Zubel and Szmytka
During the first evening (Friday 20th November 2015) at hcmf//, the audience will be given a chance to listen to pieces by Agata Zubel and Jagoda Szmytka. Agata Zubel, a composer and a singer, will perform at the opening with the Austrian super-group Klangforum Wien. The soloist is to perform her own composition Not I, which won her the Polonica Nova award in 2014 and a year earlier first place at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Prague. The composition is based on a play by Samuel Beckett. Zubel's performances are full of deeply emotional expression, with her voice resting somewhere between guttural and heavenly soulfulness, all multiplied into polyphony using electronic devices.
That same evening at the festival's most fashionable stage, Bates Mill, a young British group called The Riot Ensemble will present a multimedia presentation of works by Jagoda Szmytka, whose music refers to the virtual landscapes of social media. The interweaving sound, image and text in Szmytka's compositions form multi-layered constellations. Her works will be also performed by the Ensemble Interface from Frankfurt.
Sikorski and Karkowski
Tomasz Sikorski (1939-1988) and Zbigniew Karkowski (1968-2013) represented radically different approaches towards creating music. Sikorski, with his minimalist philosophy, was interested in the meditational attributes of music. Karkowski was one of the noise pioneers who, if you believe the legends, would break toilets and blow speakers in their search to find the highest possible pitch. British pianist John Tilbury will perform together with Noszferatu XL, a contemporary music band, at a concert fully devoted to Sikorski for the late-night programme at Bates Mill (Saturday 21st November). The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
Karkowski's music, meanwhile, will first be presented by Kasper T. Toeplitz, a composer and performer (Monday 23rd November), and then by the drum-and-double-bass duo of Daniel Buess and Aleksander Gabryś, in a concert devoted to Karkowski and his collaboration with Xenakis (Tuesday 24th November). The project Karkowski/Xenakis is organised by Sonora and curated by Monika Pasiecznik. Finally on Friday 27th November, Anton Lukoszevieze – Karkowski's friend and co-worker – will perform the 2006 piece Field as part of the Apartment House band. The concert will combine a string quartet with live electronics in a set-up composed by Karkowski and Lukoszevieze in 2012.
Piotrowicz and Księżyc
The Polish sound artist, composer and improviser Robert Piotrowicz will perform together with Ensemble Phoenix (Switzerland) and present two of Piotrowicz's own works (Sunday 22nd November). His music is a mix of vivid, complex structures created with computers and analog synthesizers, enabling the composer to create high dynamics and dramatic forms.
The delicate and sinful music made by psychedelic-folk group Księżyc (Monday 23th November) brings the festival a completely different quality. Their works are full of Medieval echoes and sounds rooted in Slavic tradition, inspired by folk vocal techniques from Ukraine, Lithuania and Bulgaria, enriched by minimalist elements and vocal experiments. Księżyc's concert at hcmf// 2015 will be the first presentation of the group's new repertoire in the UK and is supported by the Polish Cultural Institute in London.
Mirt and Ratkje (dedicated to the Experimental Studio)
The festival will also present an opportunity to listen to a duo made up of the synthesizer constructor and experimental musician Tomasz Mirt, and Norwegian vocal virtuoso Maja S. K. Ratkje (Saturday 28th November), who will together interpret compositions by Arne Nordheim and Eugeniusz Rudnik. The concert is a part of the Eastern Waves project organised by the 4.99 Foundation, and devoted to the history of collaborations between Polish and Norwegian composers at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio.
Outside of Polish-related performances, there are many other events at the festival worth mentioning. Highlights include the British premieres of new pieces by the likes of La Monte Young, George Lewis and John Zorn, as well as performances by the London Sinfonietta, Berlin Splitter Orchester, and Arditti Quartet.
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
20th to 28th November 2015
St Paul's Hall
University of Huddersfield, Queensgate
Huddersfield, UK
