Finally the day came when Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival took off with an array of brilliant performances. So, let’s jump right in: our very own Simon Steen-Andersen’s new piece Black Box Music was performed Saturday evening by the Oslo Sinfonietta at Bates Mill hiding away amongst old factory buildings.
This is a “before the performance”-picture showing the venue Bates Mill:
Black Box Music was curious and cosmic. Simon showed his romance with establishing rules and flow for then later to break and interrupt these codes of conduct. With projections that appeared like an enormous mastodon that showed Haakon Stene as the almighty conductor extended the performance room to appear twice as big and created a parallel universe between the little black box and the entire hall at Bates Mill. The performance was an overwhelming success and received a well-earned applause.
Congratulations to Simon and Oslo Sinfonietta for a great performance!
You can read more about the Black Box Music performance here.
What a sight – beautiful scores in action!
Monday evening another of Edition·S’ revered superstars Jexper Holmen had his brand new piece The Prophecy for accordion and electronics premiered. The piece was written in collaboration with Monty Adkins, doctor of electronics music at the University of Huddersfield. This was truly a melancholic flirtation with the catastrophe. The hall was filled with an intimacy one could see, feel and last but not least hear.
And we could not agree more!
Besides these two performances we have enjoyed a bunch of other performances including the Palimpset by Kathy Hinde & Daniel Skoglund and their drawings in light. Also worth mentioning is the miniature opera Remember Me by Claudia Molitor, which was a delicate landscape of porous movement and sounds.
And finally the secret of our black boxes was revealed.
Thursday night featured another Simon Steen-Andersen experience when the Montreal-based string quartet Quartuor Bozzini performed the work String Quartet #2 at St. Paul's Hall.
To scratch that festival itch even more for you and if you happen to be in Huddersfield for the upcoming weekend you can experience the premiere of Im Rauschen by Simon Steen-Andersen performed by ensemble recherché on Saturday at St. Paul’s Hall at 3 pm followed by the ‘Danish’ reception at 16.15 at the Atrium at the University of Huddersfield.
Have a great weekend! And remember to share your musical experiences and love letters with us on Twitter.