The full programme for this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival has been revealed, with tickets for all events now on sale and online earlybird discounts still available for a limited time.
A whole day dedicated to John Zorn, premieres of works by Brian Ferneyhough, Jakob Ullmann and Georg Friedrich Haas and an opening concert that brings together the world-class Arditti Quartet with hcmf// Composer in Residence Hèctor Parra are among highlights of the 36th festival, which takes place from Friday 15 November to Sunday 24 November 2013.
Click here to view the full hcmf// 2013 programme.
Few names in contemporary music are as recognisable as that of John Zorn, and on Thursday 21 November, hcmf// will devote its entire day’s programming to the energetic New York composer and multi-instrumentalist, who recently turned 60. Arditti Quartet and Zorn collaborators ICE are among the artists who will celebrate a prolific body of work ranging from guitar solos to sacred vocal music, before the day culminates with The Hermetic Organ, a midnight solo concert by Zorn himself.
This year’s hcmf// Composer in Residence is Barcelona-born Hèctor Parra who, at the relatively young age of 37, is already established as a mature and distinctive voice. Parra’s work is complex both in textures and ideas – his 2009 work Hypermusic Prologue saw him collaborate with physicists and was billed as ‘an opera in seven planes’ – yet at the same time accessible. The Arditti Quartet open hcmf// on Friday 15 November with two British premieres of his work, whilst his presence throughout the festival includes the world premiere of the large-scale piano/electronics piece FREC on Sunday 17 November.
Other not to be missed premieres at this year’s festival include the first ever entire performance of Jakob Ullmann’s subtle and spatial Son Imaginaire III on Wednesday 20 November, the UK debut of Georg Friedrich Haas’ In Vain on Saturday 16 November, Cecilie Ore’s politically charged Come to the Edge the same day and the world premiere of Dai Fujikura’s second piano concerto, Diamond Dust, on Saturday 23 November.
A truly international line-up of leading ensembles will be welcomed to hcmf// 2013, some now familiar faces and others making their first appearance at the festival. This year’s programme includes Quatuor Diotima, Oslo Sinfonietta, Apartment House, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Linea, EXAUDI, Camerata Zurich, the Scandinavian trios POING and FEED, and Barcelona-based BCN 216, making their hcmf// debut. In addition, pianist Nicolas Hodges, bassist Barry Guy, saxophonist John Butcher and vocalist Ute Wassermann are among the soloists bound for Huddersfield.
As ever, hcmf// is dedicated to programming composers and performers at the vanguard of contemporary composition. In celebration of his 70th year, the festival presents several pieces by the incomparable ‘Father of New Complexity’ Brian Ferneyhough, including the world premiere of Schatten aus Wasser und Stein, featuring virtuoso oboist Christopher Redgate, on Sunday 17 November. And after last year’s epic Feldman recital, there’s another chance be immersed totally into a world of time and silence on Tuesday 19 November with a four-hour performance of en una nocha obscura by Antoine Beuger, founder of the Wandelweiser collective.
At the other end of the durational scale, the ever-popular hcmf// shorts return on Monday 18 November, with a menu of free, bite-sized events featuring Jennifer Walshe and Phill Niblock alongside a range of up-and-coming talents. The festival’s closing day on Sunday 24 November, meanwhile, is given over to exploring the influence of folk culture and mythology upon contemporary music, with a host of free events taking place under the Mytologier banner.
Tickets for all events can be bought online here. Or you can contact the hcmf// box office by telephone on 01484 430528.
