Workshop Extended Percussion Composition
02/2019 impuls – AT
Workshop Extended Percussion Composition with Michael Maierhof and Christian Dierstein
Percussionists have always dealt with a specific material area, that is close to acoustic realities – quite in contrast to for example strings, that rather serve the desideratum of a counterworld. The acoustic every day world has for a long time been (specially before the invention of the combustion and electro engines) one of isolated sounds. Thus one might well define the task of percussionists to go after the reformation of percussive acoustic every day experiences.
Michael Maierhof © Michelle Müller
The Workshop thus will circle around the central question, how percussion could be defined in the 21st century and which current forms and materials coin composition for percussion instruments nowadays. Does the function of percussionists change in the 21st century? There is quite some new ideas about sound that developed during the last decades, which of course also lead to new demands in respect of percussion techniques and technical skills in general. How could different percussion music thus look beyond the organization of percussive selective sounds? At the same time, the “extension” suggested in the title should not be so much aimed at the expansion into the performative or multimedia, but rather at the concrete handling of materials and forms in the tonal and the associated formal processes.
Composers and percussionists are encouraged to join in these processes together in order to present the results at the end of the workshop. Composers however should also be able to present their pieces/ studies as performers themselves if desired. The 3 to 4-hour daily work is supervised individually or in groups/ teams by Christian Dierstein and Michael Maierhof. There is a large number of percussion instruments available, but very specific instruments or sound stimulators should be brought along by the participants themselves. And of course we will also seek and develop more “instruments” in the work process in Graz checking out hardware store, but also junkyard, etc., not least because the purchase budget is limited.
Christian Dierstein © Thomas Hammelmann
Participating artists:
Selected Composers: Mattia Bonafini, Blair Boyd, Maja Bosnić, Loïc Destremau, Simon Eastwood, Farzia Fallah, Zhuosheng Jin, Alfonso Mendoza, Eduardo Partida, Mateo Servián Sforza, Lauri Supponen*
as well as percussion participants of impuls Academy.
* ULYSSES Journey composer
Schedule:
10.-22 February 2019
Main presentation of results between February 18th and 20th, 2019
