Places x Musicians in Darmstadt 2016
This is part of my ongoing project "Places x Musicians" which I aim to feature musicians' interesting minds through a short interview with my photography. These photos were taken during the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music 2016 in Darmstadt, Germany. There were so many wonderful musicians with such unique minds. I hope you enjoy the quotes from each musicians below and explore the music of our time.
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Carlos G. Hernandez, composer
[My mission as a 21st century composer is] "to express my time through myself in the most honest way that I can. For me, it is important that it comes from inside of me. I believe that, if I do this, I will be saying something about my time, my society, and connect with others." Website: http://carlosghernandez.com Listen: https://soundcloud.com/carlos-g-hern-ndez |
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Yukari Misawa, composer
"I have two goals as a contemporary composer: (1) to find 'common beauty' that can be shared among humans beyond their cultural boundary, and (2) to put the audience, composers, and performers on the same status. I want to create music that can speak to humans' subconscious. " 「私の作曲家としての目標は2つある。文化によらない人類共通の美を見つけることと、聴衆・作曲家・演奏家の地位を平等にすること。無意識に問いかけるような音楽を作っていきたい。」 Listen: https://m.soundcloud.com/misawa-yukari |
Solomiya Moroz, composer
[My mission as a 21st century musician is] "to bring social issues of today's concerns into concert situations, while also using theatre and electronics. I hope to create works which would bring for more interactions with audiences and which would integrate new music into our societies in the way that makes sense to me." Website: www.solomiyamoroz.com Listen: www.soundcloud.com/solomiyamoroz |
Chuchu Wen, composer/vocalist
"I do several different things. Besides composing music, I sing underground hip-hop and indie electronic. In my music, I use various elements from electronic music, acoustic classical music, soul, jazz, and hiphop. I'm just wanting to express myself in the way that I am most comfortable with.” Listen: https://soundcloud.com/chuchu-wen |
Weston Olencki, trombonist
[My mission as a 21st century musician is] "to constantly ask hardest and interesting questions about what it means to be alive in the 21st cenutury and trying to pursue most challenging things." Website: http://www.westonolencki.com |
Amy Glover, clarinetist
[My mission as a 21st century musician is] "to explore and promote the music written now. I believe that everyone should be playing it (contemporary music) along with the old music to keep the art form moving forward." Website: http://amy-glover.com |
Jodie Rottle, flutist
"I want to find what works for me and what makes me happy, such as collaborating with people that I'd like to work with and making decisions about my own practice without too much external influence." Website: http://www.jodierottle.com Her ensemble Kupka's Piano: https://kupkaspiano.com |
Chiara Saccone, pianist
"I am a musician before I am a pianist, I am a human before I am a musician. I like performing the repertoire that opens up our ears to new sound and new ideas." Watch Klavierstuck XII by Karlheinz Stockhausen: https://youtu.be/w99vk76rhVM |
Carlo Siega, guitarist
"The role of performer is to make the non-understandable understandable. Because music is time-based, a performer needs to 'show' the compositional processes to the audience so that the audience could 'see' the music." Listen: https://soundcloud.com/carlo-siega |
Lester St.Louis, composer/cellist
"I think I’m being in an extremely fortunate position to express such a wide range of options. So much of work in the 20th century and the generation before us put us in the position where we have to create models for ourselves and for our futures. I’d like to put myself in the opportunity where I can express myself as greatly as I can and do things that are interesting and provocative to people." Listen: https://soundcloud.com/lester-st-louis/contemplation-1-subliminal-introspection-as-social-activity |
Danika Paskvan, violist/writer
“I prefer to see myself write from a personal, intimate place. [My writing is a] very experiential kind of work. For now, my role is to take it all in, be as true to my experience as I can, and craft something inside of myself to share with people in the future.” Read: danikapaskvan.wordpress.com |
Ryan Zerna, flutist
“We are interested in destabilizing the hierarchies. The name Mocrep comes from words, PERformance & COMposition spelled backwards. Instead of performers simply following with composer’s ideas, we’re aiming for true collaborations, where composers and performers create things together. [As an advice to young musicians who want to start a group,] do what feels genuine to you and don’t do what you think is expected of you.” His ensemble Mocrep: http://www.mocrep.org Watch: https://vimeo.com/135359310 |
Maya Shenfeld, guitarist/composer/writer
“I support women’s voices and women’s power. I am amazed with this year’s festival and feel lucky to be here. Starting the Jennifer Walshe’s incredible performance and Georgina Born’s lecture, there are so much to learn and it has been very fascinating. Gender inequality in the contemporary music field is apparent. It would be great if we were to create a supportive community for ladies, trans, males, conductors, performers, and composers...like…everyone!" Website: http://www.mayashenfeld.com/ |
Phoebe Green, violist
"I was lucky that the viola tutors were very supportive of me being at Darmstadt with a baby! It's a long way to come, but it's so valuable to be at such a meeting point for composers and performers. I always love to hear and participate in the discussion and share knowledge and resources, but this year's GRID focus was particularly exciting. I will be following the progress of this dialogue and be interested to see the effects of this on the next Darmstadt program. " Website: http://www.phoebegreenviola.com |
Andrew V. Ly, composer
“I’m motivated by a sense of discovery: whether writing or listening to music, I try to find something new about myself, the potentials of instruments, or the possibilities for performer interaction.” Website: http://www.andrewvly.com |
Hannah Walter, violinist
"I like connecting people with music and transferring different contents to the public. I love the moment when you perform on stage and you feel the energy/connection between the performer and the audience. This happens very rare and it is a very special moment. They become one community through music. There are many ways to achieve this moment of sharing experiences and I’m on the search for what I want to share, how I want to share, what’s the best way to share it." Website: http://www.hannahwalter.de/ |