10 May 2019, Saalbau, Witten, Germany Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik Martin Smolka: Stretto for six voices and four percussionists (world premiere) Ondřej Adámek: Schlafen gut. Warm. for six voices and four percussionists (world premiere) n.e.s.e.v.e.n., Eklekto, cond. Ondřej Adámek
The composers’ association Konvergence dedicated this year’s last concert to the youngest generation of Czech composers and composition students. It was held on 12 December, as usually in St. Lawrence Church in Lesser Town, Prague. The evening was closed with the world premiere of All Ending, a piece by composer, director, poet and translator Ian Mikyska (*1994), performed … Read more
The 9th year of Olomouc-based international contemporary music festival MusicOlomouc was started on October 2. Its second concert, held at the theatre hall of the Art Centre of Palacký University, introduced Aleph Gitarrenquartett, which is a guitar quartet specializing in new music. The ensemble performed, among others, the world premiere of František Chaloupka’s (*1981) Guitar Quartet No. 1 “The … Read more
A part of the 15th year of music and environment Baltic Sea Festival, which was held during the last week of August in Stockholm, was a world premiere of a new piece for choir by composer Martin Smolka. The Name Emmanuel was written on the festival’s commission and was performed on August 27 at the Berwaldhallen concert hall by the … Read more
On June 27 the Prague-based Alfred ve Dvoře Theatre premiered an experimental opera performance The Lists of Infinity by a composer Martin Smolka. This performance directed by Jiří Adámek, who is also the author of the libretto, is in fact a new version of a piece composed 2 years ago on a commission for the New Opera days Ostrava (NODO) … Read more
A new composition by Martin Smolka received its premiere at the international contemporary music festival Acht Brücken. Musik für Köln (Eight Bridges. Music for Cologne) whose sixth year was held between April 30 and May 10. The piece for violin and piano called lay, wail, purr, whirr, smooth, whoop, soothe (and this also is vanity) … Read more
Hats in the Sky (2004), Oh, my Admired C minor (2002) and Rubato (1995). Three chamber pieces by a prominent Czech composer Martin Smolka were performed at the Mendelssohn Hall of Leipzig’s Gewandhaus by the Ensemble Avantgarde, a residential ensemble for contemporary music, together with the music of the ensemble’s artistic director Steffen Schleiermacher. Different as the composers’ musical … Read more
The programme of the final concert of the 3-day Fokus Sport festival run by the Alte Oper Frankfurt included the composition Observing the Clouds by Martin Smolka. This piece from 2003, which, through its irregular and unpredictable rhythmical structure, expresses the dynamics of a badminton game, was performed on 12 March at the Alte Oper’s Great Hall … Read more
