City Alive With The Sound of reMusik
Published: May 22, 2013 (Issue # 1760)
Composers from around the world have arrived in St. Petersburg to take part in the launch of the first St. Petersburg International New Music Festival — reMusik — which began on Tuesday.
Finishing Sunday, the festival is the latest project from the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center and has been designed to support and showcase a new generation of composers. It will also highlight new trends in contemporary classical music from Europe, North America and Russia.
As well as performances, the program features a number of master classes, workshops, lectures and meetings with composers, including a composition workshop master class with internationally renowned Swiss composer, William Blank. These opportunities allow audiences a unique insight into the processes involved in creating musical compositions as well as gain greater understanding and appreciation.
“The reMusik festival can be likened to an intersection of different world perspectives from various composers and musical styles created over the last decade in the sphere of contemporary classical music,” said Mehdi Hosseini, the festival director.
“The festival stands as a platform on which the debut of works will take place alongside of an exchange of information and expertise amongst Russian and international participants…,” he said.
Highlights of the festival includes evenings dedicated to the music by composers from a particular country. Four such evenings are included in the program and are dedicated to the following countries: America, Germany, France and Switzerland. In particular, the Swiss music night on Thursday has been highlighted as a special event. The Swiss composers chosen for the performance will have their music played in Russia for the first time, giving audiences an introduction to Swiss musical practice over the past decade.
The festival will be held in various venues around the city, including the St. Petersburg State Philharmonic, Erarta Museum, St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio, Jaani Kirik Hall and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory.
Other performances at the festival include: Komponistenverschworung, a composing alliance from Hamburg; the contemporary music group Studio for New Music (Moscow); and the Pro Arte eNsemble (St. Petersburg).
Hosseini established the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center in February 2010 as a private organization that supports and promotes contemporary music.
According to its website, the organization is dedicated to building and educating a national and international community of composers, artists, musicologists and members of the public who are interested in learning more about music in Russia as well as contemporary music as a whole.
The complete festival program can be found at www.remusik.com