Here it is at last, announced in the last few minutes is the complete programme for this year’s 40 edition of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, which begins in a little under four months’ time, running from Friday 17–Sunday 26 November. In addition to the highlights i’ve previously mentioned, there’s a huge amount to look forward to; among my personal highlights are an interpretation of Lou Reed‘s Metal Machine Music for strings, horns and percussion, alongside a new work (which should presumably fit right in) by Kasper Toeplitz, and zeitkratzer‘s interpretations of Kraftwerk‘s first two albums will receive their only UK live performance. Dai Fujikura‘s new piece for the Polish Radio Choir is titled Sawasawa, forming a second part after Zawazawa (written last year for the Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo). Swedish violinist Karin Hellqvist will be performing works by, among others, Malin Bång and Natasha Barrett, and there’s a large-scale new piece from Rolf Hind inspired by Hindu writings; considering how impressive was his 2015 work Tiger’s Nest, this promises to be something rather special. The guitar quartet Zwerm will be presenting ‘tableaux’ by Christopher Trapani and Alexander Schubert, while Spanish guitarist Clara de Asis will be presenting a 40-minute work for modified guitar by D’incise (Laurent Peter). Explore Ensemble – who made a hugely impressive HCMF debut last year in Gérard Grisey’s Talea – are back with music by three composers i’m unfamiliar with (which only makes it more enticing), Patricia Alessandrini, Steven Daverson and Fausto Romitelli. John Butcher‘s also back in a concert with Austrian group Polweschsel and composer Klaus Lang at the console of St Paul’s Hall’s organ, and at the same console will be Kit Downes, performing some of the works from his album Obsidian. It’ll be good – having seen an assortment of pugilistic related tweets a while back – to have the opportunity to experience Laura Bowler‘s Fight (Not Flight), performed by Bowler with Ensemble PHACE, and another composer/performer, Laura Cannell, will be presenting her semi-improvised exploration of ‘physical and emotional boundaries and liminal landscapes’, FEATHERS UNFURLED.
These are just some of the many, many exciting things to have initially caught my eye – as usual, every day has its fair share of unmissable items – and while i’ve not had time to crunch any numbers yet, it looks at first glance as though the representation of women composers has considerably increased this year, something HCMF has been needing to do.
Below is a complete rundown of what’s happening (* = UK première, ** = world première); for more information, head over to the HCMF website, tickets go on sale tomorrow.
Friday 17
18:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF01 Red Note Ensemble: Dillon
- Stephanie Haensler – Ganz Nah *
- Stephanie Haensler – Im Begriffe *
- Morton Feldman – Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar
- Christian Wolff – Another Possibility
- James Dillon – New Work **
21:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF02 Metal Machine Music
- Kasper Toeplitz – Agitation / Stagnation *
- Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music *
23:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio
- Maja Ratkje/Kathy Hinde – Aeolian **
Saturday 18
12:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF03 Linda Catlin Smith: Piano
- Linda Catlin Smith – The Underfolding *
- Linda Catlin Smith – Nocturnes and Chorales *
14:00 Town Hall – HCMF04 The Otheroom
- Rolf Wallin/Heine Avdal/Yukiko Shinozaki – The Otheroom *
17:00 Phipps Hall – HCMF05 Michaela Grill, Philip Jeck, Karl Lemieux
19:30 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF06 Ensemble Modern + Arditti Quartet: Ferneyhough
- Christopher Trapani – PolychROME *
- Carola Bauckholt – Laufwerk *
- Brian Ferneyhough – Umbrations *
22:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF07 zeitkratzer perform Kraftwerk
23:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Jacek Sienkiewicz plays Bohdan Mazurek
- Music by Bohdan Mazurek **
Sunday 19
10:45 Epicure Bar and Kitchen – Coffee with the composers: Rolf Hind + Dai Fujikura
12:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF08 Linda Catlin Smith: Piano + Strings
- Linda Catlin Smith – Gondola *
- Linda Catlin Smith – Piano Quintet *
- Linda Catlin Smith – Folkestone *
15:00 Town Hall – HCMF09 Polish Radio Choir
- Dai Fujikura – Zawazawa *
- Dai Fujikura – Sawasawa **
- Wojtek Blecharz – Ahimsa *
- Agata Zubel – Madrigals *
17:00 Phipps Hall – HCMF10 Karin Hellqvist
- Malin Bång – Siku **
- Ylva Lund Bergner – viivii **
- Natasha Barrett – Sagittarius A* *
20:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF11 On what weft are woven the waters
- Rolf Hind – On what weft are woven the waters **
22:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF12 Nik Bärtsch Mobile
Monday 20 – SHORTS
11:00 CAB Atrium – Harmonic Canon 1
- Dominic Murcott – Harmonic Canon 1 **
11:40 St Paul’s Hall – Gilles Grimaître
- Raphaël Languillat – La Flagellation du Christ
12:20 Huddersfield Town Hall – LUX:NM
- Sarah Nemtsov – Journal *
- Gordon Kampe – Füchse/Messer *
13:00 Huddersfield Art Gallery – Małe Instrumenty plays PRES
- Włodzimierz Kotoński – Study on One Cymbal Stroke *
- Paweł Romańczuk – Kartacz *
- Paweł Romańczuk – Inops Ventilex *
- Paweł Romańczuk – 5-4-5 *
- Paweł Romańczuk – Casio Concerto *
- Paweł Romańczuk – Trójwarstwy *
14:00 Phipps Hall – Serge Vuille performs Christopher Fox
- Christopher Fox – untouch-touch **
14:40 CAB Atrium – Philip Thomas + edges ensemble
- Michael Parsons – Piano Piece 1962
- Michael Parsons – Jive
- Michael Parsons – September 2001
- Michael Parsons – Walk
15:20 St Paul’s Hall – Kevin Fairbairn
- Richard Barrett – basalt
- Timothy McCormack – HEAVY MATTER
- Sehyung Kim – Sijo_241015
16:00 Huddersfield Town Hall – Nik Bartsch + students from trinity laban
- Nik Bartsch – Urban Groove
17:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – No [more] Pussyfooting
- Brian Eno / Robert Fripp – The Heavenly Music Corporation (No Pussyfooting)
- Brian Eno / Robert Fripp – An Index of Metals (Evening Star)
18:30 CAB Atrium – Harmonic Canon 2
- Dominic Murcott – Harmonic Canon 2 **
19:10 Phipps Hall – Passepartout Duo
- Mayke Nas – DiGiT # 2
- Lansing McLoskey – This Will Not Be Loud and Relentless **
20:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – Bastard Assignments
- Edward Henderson – Hold
- Caitlin Rowley – Community of Objects
- Timothy Cape – Wildflower
- Josh Spear – Extended Play
21:15 St Thomas’s Church – Phurpa
- Mantras and rituals of ancient bon tradition *
23:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Sukitoa o Namau
- Sukitoa O Namau – Nari II **
23:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Christian Weber + Joke Lanz
- Improvisation (double bass + turntables)
Tuesday 21
12:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF13 Philip Thomas + Quatuor Bozzini
- Mary Bellamy – beneath an ocean of air **
- Bryn Harrison – Piano Quintet **
17:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF14 Karkowski: Encumbrance
- Baskak – Delightful Buzz **
- Krzysztof Knittel – Norcet II
- Zbigniew Karkowski – Encumbrance *
20:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF15 Our Ears Felt Like Canyons
- Joanna Bailie – Last Song of Charleroi *
- Alexander Schubert – Societies / Sciences *
- Christopher Trapani – Shotgun Schoegaze *
22:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – HCMF16 Julie Kjaer
- Julie Kjaer – This is where you see me *
Wednesday 22
10:45 Epicure Bar and Kitchen – Coffee with the composer: Hilda Paredes
13:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – HCMF17 Clara de Asis
- D’incise – Appalachian Anatolia
16:00 Phipps Hall – HCMF18 We Spoke
- Simon Loeffler – H
- Hanna Hartmann – Shadow Box *
- Simon Loeffler – B
- Cathy van Eck – Wings *
- Fritz Hauser – Schraffur *
19:30 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF19 London Sinfonietta + Irvine Arditti
- Colin Matthews – Contraflow
- Iannis Xenakis – Thallein
- Harrison Birtwistle – Silbury Air
- Hilda Parades – Señales
22:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF20 GGR Betong
- Pauline Oliveros – Bottoms Up 1_RMX *
- Tetsuo Furudate – Below The Demarcation *
- Anna Eriksson – Three Minutes And Ten Seconds *
- Zbigniew Karkowski – Doing By Not Doing *
- Ruta Vitkauskaite – Kragraga *
- Lasse Marhaug – The Great Silence *
Thursday 23
12:00 Phipps Hall – HCMF21 Explore Ensemble
- Enno Poppe – Gelöschte Lieder
- Steven Daverson – Elusive Tangibility II: Firelife *
- Patricia Allessandrini – Tracer la lune d’un doigt **
- Fausto Romitelli – La Sabbia del tempo
19:30 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF22 Polweschsel + John Butcher + Klaus Lang
- Klaus Lang – a
- Werner Dafeldecker – small worlds **
- Klaus Lang – Tehran dust *
- Klaus Lang – d
21:30 Thomas Lehn plays Bogusław Schaeffer
- Bogusław Schaeffer – Symphony *
22:30 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF23 Rhodri Davies
- Rhodri Davies – Wound Response
- Rhodri Davies – Transversal Time **
Friday 24
14:00 Phipps Hall – TAPE
- Eugeniusz Rudnik – Ready-Made
- Krzysztof Knittel – Norcet / The Worm Conqueur / Odd and ends
- Bohdan Mazurek – Daisy Story
- Tomasz Sikorski – Samotność dźwieków
17:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – HCMF24 Archer Spade
- Dan Blacksberg – Nick Millevoi
- Chikako Morishita – One Arm 1 **
- Dan Blacksberg – Nick Millevoi
- Mick Barr – TCHMENTREACH *
19:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF25 The Riot Ensemble
- Nikolet Burzyńska – Ombak **
- Katherine Young – Where the Moss Glows *
- Stephanie Haensler – daan und waan *
- Laurence Osborn – Ctrl **
22:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF26 Ensemble PHACE + Laura Bowler
- Bernhard Lang – DW24 – Loops for Al Jourgensen *
- Jorge Sanchez-Chiong – USED REDUX *
- Laura Bowler – Fight (Not Flight)
23:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Valerio Tricoli plays Bohdan Mazurek
- Music by Bohdan Mazurek **
Saturday 25
12:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF27 Kit Downes
- Kit Downes – Kings *
- Kit Downes – Tom Challenger
- Kit Downes – Obsidian *
- Kit Downes – Flying Foxes *
- Kit Downes – Modern Gods *
- Kit Downes – The Gift *
14:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – HCMF28 Laura Cannell: Feathers Unfurled
- Laura Cannell – FEATHERS UNFURLED **
18:00 Town Hall – HCMF29 ICE + Distractfold + Fritz Hauser
- Pauline Oliveros – All Fours for the Drum Bum
- Fritz Hauser – RUNDUM
- Pauline Oliveros – Primordial / Lift
22:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF30 hcmf// mix tape
- Pauline Oliveros – The autobiography of Lady Steinway
- Pauline Oliveros – The Wheel of Time
- Enno Poppe – Fleisch **
- Ann Cleare – the square of yellow light that is your window *
- Lauren Sarah Hayes – Mini Savior Opt. **
Sunday 26
13:00 St Paul’s Hall – HCMF31 Ensemble Grizzana
- Magnus Granberg – How Vain Are All our Frail Delights? **
- Jurg Frey – Late Silence **
19:00 Lawrence Batley Theatre – HCMF32 Sam Amidon + Guests
21:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – HCMF33 Nikel: Alexander Schubert
- Alexander Schubert – Supramodal Parser *
