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Workshop 1: «SpielBar»: Interpretation and performance of text compositions
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Marco Blaauw, instructor
In his workshop «SpielBar», the trumpet player Marco Blaauw introduces participants to the world of text composition as found in the music of influential musicians and artists of the 20th century such as George Maciunas, John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and Chrisian Wolff. In addition to playing on their own instruments, participants will use «found objects» from daily life such as newspapers, clothing, furniture, branches, paper, the voice as well as the body itself. In this way, a creative approach to music making is fostered, based more on inventive and conceptual input than on instrumental virtuosity.
Participants approach the concepts in an experimental fashion, working out the various possibilities of their chosen «instruments» in a unique ensemble constellation. Openness and curiosity are the only prerequisites!
Open for all instrumentalists, singers as well as interested composers
Workshop in English
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Workshop 2: Ensemble Playing
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Garth Knox, Anne-Maria Hölscher, Eric Lamb, Melise Mellinger, instructors
In each session of this workshop, one of the academy lecturers will present an aspect of ensemble playing that is of particular importance to themselves and relevant to the music of our time. The workshop will explore strategies for such issues as rehearsal techniques, rhythm, microtonality and learning strategies for some of the unique problems that can arise in the preparation of works of contemporary music.
Open for all instrumentalists and singers
Workshop in German/English
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Workshop 3: Technology in New Music
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Emilio Guim, instructor
In this hands-on crash course we will explore various areas of technology such as: setting up an amplification system, live manipulation of audio and video, electronics, projections, lighting, and more. We will take a look at some of the most well known pieces in the contemporary music repertoire that involve technology and borrow some of their techniques to build a performance with the participants.
Open for all instrumentalists, singers and composers
Workshop in English
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Workshop 4: INTERACTION – CREATION – NOTATION
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Charlotte Hug, instructor
The «Interactive Notation» IAN is the basis and common language for «comprovisation», a form of spontaneous composition based on common symbols and movements. It promotes interaction between the participants and allows for new forms of spontaneous creation and interpretation.
The basics of IAN can be learnt in a short time and can be developed to include a wide range of complexity. After an introduction and examples from artistic practice, this notation will be applied practically, ensemble pieces will be created, rehearsed, recorded, reflected and performed.
Open for all instrumentalists, singers and composers, basic experience in improvisation is expected.
Workshop in German/English
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Workshop 5: Performance and theatrical action on the instrument
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Tora Augestad, Stefan Wirth, instructors
Whereas semi-theatrical actions in the context of instrumental performance have become a mainstay in contemporary music, they are not something most of us are taught to do in the course of our studies. On the contrary, we are often taught that engaging in theatrics of any sort is showy and counterproductive to the message of the music itself. A new take on this, found particularly in the works of composers such as George Aperghis, Mauricio Kagel, Vinko Globokar as well in the works of the Fluxus artists of the 1950s and 60s, has led us to reconsider important aspects of what it means to be a «performer» on stage. In this workshop with two very experienced «theatrical» performers, small exercises as well as examples from the repertoire will serve as an introduction to this fairly new but increasingly common form of stage activity.
Open for all instrumentalists, singers and interested composers
Workshop in German/English
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Workshop 6: Sound Art / Interdisciplinary Performance Techniques
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Katharina Rosenberger, instructor
Much of the work manifests itself in an interdisciplinary context, confronting traditional performance practice with the way sound is created, heard and seen. The audience is taken to strange places that are ambiguous and deceptive, where the usual expectations have to be thrown overboard. Often the instrumentalists are challenged to go beyond a «mere» interpretive function, considering their physical presence on stage.
With her unique approach, the prominent composer, sound and stage artist Katharina Rosenberger explores the possibilities of musical performance in this workshop.
Open for instrumentalists, singers and interested composers
Workshop in German/English
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Workshop 7: Performance: Less is more – with few means to the essence of expression
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Asia Ahmetjanova, instructor
In a time of permanent sensory overload, it can be instructive to move in the opposite direction in order to achieve a new quality of expression.
In this workshop we will develop small performative pieces together. The aim is to communicate a strong idea to the audience with as few means as possible, using only the most necessary objects, movements and sound bodies. We will have various materials on site that we can use to construct new sound bodies, but the focus will remain on reduction.
The workshop is structured as follows:
Collecting ideas – developing common concepts – determining instrumentation – trying out/experimenting – prioritising – reducing – practising – presenting.
Open to all instrumentalists, singers and interested composers
Workshop in German/English
