On 4th and 5th March 2016, the ULYSSES Network partners come together in Paris for their final network meeting of this project-period (2012-2016), upon invitation by the project coordinator IRCAM.

On Friday 4th March, 11h30 at IRCAM, the ULYSSES Network partners publicly present the results of the network activities since its beginning in May 2012.

Several young international artists, who could benefit from European support through the Network and develop their activities in the framework of the ULYSSES projects, discuss their experiences and present their works:

Benjamin Scheuer  –  composer

Nuria Gimenez-Comas  –  composer

Dario Calderone  –  performer

You are all invited to join us for this presentation and discussion!

IRCAM – Salle Stravinsky, 11h30 – 13h

Free entrance, please register by email.

THE VIDEO RECORDING OF THE ENCOUNTER CAN BE WATCHED ONLINE HERE!

On Saturday 5th March, people attending the final meeting and public presentation have the occasion to attend the concert at Centre Pompidou performed by Divertimento Ensemble, presenting works by Gérard Grisey and by ULYSSES composers Daniele Ghisi and Raphael Cendo.

Gaudeamus Muziekweek, partner of the ULYSSES Network, presents every year in September the latest music created by young pioneers.

The Dutch festival, which has won national and international plaudits, took place in Utrecht (NL) from 9 through 13 September. From classical crossover and minimal soundscapes to modern composition with (live) electronics. Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2015 offers excellent opportunities to immerse yourself in the newest music.

This year Gaudeamus Muziekweek also offered professionals and other music lovers plenty of opportunities to delve deep into the music and related subjects. Prior to the festival itself, the Gaudeamus Muziekweek Academy allows a “behind-the-scenes glimpse” at rehearsals of the shortlisted works.

The connecting threads through the festival are the works of the five nominees for the Gaudeamus Award.
After the closing concert on 13th September, the winner of the Gaudeamus Award 2015 was announced. From the hands of festival director Henk Heuvelmans composer Alexander Khubeev (RUS 1986) received the prestigious award.

Khubeev* is now included in the respectable hall of fame with previous winning composers such as Yannis Kyriakides, Michel van der Aa and Louis Andriessen.

The Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2015 was also an occasion to presented several ULYSSES projects :

# The final concerts and world premieres of the IEMA Composition Workshop 2015

# Works of the two selected composers taking part in the ULYSSES Composer Exchange Program between Royaumont Foundation (FR) and Gaudeamus (NL)

# Concerts by Dario Calderone in the Solo Double Bass project, in cooperation with impuls (AT)

© Anna von Kooij

© Baldwin Henderson

* Alexander Khubeev
Born in the city of Perm in 1986 where he began his composition classes. Subsequently moved to Moscow to study at the conservatory and complete his post-graduate studies with Yuri Kasparov. For the past eight years, Khubeev has lived in Moscow while simultaneously attending master classes with composers such as Beat Furrer, Ivan Fedele, Chaya Czernowin, Martijn Padding. In addition, he took part in the biannual Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music (2014), where he received a stipend for the session in 2016. “Fortunately, during my years of study in Moscow, Russia’s concert life became increasingly rich and diverse. My music was performed by most ensembles of contemporary music in Russia (as well as in countries such as Ukraine, Italy, Germany, USA, and Argentina). Along the way, I won various composition competitions. Resulting from an ongoing collaboration, I was appointed as composer in residence at the GAMEnsemble (a first in modern Russian history) in 2011.”

The project is inspired by the book “An Experiment with Time”, by John William Dunne: linearity of time is a collateral event of consciousness, whereas, inside dreams, past and future coexist.

Watch the video-trailer for his project:

© Daniele Ghisi

The video setup is made of three juxtaposed screens. The central screen represents the writing of the main character’s diary, and will be a journey across its reflexions and thoughts, spanning one full year, and looping seamlessly at the end. The other screens (only active in some specific sections of the video) suggest the presence of two “aliases” experiencing different temporalities (the left one looping through a single day, and the right one living a complete life).

The installation is a 46min – loop consisting of video and electronic music.

© Daniele Ghisi

Daniele Ghisi comments on his project:

“An Experiment with Time” is probably the biggest artistic challenge I have faced up to now, both for its duration and for the effort it involved – as I am writing this note, I am still finishing working on the score for its live version.

It is, at present, the project about which I am most passionate: this is why I am extremely grateful to the Ulysses network and to the partners that have made this possible (first of all Ircam and Divertimento Ensemble). I am also extremely glad I had the chance to share this passion with many participants (first of all Luigi Acerbi and Paolo Puggioni) and with other festivals which have so kindly shown their interested in it.

Somehow, “An Experiment with Time” represents my widest attempt to think project-wise instead of piece-wise – and I find this line of thinking quite important, especially for contemporary music.”

Project Tour Calendar

(you can find photos from the tour below)

June 2nd + 3rd 2015, Maison de la Poésie, IRCAM ManiFeste-2015, Paris (FR) – installation/ video and electronics
17h30 – 19h15

September 13th – 18th 2015, Progetti Arte Contemporanea, Piazza delle Murate, Florence (IT), FLAME festival –
installation/ video and electronics

September 18th 2015, KLAPEIDA Concert Hall – Klapeida (LT) –
installation/ video and electronics

December 12th + 13th 2015, Teatro Litta, Corso Magenta – Milano (IT) –
installation/ video and electronics:
12th December : opening at 17h00.  Showings at 18h00, 18h45, 19h30, 20h15, 21h00, 21h45.
13th December : showings at 11h00, 11h45 12h30, 13h15, 14h00, 1445, 15h30, 16h15, 17h00

January 26th 2016, Teatro Litta, Corso Magenta – Milano (IT) –
20h30 – live version/ video and electronics + Divertimento Ensemble – World Premiere

March 5th 2016, Centre Pompidou – Paris (FR) –
20h30 – live version/ video and electronics + Divertimento Ensemble – French Premiere

Photos from the tour

Paris – Installation June 2015 (FR)

© Daniele Ghisi

Florence – Installation September 2015 (IT)

© Zeno Cavallari

Klapeida – Installation September (LT)

© Daniele Ghisi

Milano – Installation December 2015 (IT)

© Divertimento Ensemble

© Giovanni Daniotti

Milano – World Premiere Live version for ensemble and electronics January 2016 (IT)

© Giovanni Daniotti

+++

Artistic credits:

Daniele Ghisi, composition, video, computer-music design

Divertimento Ensemble

Yann Philippe, IRCAM video manager
Sylvain Cadars, IRCAM sound engineer

Commission:

Divertimento Ensemble and Ircam-Centre Pompidou

Coproduction:

IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, Paris, France / Divertimento Ensemble, Milano, Italy (live version)

Coréalisation Maison de la Poésie, Paris, France

With instrumental classes and ensemble work, composition classes, many-faceted lectures, call for scores and special programs such as reading sessions with Klangforum Wien, Composition beyond Music, electronic and improvisation workshops … and also possibilities for participants to present their work in public, impuls offers to young musicians and composers from all over the world an intense training and holistic approach to contemporary music both in a theoretical and a practical way.

© Christine Schörkhuber

impuls promotes and supports young composers not only through its Academy, but also through the international impuls Composition Competition . Every second year impuls commissions new works for ensemble from young composers selected by a jury. Subsequently these composers are invited to take part in the impuls Composition Workshops in Vienna respectively in Graz, where their new works are collectively rehearsed and discussed extensively with musicians of world-class ensembles such as Klangforum Wien.

The world premieres of these pieces are to be witnessed at the prestigious Opening of the impuls Academy and Festival in Graz in the presence of the young composers.
And for the fourth time, the Academy was accompanied and enlarged by a daily Festival program offering various possibilities to experience new and contemporary music to a broadening audience with open ears and external Academy visitors. Hereby Graz was again turned into a festival city and a center of contemporary music and the arts.

 
© Christine Schörkhuber

>> Some more hard facts on impuls 2015
ACADEMY
* 199 regular Academy participants  and another 9 external participants  coming from 4 continents and more than 45 nations  plus additional international guests and external visitors were accepted to the 9th International Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music in 2015 (this is more than double the size compared to 2009 and a rise of 10% compared to 2013; close to 500 musicians and composers applied; in general: again strong rise of applications, again a good mix of Austrian and international participants).

© Christine Schörkhuber

* For the second time impuls was part and partner of the European Project (ULLYSSES NETWORK) realising several special projects  within this network (Composition beyond Music + Young Ensemble in Residency + Composer Exchange Program impuls-Royaumont and IKI/Opus XXI + Double bass solo- Dario Calderone).

Thus – besides Academy ensembles formed on spot – with Ensemble Nikel an already existing young ensemble was included in the Academy offering reading sessions and premiering several works by impuls composer participants besides presenting pieces by tutor Chaya Czernowin and winner of the impuls Competition Marco Momi.
At Georg Nussbaumeręs Masterclass “Composition beyond Music ” composers realised site-specific works at esc medien kunst labor, and were visually accompanied and documented by Christine Schörkhuber. A call for score amongst the participants gave rise to several new works for double bass  to be read and premiered by Dario Calderone . Last but not least with Raphaël Languillat  and Benjamin Scheuer  two young composers
could be included and featured at the impuls Academy and its partners through special exchange programs.

* Both offers for composition, electronics and instrumental classes could be enlarged  again (with more than 30 tutors, classes also for improvisation, yoga and intermedia projects amongst others) and new ones were installed successfully also for e-guitar and vocal ensembles for the first time.

* Besides individual and group lessons as well as chamber music and ensemble work also lectures, discussions , instrumental presentations and special workshops (f. e. Piano Preparation Workshop, Free improvisation – instant composing, brass instruments: specifics, notation, techniques, possibilities, Contemporary Techniques on the Saxophone…), a jour fix for composers , workshops on various theoretical topics as well as with practical impact (f. e. Self-marketing platforms and promotion, Why (not) programming contemporary music etc.)

© Christine Schörkhuber

* An additional workshop  was organised specially for young pupils  of the school pilot project Klex (Marschallgasse, Graz).

FESTIVAL
* 12 days with concerts of both young as well as internationally renowned musicians and composers (including also a Marathon concert  – lasting more than 7 hours –, the impuls MinuteConcerts at various locations in the city – lasting more than 12 hours –, as well as a format called “A Day on Campus and in the City”, with concerts and presentations all around the clock from 10 am to 10 pm), concerts with young ensembles  such as Ensemble Schallfeld und Nikel, premieres of impuls commissions , composers, talks, public reading sessions  and rehearsals, afternoon and evening lectures, round tables, workshop presentations… set up a festival program of various kinds and highest density.

© Christine Schörkhuber

* Premieres, contemporary compositions  – amongst others also impuls commissions – as well as compositions  of the 20th century  and improvisations :  51 public world premieres, plus 1 Austrian first night; altogether  178 works plus several improvisations performed in public;  further works were  rehearsed during the Academy).

* With an exhibition  of mainly installation pieces plus a couple of performance s and video screenings that were all conceived during the special program Composition beyond Music and concerts placed at various galleries  and art institutions in Graz impuls also enforced the link of music and the visual arts.