Gigs, gigs, gigs: Ryoji Ikeda, An Assembly, Kammer Klang, HCMF

As of yesterday, autumn is officially here, so it’s time to take stock of some of the more interesting concerts looming on the horizon. Most imminently, Japan’s most dazzling audiovisual electronic pioneer Ryoji Ikeda is making a rare visit to the UK. His Barbican concert on Sunday night (which i’ll be reviewing), featuring datamatics [ver. 2.0] and a live performance of his recently-released Music for Percussion, (available via Ikeda’s own Codex Edition label) is sold out, but for those in the vicinity of Plymouth Ikeda will be presenting a live set of his 2013 album Supercodex at the Plymouth Guildhall on Friday night as part of The Atlantic Project. Tickets are still available – and very cheap – so it’s a great opportunity to experience Ikeda’s uniquely beautiful blending of sound and data. Aside from Ikeda, The Atlantic Project (which runs from 28 September to 1 October) promises a shedload of intriguing events including an evening of sound and film with Café Concrete, and the ‘Immersive Orchestra’, a performance at Plymouth Hoe in which swimmers ‘conduct’ an orchestra of 100 guitarists. To prove i didn’t just make that up, and to find out everything else that’s going on, visit The Atlantic Project website.

New music ensemble An Assembly are going out on the road for a small-scale autumn tour, performing three works, two of them ensemble commissions: Louis D’Heudieres‘ Laughter Studies 6b – the title of which seems apt, since the mere description of it, involving four vocalists “describing and imitating their own private soundtracks of synthesised tunes and field recordings, transmitted to them via earphones” had me chuckling just thinking about it, Charlie Usher‘s An assembly – a 45-minute epic made up of 14-second miniatures – and a new work by Rowland Hill responding to a 1959 review of Stravinsky’s Agon. They’ll be performing these pieces at Manchester’s Anthony Burgess Centre on 1 October, at City University in London the next day (this concert is free) and finally in Birmingham’s Centrala Café on 4 October. Full details can be found on An Assembly’s website.

Kammer Klang‘s new series of London concerts has just been announced, with eleven events taking place between now and next May, at Cafe Oto and the ICA. Among the more interesting are Abstruckt Ensemble taking on Alvin Lucier‘s 1988 Silver street car for an orchestra and the world première of a new work by Rebecca Glover on 6 November, a predictably unpredictable set by Jennifer Walshe & Tony Conrad‘s Ma La Pert duo on 4 December, an evening of music by Yoshi Wada, Chiyoko Szlavnics and Annea Lockwood next April and, especially mouth-watering, a reconstruction (and first UK performance) of Maryanne Amacher’s 2006 electroacoustic work GLIA, performed on 31 May by Ensemble Contrechamps and members of Ensemble Zwischentöne. And there’s a lot more besides these obvious highlights; check out Kammer Klang’s website for more information.

And finally, after a longer-than-usual wait, this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival programme has been unveiled today. Running from 16 to 25 November, as always there’s a great deal to look forward to. This year’s Composer in Residence is Swiss-American Christian Marclay: obviously, a lot of his work will be featured throughout the festival, but the world première of his Investigations, a piece involving no fewer than 20 pianos, promises to be a striking experience. Beyond this, there are first performances of music by Nicole Lizée, Christopher Fox, Eleanor Cully, Monty Adkins, Martin Arnold, Julius Eastman and James Dillon among others, and UK premières from Rebecca Saunders, Hans-Joachim Hespos, Anthony Braxton, Terry Riley, Hilda Paredes, Jennifer Walshe, Phil Niblock, Éliane Radigue and Clara Ianotta among many, many others. Shorts, the festival’s day of free miniature concerts, is back once again on the Monday with its typically whistle-stop tour around the city’s numerous venues, and HISS, otherwise known as the Huddersfield Immersive Sound System, will be celebrating its 10th birthday with a trio of concerts of surround sound loveliness on Wednesday. There’s also going to be a composer focus on Salvatore Sciarrino throughout the long closing weekend, and HCMF’s tradition of featuring the Arditti Quartet on the final day continues in 2018. Four years ago we were treated to a then-complete set of James Dillon‘s seven string quartets; this year, their recital includes the first UK performance of No. 8 and the world première of No. 9, alongside music by Sciarrino and the UK première of Clara Iannotta’s wondrously-titled Dead Wasps in a Jam-Jar III. The full programme is detailed below; booking opens on Monday 1 October, and more information can be found on the HCMF website.

(*=UK première, **=world première)

Friday 16 November

16:00 Market Gallery, Queensgate Market – Exhibition Launch: Christian Marclay

19:00 Huddersfield Town Hall – [Concert #1] Ensemble Musikfabrik: Saunders 1

• Rebecca Saunders – Yes (2017)*

22:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #2] Christian Marclay: To be continued (EnsemBle baBel)

• Christian Marclay – To be continued*
• Christian Marclay – Fade to slide
• Christian Marclay – The Bell and the Glass

23:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – the one I feed

• Genevieve Murphy – the one I feed*

Saturday 17 November

13:00 St. Paul’s Hall – [Concert #3] Duo Gelland

• James Dillon – Traumwerk Book 1 (1995/6)
• Hans-Joachim Hespos – a e r i (2012)*

16:00 Phipps Hall – [Concert #4] Wikipiano (Zubin Kanga)

• Alexander Schubert – Wikipiano (2018)
• Scott McLaughlin – In the unknown there is already a script for transcendence (2018)**
• Claudia Molitor – You touched the twinkle on the helix of my ear (2018)
• Nicole Lizée – Scorsese Etudes (2018)**
• Christopher Fox – Five characters in search of a farm (2018)**

19:00 St. Paul’s Hall – [Concert #5] The Monochrome Project: Braxton

• Anthony Braxton – Composition no 103*
• Anthony Braxton – Composition no 173 (spoken text)*

21:30 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #6] Ensemble Mosaik: Poppe

• Enno Poppe – Rundfunk (2015–2018)*

23:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – The Ectoplasm Girls

• Improvisation

Sunday 18 November

13:00 St. Paul’s Hall – [Concert #7] Ensemble Musikfabrik: Saunders 2

• Rebecca Saunders – Aether (2016)*
• Rebecca Saunders – new work (2016–18)*

16:00 Huddersfield Town Hall – [Concert #8] Christian Marclay: Investigations

• Christian Marclay – Investigations (2018)**
• Jessie Marino (USA), Constantin Basica (ROU), Camille Lézer (FRA), SCENATET (DK)

19:30 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #9] Nice Guys Win Twice (Ensemble Scenatet)

• Nice Guys Win Twice (2018)*

22:00 St. Paul’s Hall – [Concert #10] Temko: Riley

• Terry Riley – Shri Camel*

Monday 19 November (Shorts)

11:00 St Paul’s Hall – Tom Sanderman

• Remy Alexander – sleeping water*
• Aart Strootman – Floating points on a fixed monorail*
• Anthony Fiumara – Red Shift*

12:00 Richard Steinitz Building Atrium – QUAD

• Samuel Beckett – Quad 1 + 11

12:40 University Sports Hall – Kathryn Williams

• Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh and Kathryn Williams – PIXERCISE

13:20 St Paul’s Hall – senza misura 1

• Christopher Fox – senza misura (part 1) (2016–17)*

14:00 Phipps Hall – Christian Marclay: Ephemera 1

• Christian Marclay – Ephemera (organ version)

15:00 Town Hall – Drift Ensemble

• Colin Frank – Fake (2017)
• Cristian Morales Ossio – 11 fragments (2016 new version inc. voice)

15:30 Town Hall – Clarice Rarity + Nathanael Gubler

• Clara Ianotta – Limun
• Cassandra Miller – For Mira
• Alwynne Pritchard – Une Mort Heroique

16:30 Bates Mill Blending Shed – Songs for VONK

• TBA

17:10 Bates Mill Blending Shed – Decay

• TBA**

18:20 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Threads

• Textiles, movement, music

19:40 Northern Quarter – Specimens

• Alex Ives – Unfold In All Directions
• Alex Ives – VI.VI.MMXV
• Alex Ives – Chamber Voices
• Alex Ives – The Unread Library

20:20 Northern Quarter – Thomas Meadowcroft

• Thomas Meadowcroft – Alleinunterhaltung

21:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Christian Marclay: Manga Scroll

• Christian Marclay – Manga Scroll (2010)

22:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Heather Roche + Eva Zollner

• William Kuo – Tubular Living (2018)*
• Luis Antunes Pena – The Hunter (2017)
• Elnaz Seyedi – Nach neuen Meeren (2018)*
• Pierre Alexandre Tremblay – nureinwortgenügtnicht 4 (Tausch) (2016)

23:30 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Christian Marclay: Ephemera 2

• Christian Marclay – Ephemera (piano version)

Tuesday 20 November

12:00 St Pauls Hall – [Concert #11] Sarah Cahill

• Terry Riley – Keyboard Studies (1965)
• Terry Riley – Be Kind to One Another (Rag) (2008/2014)
• Lou Harrison – Summerfield Set (1936/1988)
• Harold Budd – Children on the Hill (1976) (arr. Kyle Gann in 2008)

14:30 St Pauls Hall – senza misura 2

• Christopher Fox – senza misura (part 2) (2016-17)*

15:30 Phipps Hall – [Concert #12] United Instruments of Lucillin

• Nick Morrish Rarity – life of lines II (2017)*
• Anna Meredith – songs for the M8 (2005)
• Catherine Kontz – Snakes & Ladders (2014-2018)**
• Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay – un fil rouge (2018)*

17:45 Town Hall – Untreated Light // Melt

• Callum Dewar – Melt (2018)**
• Eleanor Cully – untreated light (2018)**
• Additional repertoire TBC

19:00 Lawrence Batley Theatre – [Concert #13] Harriet

• Hilda Paredes – Harriet (2018)*

21:30 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #14] Thurston Moore

• Thurston Moore – 12×12 Guitars – Tribute to Glenn Branca
• Christian Marclay – The Wind-Up Guitar

23:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – Christian Marclay + Shelley Hirsch

• Christian Marclay – Zoom Zoom

Wednesday 21 November

11:00 St Paul’s Hall – senza misura 3

• Christopher Fox – senza misura (part 3) (2016-17)*

15:30 Richard Steinitz Building Atrium – HISS @ 10 #1

• Monty Adkins – Music from Empire (2018)**

16:30 Phipps Hall – HISS @ 10 #2

• Alex Harker – Ad Lucem (2006)
• Michael Clarke – Tim(bre) 2 (2009; revised 2013)
• Pierre Alexandre Tremblay – Bucolic & Broken (2017)
• Aaron Cassidy – I, for example, … (2017)
• Susie Green – Transmutation (2018)**

17:30 Richard Steinitz Building Atrium – HISS @ 10 #3

• Owen Green – Danger in the Air (2006–2008)
• Gerard Roma – white goods (2018)**
• Elias Merino – Synthesis of Unlocated Affections: irreductibles (2017)*

19:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #15] Kudzu (Curious Chamber Players)

• Malin Bang – Kudzu (2017)*

21:30 Magic Rock Tap Room – [Concert #16] Fast Gold Butterflies

• Matthew Wright – Fast Gold Butterflies* (2016)
• Pete Harden – Berlin Bells* (2014)
• Matthew Wright – Cold Highlife** (2016)
• Pete Harden – Guiyu Guitars Upstream* (2015)
• Pete Harden – Forming a petal from a piece of metal* (2009)
• Pete Harden – Steel Wounds & Beaten Sounds* (2002)
• Matthew Wright – Entanglement Laws* (2006)

Thursday 22 November

10:30 Phipps Hall – senza misura 4

• Christopher Fox – senza misura (part 4) (2016-17)*

12:00 St Paul’s Hall – [Concert #17] Lori Freedman: Beyond Excess

• Lori Freedman – To the Bridge (2014)*
• Paolo Perezzani – Thymos (2015)*
• Lori Freedman – Suite for the Unsighted (2018)*
• Martin Arnold – Flicker-Swing (2018)**
• Lori Freedman – Snaggle (2018)*
• Paul Steenhuisen – Library on Fire (2015)*
• Lori Freedman – Locusts’ Trill (2018)*

16:00 Phipps Hall – [Concert #18] Kluster5

• Chaz Underriner – Nocturne series: 8*
• Graham Flett – of a beast*
• Jan-Peter de Graaff – Reeks&Progressie*
• Celia Swart – Boven Hoge Gebouwen*
• Aart Strootman – Shambling Emerge*

19:00 St Paul’s Hall – [Concert #19] A History of the Voice (HYOID Ensemble)

• Jennifer Walshe – A History of the Voice – Self Care II (2018)*

21:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #20] Christian Marclay: Screen Play + Okkyung Lee

• Okkyung Lee – solo improvisation
• Christian Marclay – Screen Play

23:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – [Concert #21] Quatuor Bozzini

• Phil Niblock – Disseminate as Five String Quartets (2017)*
• Éliane Radigue – Occam Delta XV (2017)*

Friday 23 November

12:00 Phipps Hall – [Concert #22] Mimitabu

• Johan Svensson – ampѐrian loops part III (2017)*
• Hanna Hartman – THE BOILER ROOM (2018)*
• Sara Glojnarić – sugarcoating #2 (2017)*
• Joakim Sandgren – corps étrangers (2018)*

14:00 & 16:00 Town Hall – [Concert #23] MUTED

17:30 Phipps Hall – senza misura 5

• Christopher Fox – senza misura (part 5) (2016-17)*

19:00 St Pauls Hall – [Concert #24] Divertimento Ensemble: Sciarrino

• Francesco Filidei – Finito ongi gesto (2010)
• Francesca Verunelli – Cinemaolio (2014)
• Salvatore Sciarrino – Archeologia del telefono
• Salvatore Sciarrino – Il sogno di Stradella*

21:30 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #25] Stockhausen: Oktophonie

• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Signale zur Invasion (1992)

• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Oktophonie (1991)

23:00 Bates Mill Photographic Studio – [Concert #26] Christian Marclay + Okkyung Lee + Mats Gustafsson

• TBA**

Saturday 24 November

12:00 St Pauls Hall – [Concert #27] Ligeti Quartet

• Stef Conner – Singing Strings (2017)
• Christian Mason – Ezir Kara – from the Tuvan Songbook (2016)
• Tanya Tagaq – Sivunittinni (2016)
• Christian Mason – Muttos – from the Sardinian Songbook (2018)
• plus 1 more piece TBA

14:00 Huddersfield Art Gallery – Angharad Davies + Tom Jackson

• Christopher Fox – Other Times, Other Places

16:00 St Peter’s Church – Canopy of Voices

• Supriya Nagarajan – Pleiades ne Maia (2018)**

19:30 St Pauls Hall – [Concert #28] Sciarrino: Carnaval

• Salvatore Sciarrino – Carnaval (2010-2011)*

22:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #29] hcmf// mixtape

• Julius Eastman – Evil Nigger (1979, version 2017)**
• remaining programme TBA

Sunday 25 November

13:00 St Pauls Hall – [Concert #30] Arditti Quartet + Jake Arditti

• James Dillon – String Quartet No. 8 (2017)*
• Salvatore Sciarrino – Quartetto no. 7
• Clara Ianotta – Dead Wasps in a Jam-Jar III (2017)*
• Salvatore Sciarrino – Costa Resta (2017)
• James Dillon – String Quartet No. 9 (2018)**

16:00 Bates Mill Blending Shed – [Concert #31] POLES

• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Sei wieder fröhlich from Amour (1974-1976)
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Poles (1970)** (of version)
• remaining programme TBA

19:00 Magic Rock Tap Room – hcmf// special brew

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