrava

Ostravská banda

 
Soloists:
Thomas Buckner, Baritone (New York)
Jacques Dubois, Contrabass Clarinet (Heerlen)
John Eckhardt, Contrabass (Hamburg)
Conrad Harris, Violin (New York)
Katalin Karolyi, Mezzosoprano (Paris)
Hana Kotková, Violin (Lugano)
Joseph Kubera, Piano (New York)
Theo Nabicht, Contrabass Clarinet (Berlin)
Milan Osadský, Accordion (Bratislava)
Daniel Skála, Cimbalom (Ostrava)
Ivan Šiller, Piano (Bratislava)
Philip Thomas (Musicologist and Pianist)
Daan Vandewalle, Piano (Gent)
Claire Wild, Soprano (Berlin)
 
Ensembles:

Amadinda Percussion Group (Budapest)
Canticum Ostrava (Ostrava)
DoelenKwartet (Rotterdam)
Fiser Quartet (Prague)
Koistinen (Brno)
O.B.SQ (International)
Phosphor Ensemble (Berlin)
Quasars Ensemble (Bratislava)
Zink & Copper Works (Berlin)
 
Conductors:

Yurii Galatenko (Ostrava)
Roland Kluttig (Berlin)
Petr Kotík (New York)
Peter Rundel (Berlin)
Ondrej Vrabec (Prague)
 
Students:
 
Diego Soifer, Argentina (lives in Holland)
                        MA candidate, Royal Conservatoire den Haag
Rafael Nassif, Brazil
                        MA candidate, Music School of Minas Gerais Federal
University
Cassandra Miller, Canada
                        MA, Koninklijk Conservatorium den Haag
Etelka Nyilasi, Canada (lives in Great Britain)
                        MA, Birmingham Conservatoire
Pablo Chin Pampillo, Costa Rica (leves in USA)
                        DMA candidate, Northwestern University Evanstron,
Illinois
Lucie Vítková, Czech Republic
                        BA candidate, Academy of Music in Prague
Mark Bowden, Great Britain
                        Ph.D. candidate, University of Huddersfield
Jonathan Herbert, Great Britain
                        MA candidate, University of Huddersfield
Benjamin Oliver         , Great Britain
                        Ph.D. candidate, University of Sussex
Gregory Emfietzis, Greece (lives in Great Britain)
                        Ph.D. candidate, Brunel University
Mátyás Wettl, Hungary
                        BA candidate, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in
Budapest
Ákos Zarándy, Hungary
                        MA candidate, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in
Budapest
Donal Sarsfield, Ireland
                        MA, University of Manchester
Antonio Bellandi, Italy
                        Teaching at Conservatorio G. Puccini's La Spezia
Hiroki Tsurumot, Japan (lves in Canada)
                        MA, University of Toronto
Chikage Imai, Japan (lves in The Netherlands)
                        MA candidate, Conservatory of Amsterdam
Taylan Susam, The Netherlands
                        MA - German Linguistics, Literature and Philosophy,
University of Amsterdam
Karol Nepelski, Poland
                        Ph.D. candidate, Academy of Music in Cracow
Jakub Polaczyk, Poland
                        MA candidate, Academy of Music in Cracow
Pavol Bizoň, Slovakia
                        MA at University of Performing Arts in Bratislava
Peter Ferenčík, Slovakia
                        MA at University of Performing Arts in Bratislava
Fabian Svensson, Sweden
                        MA, Royal College of Music in Stockholm
Lars Werdenberg, Switzerland
                        Musikhochschule Basel
Evan Antonellis, USA
                        DMA candidate, Manhattan School of Music
Douglas Barrett, USA
                        Ph.D. candidate, State University of New York at
Buffalo
Nomi Epstein, USA
                        DMA Nortwestern University in Evanston, Illinois
Daniek Iglesia, USA
                        Ph.D. candidate, Columbia University
David Kant, USA
                        BA (Mathematics) Yale University
Ravi Kittapa, USA
                        MA, Columbia University
Joseph Kudirka, USA (lives in Great Britain)
                        Ph.D. candidate, University of Huddersfield
Samuel Sfirri, USA
                        BA candidate, College of Charleston, South Carolina
Kevin Walker, USA
                        BA, College of Charleston, South Carolina
Michael Winter, USA
                        Ph.D. candidate, University of California at Santa
Barbara
 
 
For a complete schedule of performances, visit:
< http://www.newmusicostrava.cz/en/ostrava-days-festival/>
 
For more information on the festival itself:
<http://www.newmusicostrava.cz <http://www.newmusicostrava.cz> >
 
This project is made possible thanks to the support of the following
institutions, partners and sponsors: OKD, a.s., City of Ostrava, Ministry of
Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech-German Fund for the Future,
International Visegrad Fund, OHL ZS, a.s., CEZ Group, Vítkovice Machinery
Group, USArtists International, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in
Prague, Embassy of the United States, Prague, Rakouské kulturní fórum v
Praze, euroAWK s.r.o., Adams Musical Instruments, Auto Heller, Hungarian
Cultural Center Prague, Netherlands Fund for Performing Arts, Mamaison Hotel
Imperial, Palace Elektra, Hotel Maria, Hotel City Ostrava, Hotel &
Restaurant RUBY  BLUE, Epona, BossCan Ostrava 3C, s. r. o., Ostrava City
Information Service, s.r.o.
 
Media Partners include Czech Radio, Czech TV, Magazines - A2 Cutural
Twoweekly, Respekt, HIS Voice, Czech Music Quarterly, Harmonie, Hudobny
zivot, Positionen, MusikTexte, Art & Antiques, Host
 
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