Egberto Gismonti full concert on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni

Egberto Amin Gismonti (born December 5, 1947 in Carmo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)^[1] is a Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianist.^[1]

He was influenced by Heitor Villa-Lobos, his works reflecting the musical diversity of Brazil. From the Amazon Indians' batuque to the Carioca samba and choro, through the Northeastern frevo, baião, and forró, Gismonti captures the true essence of the Brazilian soul in a way that is primitive, yet sophisticated, and reflects it through his personal vision, elaborated by years of classic training and literacy in a wealth of musical languages in which jazz plays a significant role. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egberto_Gismonti

MIRRORS (For Electric Guitar and Delay) Pablo Montagne VOL 2

 MIRRORS (Vol.2) - Glissato - Edizioni Musicali

http://www.glissato.it/catalogo/nuovi-linguaggi/mirrors-vol-2.html

Guitars Speak: la chitarra blues di Son House

Download Podcast

Questa sera alle 21 in onda su Guitars Speak, programma radio dedicato alla chitarra: la musica di Son House (vero nome Eddie James House, Jr.) (Riverton, 21 marzo 1902 – Detroit, 19 ottobre 1988) è stato un cantante e chitarrista statunitense di musica blues. Figura predominante del genere delta blues, lo stile di House è risultato essere nel corso degli anni profondamente influente nel panorama musicale statunitense. Per lui una puntata monografica sul programma radio Guitars Speak.

This evening at 9PM on radio program Guitars Speak: the music of Son House (real name Eddie James House, Jr.) (Riverton, March 21, 1902 - Detroit, October 19, 1988) was an American blues singer and guitarist. Predominant figure for the delta blues, House's style was found to be over the years profoundly influential in the American music scene. For him, a monographic episode on Guitars Speak radio program.

http://radiovocedellasperanza.it/

DIAMO VOCE AI COMPOSITORI 1: Intervista a Aurelio Samorì

Il SON Ensemble, formazione dedita alla diffusione della Nuova Musica, ha di recente dato il via una particolare iniziativa divulgativa: i compositori che collaborano con l'ensemble prestano la loro voce per una serie di interviste in cui parlano della propria poetica e si esprimono su vari temi dell'attualità musicale in Italia. 
La prima serie di video—interviste a cura del SON Ensemble ospita i compositori le cui opere sono state eseguite in concerto dallo stesso SON lo scorso 14 ottobre 2014: Aurelio Samorì, Andrea Toffolini, Giorgio Bussolin, Corrado Pasquotti. 
Il concerto e le interviste sono state effettuate nella cornice dei Corsi Musicali 2014 organizzati dall'Associazione Culturale “Ischia Musica”. 
 [l'intervista odierna è a cura di Leonardo De Marchi, mentre la trascrizione dell'audio è stata effettuata da Gabriele Soppelsa] 

Leonardo De Marchi: Per il canale Youtube del SON Ensemble abbiamo con noi oggi Aurelio Samorì. Buongiorno, Maestro. 

Aurelio Samorì: Buongiorno! 

 LDM: Aurelio Samorì, Faentino, classe 1946, è una delle figure più interessanti nel panorama della musica di ricerca in Italia. E’ legato in modo molto forte al Conservatorio di Pesaro, presso il quale ha studiato numerose discipline: composizione, strumentazione per banda, pianoforte e musica elettronica. Vorrei, visto il suo legame cinquantennale con il Conservatorio di Pesaro, cominciare facendole una domanda su uno dei suoi maestri, una figura importante nella sua formazione, Boris Porena, nome significativo nella musica di ricerca italiana. Ci vuole parlare di lui, di quello che ha studiato e ha avuto modo di approfondire? 

AS: Boris Porena l’ho conosciuto appunto al Conservatorio di Pesaro, quando ho terminato il corso inferiore di composizione e sono entrato nella sua classe al quinto anno. Per me è stato un maestro fantastico, nel senso che conosceva molto bene la letteratura del passato - ovviamente letteratura musicale - e mi ha spinto a scrivere e a comporre cose che non si facevano col maestro precedente. È stato perciò lui la molla principale per introdurmi alla composizione, non quella di studio ma quella libera. Quindi ho terminato con lui lo studio della composizione ed è stato una figura di notevole riferimento per quel periodo. Boris Porena, quando l’ho conosciuto io, era molto giovane, aveva 36 anni, era un compositore che veniva eseguito, aveva vinto concorsi; era poi una persona molto affabile con gli studenti, quindi mi ci sono trovato particolarmente bene. 

LDM: Ecco, un’altra figura centrale nella sua formazione è stata invece quella di Franco Donatoni. Vuole parlarci di qualche ricordo umano o professionale di quel periodo? Vorrebbe dirci inoltre quali sono secondo lei gli aspetti del pensiero musicale di Donatoni che più hanno inciso nella ricerca musicale dei nostri giorni? 

AS: Franco Donatoni l’ho conosciuto nel 1977, quando decisi di provare ad iscrivermi all’Accademia Chigiana a Siena. Ero abbastanza timoroso di poter entrare, perché so che lui era una persona molto esigente, non facile nel primo contatto coi ragazzi. L’esame d’ammissione consisteva nel presentare i lavori che uno aveva fatto, cosa che io feci: con grande mio piacere ho avuto l’ammissione. Frequentato il corso, i miei primi quindici giorni sono stati traumatici, perché i lavori che sottoponevo lui li demoliva, nel senso che voleva capire e voleva che spiegassi quasi nota per nota come avevo fatto a scrivere il pezzo. Siccome cercavo di avere un metodo, però lasciavo sempre le cose così, non dico al caso, però all’immaginazione (cosa che a lui non stava bene, nel senso che voleva che il ragionamento fosse portato fino in fondo e che uno acquisisse una tecnica per poter svolgere il materiale), ecco, sono stati quindici giorni abbastanza drammatici. Dopodiché, conoscendo anche gli altri studenti - che poi sono Luca Mosca, Paolo Ugoletti, Alessandro Solbiati, Ruggero Laganà - mi incoraggiarono e mi dissero “Ma guarda che è un pochino per tutti così, con Donatoni... bisogna capirlo, porta pazienza, bisogna lavorare...”. E così feci: iniziai a scrivere e dalle torture iniziali si passò a qualche accenno di “Massì, le cose cominciano ad andare benino” eccetera. Fatto sta che verso la fine del corso - che allora durava circa un mese e mezzo - io avevo terminato il mio pezzo, che era corto ed era per tre strumenti (clarinetto, violoncello e pianoforte). Nell’ambito dell’organico che avevo a disposizione io ho scelto questi tre strumenti. Ebbene, io, abbastanza contento, glielo sottopongo, perché poi c’era il saggio e se lui dava l'ok [il brano] veniva eseguito […] . E quindi ero speranzoso… lui lo guardò e disse: “Un po’ di cose si sono mosse, va bene... questa è una prima parte, continualo durante l’autunno e l’estate”. Al che rimasi fregato appunto, perché il saggio era “saltato” […] . Un altro episodio che ricordo abbastanza piacevolmente è stato un paio di anni dopo, nel '79. Allora avevo chiesto l’iscrizione a Roma all’Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia, e lui aveva avuto l’incarico in quell’anno, sostituendo Goffredo Petrassi. Anche lì mi andò bene perché mi accettò, e quindi iniziai a frequentare. Iniziammo a scrivere il brano, anche lì una cosa importante perché i brani che noi allievi riuscivamo a produrre venivano eseguiti da strumentisti dell’Orchestra della Rai […] . Poi ci aveva detto che molto probabilmente ci sarebbe stata la ripresa radiofonica e la successiva trasmissione: erano occasioni notevoli, e mi misi a scrivere. Parlo del '79, quindi erano già due anni che stavo sotto alle sue ali; iniziammo il corso, mi pare, a novembre e ci si vedeva ogni quindici giorni, e c’erano due giorni intensi di lezione. Fatto sta che, durante le vacanze di natale, decido di affrontare un viaggio, di andare in Africa, un mio desiderio fin da quando ero piccolo. Il brano fino ad allora era andato secondo le mie normali aspettative. Feci il viaggio: era stata tanta l’emozione di fare un safari fotografico, di vedere animali, la mia passione… una volta tornato, ho continuato il brano. Alla prima lezione sottopongo il lavoro, lui lo guarda sin dall’inizio (perché sfogliava sempre dall'inizio), voleva rendersi conto di come continuava. Ad un certo punto vedo che fa un gesto particolare e poi mi dice: “Ma cosa ti è successo, qui?”. Gli ho detto: “Maestro, ho realizzato il sogno della mia vita, sono andato in Africa a fare il safari fotografico”. E lui, appunto, mi fece notare che c’era una notevole differenza: ero arrivato a metà del brano e avevo chiarito molto le intenzioni musicali e le figure alle quali lui teneva molto. Erano molto più precise ed era tutto più dettagliato, e questo è stato un bel ricordo. È stata una svolta, così, cose che capitano; siccome diceva sempre che la musica è sempre legata alle nostre esperienze extra musicali, ho toccato con mano la verità di questa cosa. 

LDM: Quindi, complessivamente l’apprendistato con Donatoni è durato fino al… 

AS: ...fino all’81, quattro anni. 

 Il contenuto integrale dell'intervista è visibile al link sottostante:

12 - 13 - 14 Dicembre Masterclass Emanuele Segre

“ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE E MUSICALE DE FALLA”

Bari

CONCERTO E MASTERCLASS

 12 - 13 - 14 Dicembre 2014

CORSO DI PERFEZIONAMENTO CHITARRISTICO

( per solisti , ensemble e formazioni da camera )

Docente

EMANUELE SEGRE

 www.emanuelesegre.com 

  

Infotel: 347.6052769

Associazione Culturale e Musicale “DE FALLA - ”Bari 

 orchestradefalla@fastwebnet.it

www.orchestradichitarredefalla.it

Intervista con Stefano Alessandretti, Direttore Artistico del SON Ensemble

- Allora Stefano come procede l'attività del SON? L'ultima volta che ci siamo parlati è stata per l'intervista radiofonica per Guitars Speak... dicembre 2011, ne è passata di acqua sotto ai ponti ...

Buonasera Andrea e grazie dell'invito.

Si effettivamente è passato diverso tempo dalla nostra ultima chiacchierata!

L'attività del SON Ensemble procede molto bene, l'impegno costante di tutti i suoi membri continua a dare i suoi frutti e in questi tre anni trascorsi abbiamo lavorato a diversi progetti, tra cui la realizzazione di un concerto dedicato ad ARS Publica, la partecipazione all'evento Passenger della No Title Gallery, un concerto monografico dedicato a John Cage a 100 anni dalla sua nascita, la partecipazione alla Maratona degli Studi di Fonologia all'interno della 57ª Biennale Musica di Venezia, il concerto-conferenza per Discantus al Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi e numerose altre iniziative.

- Sbaglio o mi sembra che il gruppo di compositori che ruotano attorno all'attività dell'Ensemble sia cresciuto?

Si esatto, a partire da quest'anno abbiamo iniziato a commissionare nuove composizioni per il nostro organico. Il tutto è nato da un concerto in omaggio a Corrado Pasquotti (insegnante dei 3 compositori dell'ensemble) per i suoi 60 anni, organizzato durante i corsi estivi dell'Associazione Culturale Ischia Musica. I compositori coinvolti per l'occasione sono stati Aurelio Samorì, Giorgio Bussolin, Andrea Toffolini e lo stesso Corrado Pasquotti.

La riuscita del concerto e la bellissima esperienza di lavoro ci hanno dato una grande conferma su quello che era uno dei nostri intenti principali… concepire l'ensemble come un vero e proprio laboratorio in cui favorire lo scambio continuo di competenze tra esecutori (strumentali e informatici) e compositori; per cui vogliamo assolutamente proseguire su questa strada.

- Come proseguono i concerti e le attività che svolgete a Ischia? Ormai sembra che quell'isola sia diventata la vostra base operativa...

Effettivamente si, sta diventando una seconda casa per noi e vista la bellezza del luogo e dell'ambiente umano che si è creato in questi anni, aspettiamo sempre con impazienza di prendere parte a questo appuntamento ogni ottobre.

Tutto va davvero bene, il numero degli iscritti ai corsi musicali è costantemente crescente e l'ensemble è coinvolto in molte delle attività dell'associazione; in più la differente formula con la quale veniamo chiamati in causa ad ogni edizione ci da sempre nuovi stimoli professionali. Quest'anno per il corso di Composizione e Live Electronics l'ensemble è stato affiancato al maestro Davide Tiso, nel 2013 per lo stesso corso abbiamo lavorato con Alvise Vidolin mentre nei 2 anni precedenti abbiamo organizzato in autonomia un laboratorio di live electronics e un corso di motion capture per giovani compositori ed esecutori informatici.

- Parliamo un po' di questa vostra nuova iniziativa, questa serie di interviste video che verranno trasmesse sul vostro canale Youtube, come è nata questa iniziativa?

Tutto è nato in concomitanza delle commissioni ai 4 compositori nominati in precedenza; ci siamo resi conto che il nostro interesse nei riguardi della loro attività e la loro formazione poteva essere esteso al pubblico e la facilità con cui è oggi possibile condividere contenuti multimediali ci ha convinti velocemente ad iniziare questa attività parallela che abbiamo chiamato Diamo Voce ai Compositori.

Molto spesso capita di lavorare per l’esecuzione di opere di autori dei quali il pubblico ignora l’estetica, la formazione e/o i legami con altri autori, a causa della mancata divulgazione di certi aspetti… l’idea è quella di rompere queste barriere di informazione e aprire la nostra ‘officina’ non solo ai compositori ma anche al pubblico.

D’altronde siamo convinti che il lavoro dell’esecutore comprenda anche questo aspetto e visto che lo studio delle opere non può prescindere da una conoscenza approfondita dell’autore, non vediamo il motivo per il quale ciò non debba valere per l’ascoltatore!

Tutto ciò è fondamentale per la migliore comprensione possibile delle composizioni che noi stessi promuoviamo.

- Ultima domanda: cosa ha in serbo il SON per i chitarristi?

Ottima domanda! Beh intanto posso dirti che il nostro chitarrista, Leonardo De Marchi, ha da poco registrato audiovisivamente 2 opere, la Suite Op. 164 di Ernst Krenek e i miei Due pezzi laconici, entrambi reperibili sul nostro canale youtube; poi tra i diversi brani chitarristici che abbiamo in programma posso anticiparti l’uscita di un nuovo lavoro per 2 chitarre di Giovanni Sparano, 2 nuovi miei lavori per chitarra, uno dei quali prevederà l’utilizzo della preparazione dello strumento, l’esecuzione di Algo di Franco Donatoni (un brano che sta a cuore a tutto il SON!) e alcuni brani di Aurelio Samorì, per una e per 2 chitarre. Inoltre abbiamo in mente di riprendere in mano il repertorio per chitarra elettrica, che ultimamente siamo stati costretti a trascurare, e abbiamo in cantiere un progetto per chitarra e live electronics, ma di questo non posso ancora anticiparti nulla… magari potrebbe essere un pretesto per incontrarci di nuovo tra qualche mese!

http://www.sonensemble.org/stefano-alessandretti/

Domenica 23 Novembre @ Nicolaus/Bari : Orchestra De Falla & Di Modugno

Domenica 23 Novembre 2014, ore 20.30

Nicolaus Hotel & Events, via Ciasca n.27 BARI

ORCHESTRA DI CHITARRE DE FALLAdirettore PASQUALE SCAROLA

con il solista:  NANDO  DI  MODUGNO  (chitarra)

<< Dal Classico al Jazz >>

con  musiche di Vivaldi - Turina - Malats - Bellinati - Jobim - Azevedo 

 Orchestra di Chitarre De Falla

-          Nata oltre 10 anni fa vanta ormai circa 250 concerti in tutta Italia !

Nel suo genere è unica in Europa, e sta proponendo un nuovo modo di fare musica rivisitando, in chiave chitarristica, il repertorio  di svariati generi musicali : da quella Classica al Flamenco e al Jazz, fino a quella del giorno d’oggi (come i Beatles e i Queen), con particolare riguardo alle trascrizioni da altri strumenti, curate personalmente dal Maestro Pasquale Scarola e che costituiscono autentiche novità nel quadro della musica per chitarra.

NANDO  DI  MODUGNO

-          Appassionato alla letteratura delle varie epoche storiche del suo strumento, Nando Di Modugno è anche particolarmente interessato alle diverse forme di espressione musicale contemporanea: la sua versatilità e la sua curiosità musicale gli hanno consentito di collaborare con musicisti di varia estrazione e di condividere esperienze musicali disparate in Italia e all'estero (Francia, Svizzera, Germania, Ungheria, Svezia, Australia, Grecia). Ha suonato in orchestra sotto la direzione, fra gli altri, diEnnio Morricone, Daniele Gatti e di Jurg Henneberger.

§

Secondo “main event” della

9^ Rassegna Chitarristica della Puglia - Stagione 2014

Nicolaus Hotel & Events, Bari    /    Auditorium E-Campus, Bari

Classica  °  Jazz  °  Flamenco  °  Folklore Sudamericano  °  Autori Moderni

Direzione Artistica a cura del M° Pasquale Scarola

Patrocinata dalla Regione Puglia – Assessorato al Mediterraneo, Cultura e Turismo ;

Patrocinata dal Comune di Bari – Assessorato Marketing e Cultura ;
Cofinanziata dal Fondo Europeo per lo Sviluppo Regionale ;

Organizzata dalla Associazione Culturale e Musicale De Falla .

<< La particolarità di creare una Rassegna che pur appartenendo al mondo della musica classica, riesce a vantare un programma estremamente accattivante, innovativo ed eterogeneo, è l’ elemento vincente e alla base della sua crescita anno dopo anno, che riesce ad attirare e a far appassionare un pubblico vasto e dai più svariati gusti musicali, che non rimane mai deluso ! >>

NB: previste speciali convenzioni per CRAL, Scuole, Enti, o altre Associazioni Culturali…

Per visionare il programma completo della Rassegna visitate il sito web ufficiale:www.orchestradichitarredefalla.it

Master Class Gitarre mit Tilmann Hoppstock

Liebe Gitarristinnen und Gitarristen

Wir freuen uns, Sie zu informieren über den

MEISTERKURS GITARRE
TILMAN HOPPSTOCK
20.-24.4.2015

Der deutsche Gitarrist Tilman Hoppstock hat sich als Konzertgitarrist, Kammermusiker und mit über 30 CD-Einspielungen einen Namen als hervorragender Interpret der Klassischen Gitarre gemacht.
In einer Boswiler Premiere findet erstmals unter seiner Leitung ein Meisterkurs für Klassische Gitarre statt, der sich den Standardwerken des Repertoires, aber auch Bearbeitungen von Johann Sebastian Bach und zeitgenössischer Musik wie Leo Brouwer, widmen wird. Er richtet sich an Berufsstudentinnen und -studenten und wird mit einem Schlusskonzert „Boswil Surprise“ abgeschlossen.

/Tilman Hoppstock is an internationally renowned guitarist as well as teacher. Besides teaching at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt he has established a reputation as a superb interpreter of the classical guitar. This masterclass is open for professional students of music and includes the entire repertoire (also transcriptions) for guitar. Chamber music ensembles are welcome (vocal/guitar, guitar duos – quartets, duos with violin, flute, cello).

Kursdauer: Montag, 20. April, 14 Uhr Kursbeginn bis Freitag, 24. April 2015, nach dem Konzert.
Öffentliches Konzert, Boswil Surprise: Freitag, 24. April, 19.30 Uhr

Kurskosten: CHF 600.- inkl. Vollpension und Übernachtungen im Künstlerhaus Boswil. Max. 12 KursteilnehmerInnen. /CHF 600.–, including full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and lodging.

Weitere Informationen und Anmeldung:
Künstlerhaus Boswil, Ort der Musik
Tel. 056 666 12 85

http://www.kuenstlerhausboswil.ch/ort-der-musik/boswiler-akademie/Meisterkurs-Gitarre-Tilman-Hoppstock

Masterclass di Chitarra Maestro Umberto Cafagna 29 -30 novembre

Guitars Speak: Le chitarre di Paolo Angeli e Joe Morris e Chris Cretella

Download Podcast 

Questa sera in onda sul programma radio Guitars Speak. L'improvvisazione ricopre da sempre un ruolo importante nell'ambito delle musiche per chitarra. I due dischi che ascolteremo questa sera: Deghe del duo Paolo Angeli e Hamid Drake e Storm del duo Joe Morris e Chris Cretella sono due importanti esempi di improvvisazione contemporanea. Più melodico e legato alla musica etnica mediterranea il lavoro di Paolo Angeli e Hamid Drake, più legato alle forme sviluppata e New York tra Free jazz, new radical music e musica contemporanea nel caso del cd Storm. Puntata per improvvisatori.

This evening on Guitars Speak radio program. Improvisation has always played an important role in the field of guitar's music. Wednesday We will listen to two interesting records: "Deghe" by the duo Paolo Angeli and Hamid Drake and Storm by another duo: Joe Morris and Chris Cretella. Two different records that are two important examples of contemporary improvisation. More melodic and linked to the Mediterranean ethnic music the work by Paolo Angeli and Hamid Drake, more tied to the forms developed in New York between Free jazz, new radical music and contemporary music for the Storm cd playes by Joe Morris and Chris Cretella. All for improvisers.

http://radiovocedellasperanza.it/

Rafael Toral playlist on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni

Rafael Toral plays electronic music today as a jazz musician would play his instrument, applying jazz discipline and working practices to his abstract electronics. The result is truly evolutionary music, once described as "a brand of electronic music far more visceral and emotive than that of his cerebral peers". Melodic without notes, rhythmic without a beat, familiar but strange, meticulous but radically free, it is riddled with interesting paradox. Toral has developed a musical system to physically play experimental electronic instruments and puts it to practice with large-scale project Space Program — a complex network of recordings and performances to deliver music that is full of clarity and space, articulating silence and sound in a thoughtful, yet physical way.


http://rafaeltoral.net/about

Review of WaveFields by Rafael Toral, Moikay 1995

Rafael Toral is a Portuguese electronic engineer with the great passion for music. His sounds tutelar numis are John Cage and Brian Eno: parallel convergences? In a certain sense yes, from both oh them he draws the ideas of music as a process, as pure sound in itself, as an opposition between noise and silence, as the use of an instrument as generator of possibility.

Accomplice the fact to work at those times in a radio network, he begins to think to as to combine among them these influences and to produce a new idea of ambient music. He starts playing an electric guitar Fender Jaguar and starts to record long traces of microtonal ambient. The meeting with Jim O'Rourke makes the rest, Jim produces his first records and introduces him in the New York’s environment. Toral starts to collaborate with Phil Niblock and Rhys Chatham and meet the sonic youth that in that years statred its sonic fly. More. He helps to create a new scene in Portuguese avant-garde, a group of musicians and laptop’s player that really in that years begins to move the first footsteps under the careful eye of The Wire magazine (what will also publish an interesting compilation).

Three the passages in this cd, microtonal ambient we said, layer of sounds produced through the interaction of an ebow and his guitar, blankets of feedback and white noise mixed among them for a sound that becomes substance. Toral has been able to free himself from certain ideas of casualness by Cage however and to overcome the concept of music as "wallflower", as background of Eno’s idea, proposing a personal and interesting project, developed then with other cd and a definitive conversion to pure electronic music.

Very, very beautiful.

Festival Internazionale di Chitarra Città di Monterotondo

Inizia sabato 22 Novembre la IX Edizione del

 

 

Festival Internazionale di Chitarra

Città di Monterotondo

Giuseppe Chiaramonte's playlist on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni

Born in Italy in 1985, Giuseppe Chiaramonte debuted as a classical guitar concert artist at the age of 15 and has performed many concerts throughout Italy and Germany, meeting with a notable audience and critical success everywhere he has played. 
Among these, he played as solo at the prestigious International Guitar Festival "Brescia Chitarra", at the International Music Festival “Infinitamusica”, at the International Festival Gitarrentage Vaihingen (Germany) and with the Microkosmos Orchestra at Museo Diocesano in Milan. He debuted in Berlin in May 2014 at KunstSalon Maja & Friends and he performed a successful solo recital in the "Giuseppe Verdi" concert hall in Casa Verdi  in Milan, in October 2014, with a Romantic repertoire played on an original Gaetano Guadagnini guitar (Torino 1827). 
Invited in special radio programs dedicated to him, he performed a series of solo concerts with live radio broadcast.
As a winner of the "Sony Classical Talent Scout", his interpretation of Johann Kaspart Mertz's Elegie, live recorded during Sony Talent Scout at the Madesimo Music Festival 2013, will be included in a compilation-CD by SONY CLASSICAL label. 

http://www.giuseppechiaramonte.it/

Interview with Enrico Bettinello (Teatro Fondamenta Nuove's Leader) by Andrea Aguzzi

Since 2003, the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove in Venice is managed by the Cultural Association Vortice The Vortice Association is active since 1998 in the city, especially for music activities, organizing events like “Risonanze” ("Resonance") and “La Costruzione del Suono” ("The Construction of Sound") and carving out a central role in the proposal for a contemporary arts through different sounds and music experiences, from jazz to avant-garde rock, from electronics to musical theater, exploring the relationships with other disciplines and multimedia. The music program, which in the past has often found its place in the space of the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove, is the initial “backbone” of the project management, even if in the intentions of the Association there is the strong will to use the theater as a space, a "place" for productions and shows that also include other forms of art, dance [for which the theater was originally designed with the decennial activities organized by Gennaro Labanca] theater and also seminars, workshops, conferences becoming a possibile cultural model for the city and its creative potential. Located right at the end of the Fondamenta Nuove, overlooking the north of the lagoon, the theater - with a fascinating structure built with bricks and woods - can accommodate up to 200 spectators.

This Interview was made in April 2009

What’s the history of this theater? From how much time is operative for the Venetian cultural events?

The Theater is active from the first half of the nineties and was "born" as a stage for dance, but years after years it’s been increasingly characterizing itself as a "place" for contemporary art in a city where, Biennale excluded, doens’t give so many opportunities for comparison for these kind of events. After having organized several nice concerts at the Theater, since 2003 the Association Vortice directly manages the “place” and has found in these recent years a central role in the Venetian cultural landscape.

What are its main characteristics? What shall you offer to the artists, whether they are engaged in dance, theater, music or multimedia?

The theater has a very simple and "post industrial" structure, with a rectangular plan and a big stage: the characteristics are the brick walls, which often fascinate artists and companies, which create a set with a simple design but with great emotional impact. The technical department, which is managed by a high quality staff, has a wide technical sheet [yuo can read it on our website], and of course, allows artists many very different technical possibilities, even if compatible with the space of the stage. How many people work for the theater’s organization? There is an organizational staff of four people, plus interns and external collaborators, while the technical department has, in addition to the managment, a variable number of people with different expertise [lights, sound, set design, drivers ...]
How is made your events organization? What’s more important for you?

Originally both Massimo Ongaro - who was director until the spring of 2008 - and I come from interest and professional fields related to music and the work of Vortice was born with "Risonanze" events, which is still the pride of our programming. In later years we expanded to dance and theater, creating a program where different and various proposals permit a fascinating journey into contemporary culture. Currently the season is made, along with "Resonance", by "danzedautunno" - in collaboration with Arteven - and "Movimenti – gesti di teatro necessario", in collaboration with OperaEstate Festival from Bassano, but also by appointments like "Resi / dance "," Happy New Ears "at New Year Day and so on. Over the years, the emphasis is increasing between the interaction between all these paths, the possibilities of residence and network that the presence of the artists can create.
What’s people reaction to yours events? I personally have seen several concerts here over the years and have always found the theater sold out, even if the proposals were not .. so easy...

About the music, we have built an audience over the years and I can say with pride that "Risonanze" got an European dimension [ Wire speaks about us, etc.] people who comes to our theater knows that pur quality is high, which in contemporany art is very important. We have, in addition to fans of dance and contemporary theater, a large public of university students, very curious about new linguistic and expressive experiences. I shall say that the public reacts in different ways, it pay a lot of attentino and it’s always respectful, even if they can develop their own opinion and this is for us a great result, we live in a era of or great indifference or blind and enthusiastic cult to everything is sold the “cult’s” logo.

Since 2003, Risonanze and La Costruzione del Suono have joined the Theater, would you like to talk us about these two historical events? I was still a university student when I went to hear their concerts to IUAV and they were always nice experience .... perhaps we met in one of those occasions ...

As I mentioned, "Risonanze" was born before we get the Theater’s managment, we worked inside the IUAV and we felt it was natural to find a "home" that would ensure continuity and development. riguarda La Costruzione del Suono, developing a roadmap artistic workshop about music and new technologies, was linked to the Centro Culturale Candiani and it had, in spite of what it was maybe perceived today [perhaps because the place did not have at those times of a great benefit from the public] a great success, with concerts of artists like Mouse on Mars or Otomo Yoshihide, but also seminars with students who have called from all over Europe. There is no doubt that in many “Risonanze”’s proposals we can find tension and the reflections of that experience.

How do you think that this global economic crisis will hit with the Theater’s programming? Are there any warning signs from sponsors?

The situation is difficult in any industry and culture among those is the who suffer most, although, paradoxically, I think this is precisely the time to push, because only from culture can be sent inputs to change, grow, compete. The Council for Cultural Production of the Municipality, as well as that of the Province, over the years have shown great sensitivity in supporting our work: clearly the crisis greatly affects the municipality funds, but I hope that throught a costant dialogue with our interlocutors, we can find together the ways to not bring down the quality and the numbers of our projects.

What’s your opinion about the market crisis of the discografic industry with the transition from digital downloading in mp3 and all this new scenario?

This is a question that would require long and not easy answer: let’s say that the crisis now appears to me as inevitable and perhaps that we should have been able to notice that before. Let's say you shall have a chat with a 18 years old boy to see the end of years of beliefs: music as we have conceived it, in terms of an object, myth, religion, will no longer exist. New technologies, such as in the past with other revolutions, are always a challenge and I am eager to dive into what they bring. The market for CDs, as well as that of vinyl, will be quickly and progressively marginalized, but not eliminated. The music still needs to remove a series of old behaviours that, in good or bad faith, plague her.

What have to do an artist that would like to play in the Theater?? What do you ask to the artists?

We get dozens of proposals each week, of all types, from the most inaccessible rockstar to the impossibile block of flats’singer! Over the years We have developed a network of relationships of hight trust and quality, as well as an our artistic profile, but we are always curious to hear new things. Those interested can send a CD to our address found on the web. By artists I ever expect to be surprised, I do not like much those who do not take risks and unfortunately this happens more often than many people think, even in the most talented musicians.

Interview with Daniel Buess, percussionist and co-founder of Ensemble Phoenix Basel

The Ensemble Phoenix Basel is a group of up to 25 musicians who are especially dedicated to performing contemporary music. The initiator and conductor of the ensemble, Jürg Henneberger, who is presently also president of the IGNM Basel, has for years been regarded as a specialist for contemporary music. Each of the individual members of the ensemble has accumulated experience in this branch of musical performance during the past years. During this time, these musicians were engaged as individual performers by institutions such as the IGNM Basel or the Theater Basel, where they performed in various formations, for example under the name "Ensemble der IGNM Basel". As such, the members of the Ensemble Phoenix Basel were involved in productions such as "The Unanswered Question" (Marthaler/Henneberger) or "Der mündliche Verrat" from Mauricio Kagel, etc. However, at this point in time an actual ensemble per se did not exist. In time, the need of forming a specialized ensemble for contemporary music became evident, not only to meet the demands of the Basler Theater. The city of Basel, which with its large number of resident composers is regarded as an important center for contemporary music in and outside of Switzerland, is ideally suited to house an ensemble of this kind. In addition, an independent, self-managed ensemble significantly eases the organizational burden of concert promoters such as the IGNM and the Basler Theater, and can insure the efficiency which comes from working with a permanent team, the members being tuned-in to each other. In 1998 Jürg Henneberger and a handful of nucleus members took the initiative and founded the Ensemble Phoenix Basel, which gave its initial concert on the "Kleine Bühne" of the Basler Theater on December 12, 1998. Works from B. A. Zimmermann, Harrison Birtwistle and Christoph Delz were on the program. The concert was recorded live by Swiss Radio DRS II and received wide acclaim by the press. The Ensemble Phoenix Basel will continue to be active, performing ensemble concerts of the IGNM Basel, as well as realizing projects requiring chamber music ensembles at the Basler Theater, and organizing its own concerts. The purpose of the Ensemble Phoenix Basel is to perform concerts in its home town, the rest of Switzerland, and also to be present in the most important contemporary music festivals outside of the country. Its primary objective is to play an integral role in the development of contemporary music through direct co-operation with not only renowned, but also young composers of our times, in order to perform their works and make them accessible to a broader public.

http://www.ensemble-phoenix.ch/

This interview was made in december 2009

The first question is always the classic one:: How was born the Ensemble Phoenix?

The Ensemble Phoenix Basel was founded in 1998 by Jürg Henneberger, Christoph Bösch and myself. Before Phoenix, more or less the same musicians played often together under the name "Ensemble of the IGNM (like ISCM) Basel" so the idea to found an organized ensemble was somehow very obvious… Basel has quite a long tradition for contemporary music, but there was no organized ensemble so we started to develop the plan to found a professional organized ensemble to make it easier to organize concerts, to collaborate with organizers and next to these practical reasons, a fix ensemble with fix core-members is also an upgrading concerning the quality of the performances if the same players play together regularly.
How did start your interest about the contemporary repertoire, and what are the stylistic currents in which you recognize yourself most?
Speaking about myself, my interest for experimental music began when I was about 14 years old, I played the first time John Cage's early percussion-pieces with a percussion-ensemble. I was really impressed by the industrial sounds of metal and prepared piano so I started to get really into this kind of music. That's why John Cage was always a big influente for me and a very important figure in my life. About stylistic currents and Phoenix: I would say we don't follow any stylistic currents, we just play the music which interests us, we are always looking for new sounds and experiments but we don't orientate ourselves in any stylistic currents, movemnts, scenes etc. We are also three very individual persons who are organizing the ensemble and choosing the programs (Jürg Henneberger, Christoph Bösch and me), with three very different backgrounds so we have to take care of the interests and aesthetics of each other which is of corse not always easy but interesting and I think to deal with our aesthetics is important for the personality and the character of the ensemble.
Who are the composers with whom you collaborate most and how were born these contacts?
With Alex Buess we work together since many years. I started to work with him around 1996 when we performed his percussion-duo for the first time with my percussionduo HOW with Daniel Stalder. The work on this piece leaded to a very close collaboration. About two years later I played drums in the last project of Alex' legendary noise-core group 16-17 (originally with Knut Remond and Markus Kneubühler) and after 16-17 Alex and me started our duo-project called CORTEX which is still existing today. With Phoenix we played several pieces by him, two of them (Parallaxe A and Maxwell's Demon) are on the Buess/Feiler/Hodgkinson-CD and one (Ghosts of Schizophonia) is on the Phoenix-Portrait-CD which was released by the Swiss Grammont-label. We are currently working on his new piece which we will premiere on Novembre 25 in Bludenz (Austria) and in December in Switzerland. Alex is also working as a producer and recording engineer and did most of our recordings, also live-recordings of our concerts which will be available soon via our own online-download-lable "United Phoenix-Records" which is currently under construction but will be ready till the end of this year. More infos soon on our website www.ensemble-phoenix.ch
Other composers with whom we are collaborating over a long time are Junghae Lee, Detlev Müller-Siemens and Franz Furrer Münch, next to others.

I have noticed in recent years, a gradual rapprochement between the two aspects of avant-garde music, first the most academic and the other one brought forward by musicians from the classical canon and far from areas such as jazz, electronics and extreme rock like Fred Frith, John Zorn, the New York downtown scene and some electronic music labels such as Sub Rosa and the Mille Plateux influenced by the thought of Deleuze and Guattari. What do you think about these possible interactions?
I think these interactions between different fields of experimental music are very important. There's not only the new York-Scene with innovative musicianans doing important stuff for experimental music, it happened quite often that some music existed much earlier in Europe or somewhere else played by local musicians and bands but got famous later on through some New York based musicians like John Zorn and got advertised as something "very new"… For me, sometimes collaborations with musicians with a non academical background who are coming from improvised music scenes like noise, electronic music etc. are sometimes more inspiring than to work with composers with kind of a "normal" academical background because they often have a different approach to music and sound and how to handle an instrument which can also bring out very different and interesting musical results. From my experience, classical educated musicians often have too much respect from instruments, they are scared to take an instrument in their hands which they don't know. Musicians I'm working with with no instrumental education have often some kind of a childish approach to music, they just take an instrument and play it, see what they can do with it, without taking care if the know how to play it or not. I also often observe that academical educated composero often compose in a way like they learned it at the school where they were studying, other musicians with no classical education sometimes just do it in their own way which can be sometimes more original. With Phoenix we had very interesting with musicians like John Duncan, Kasper Toeplitz, Phill Niblock, Knut Remond, of corse also Alex Buess and others, which were very important for the work of the ensemble. There are a lot of musicians around who are making amazing sounds but who don't write music. So I think also for contemporary music ensembles it's very important and interesting to find these people and work with them because at the end it's about the same music and the same ideas, just different approaches and different ways how to produce it.

How was playing music by Tim Hodgkinson (who was a member of Henry Cow) and how did start your relationship with him? I confess I’m a fan of his music…
I got to know Tim via Alex Buess, he was playing with him in Kevin Martin's Rock-Big-Band God. I was working with him on his percussion-trio which we performed here in Switzerland in 2003. Later we played his piece Repulsion which we also released on the Buess/Filer/Hodgkinson-CD.

Berlioz said that composing for classical guitar was difficult because to do it you must first be a guitarists, this phrase was often used as a justification for the limited repertoire of classical guitar with other instruments like piano and violin. At the same time this quote has been increasingly "undermined" by the growing interest that guitar (whether classical, acoustic, electric, MIDI) collects in contemporary music. Do you think that the phrase of Berlioz is still true?
I must say I can't answer this question because I'm not a guitarist but I also think it's not very relevant for the work of Phoenix.

Berio in his essay "A remembrance to the future," wrote: ".. A pianist who is a specialist about classical and romantic repertoire, and plays Beethoven and Chopin without knowing the music of the twentieth century, it is also off as a pianist who is specialist about contemporary music and plays with hands and mind that have never been crossed in depth by Beethoven and Chopin. " You play contemporary repertoire but you studied classical music... do you recognize yourself in these words?

No, but I'm a percussionist so I never really played classical music. I know for most of the classic educated instrumentalists who I know it's important to play classical music but I never really understood why You should need to know how to play classical music to be able to play an instrument and to play contemporary music. I can understand that somebody wants to play classical music because he likes the music but that's a different reason. You can also play every instrument in a completely different way which doesn't have to do anythging with classical music. There are a lot of great instrumentalists who play improvised music, producing awsome sounds with their instruments, without any knowledge of classical music. For me classical music belongs to a different time and a different society than we are living now. So why should it be important to play music from other times? The only reason to play it which I see is that there's some good music…(that's my opinion and I think some of the Phoenix-members wouldn't agree with me but as Dirty Harry said: "Well, opinions are like assholes... everybody has one.")
Let’s talk about marketing. How much do you think it’s important for a modern musician? I mean: how much is crucial to be good promoters of themselves and their works in music today?

I think marketing and to promote Yourself is a part of our work as musicians as long as You're not employed by some institution like an orchestra or a school. Sometimes it's not pleasant because we are not businessmen but if You want to realize Your own projects You also have to sell these projects somehow and promote Yourself as a musician up to some certain point. Sometimes it's not easy to find the right balance between making music and organizing/promoting, there are also musicians who from my point of vew are more businessmen than musicians. I don't like to promote myself and I think a lot of musicians don't really like it because we should rather concentrate on making music instead of business- or managing-work. But if we wouldn't do it such an ensemble like Phoenix wouldn't exist, we are doing a big part of the whole organisation-work for free since 10 years. Other comparable ensembles employ about ten people to do the same work but we don't have this financial possibilities. It also happens often with big ensembles and Orchestras that the musicians get payed very bad because the whole money flows into the business and organization and I think that's also not the right way to do it.

What does improvisation mean for your music research? Do you think it’s possibile to talk about improvisation for classical music or we have to turn to other repertories like jazz, contemporary music, etc.?.? In addition, we often hear about improvisation, sometimes unpredictable improvisation in contemporary music confusing it with the action and the game of chance like Cage ... and Derek Bailey wanted to distinguish who is playing and improvising who plays improvised music ... do you improvise? How?
Yes, I've been always also playing improvised music. I'm playing drums in a band called MIR (www.myspace.com/mirmusic) which is an instrumental noisy trio, we play our own structured pieces which have a lot of freedom to improvise. Currently completely free imporvised music to me is interesting either to meet people who You don't know or sometimes to play with people You know very well and from whom You know exactly what to expect. Otherwise totally free improvised music doesn't interest me so much anymore, I think very often it seems to be more interesting for the participating musicians than for the audience. With Phoenix we basically don't improvise. We played pieces with space for improvisations but always structured and organized, never completely free improvisations.

Frank Zappa in his autobiography, made a bit shocking declaration of intents: If John Cage, for example, would say "Now I'll put a microphone in contact on the throat, then I drink carrot juice and this will be my composition", that's his gargling would classified as a musical composition, because he applied a frame, declaring it as such. "Take it or leave it, now I want it to be music." It's really a good statement to define the contemporary music?
Yes it's a good statement to show that basically everything's possibile which doesn't mean that everything's interesting…The perception of the sounds which we are surrounded with all the time and that everything which sounds can be music was a very revolutionary part of John Cage's philosophy in the 60's. Today it's still interesting and I think it's still important to take care of all the great sounds which we hear in our daily life but today the idea has not the same revolutionary content anymore which it had when Cage came out with this kind of stuff 40 years ago. But of course these ideas were extremely important for the development of the contemoprary music during the last decades.

I have, sometimes, the feeling that in our times music’s history flows without a particular interest in its chronological course, in our discoteque before and after, past and future become interchangeable elements, shall this be a risk of a uniform vision for an interpreter and a composer? The risck of a musical "globalization"?

I have personally no problem with exchanging and combining music from different times. I think there's only good and bad music, or music which tells me something and touches me and some music doesn't. No matter from which time it is… That's anyway a point which is extremely subjective and depending from so many different things like Your personal mood, the time of the day when You hear it, the place, ambiance and environment where You hear it, the soundsystem and so on...

Luciano Berio writes "the preservation of the past has a negative sense, as it becomes a way of forgetting music. The listener will get an illusion of continuity that allows you to select what seems to confirm that same continuity and censor everything that seems disturbing”, What role can take music and contemporary composers in this context?

Experimental music was always very important to develop the auditory perception and the musical way of thinking of the society in which we are living. If there wouldn't be artists, musicians and composers who are always searching for something new, the music would stand still and would be played to death. Today we are living a bit in a whole because our society is overloaded with music and everything gets mixed with everything, sometimes I have the feeling people don't want to listen anymore and it's very hard to get some direct reactions (positive or negative) from the audience. There's no direction anymore, somehow a big chaos which has it's good and it's bad sides… I'm very curious how the music will develop during the next years , where it will go. Sometimes I have the feeling what we would need is something like a big bang, a big crash which would destroy everything which is existing to make it possibile for something new to grow.

What do you think about the discographic market crisis, with the transition to digital downloading in mp3 and all this new scenario? I’m very interested about this thing because I have seen that you have created your personal net label…
The situation with record-labels is indeed very difficult, specially in the contemporary music-scene. The times when record-labels payed for productions is anyway passed since a long time but currently it's not even unusual that You have to give the final master to the record-label for free and also You even have to pay them for the distribution. That doesn't make sense to us anymore, that's why we decided to start our own ondine-label which is also something like a platform for contemporary music and artists which are related to us in some way. I mean that was the one reason, the other one was that we have a big collection of high-quality live-recordings made by Alex Buess which were broadcasted by the Swiss radio once but now they are not available anymore. So we want to make these records available for people who are interested in our music or just in some particular compositions. The label will be called United Phoenix Records. We are currentlx in the final preparations and the whole website should be hopefully ready by the end of this year. More infos You can always find on our website. The label will be distributed via finetunes which is an online distributor, connected to the most well know download-stores. I'm not a big friend of this download-thing, for myself I prefer to support record-stores bifore they all die (I anyway like to buy vinyl), but as long as there are no labels who can do something for our music, we have to do it by ourselves and the web is a good way to distribute our music worldwide and also a very effective promotion-tool.

Please tell us five essential records, to have always with you .. the classic five discs for the desert island ...

I can again only speak for myserlf not for the whole ensemble: Xenakis "Electronic Music", Public Enemy "Fear of a black Placet", The Pop Group "Y", Myles Davis "Dark Magus", Swans "Public Castration is a good Idea", Coil "Scatology" Sorry, these are already six of my top 10 records…
What are your five favorite scores?

Karlheinz Stockhausen "Kontakte", Iannis Xenakis "Psappha", Alex Buess "Phylum", Edgard Varèse "Arcana", Igor Stravinsky "Le Sacre du Printemps"
Whith who would you like to play? What kind of music do you listen to usually?

I'm listening to all possibile kind of music. Kevin Martin said once in an interview: "In every style of music, there's 95% bullshit and 5% interesting, so You always have to find the hardcore 5% ". I absolutely agree with this statement. In almost every style of music I can find something interesting. Sometimes You have to search for it which makes it interesting. With whom I would like to Play: I like to continue playing with the musicians with whom I'm already working because I have the luck tp have a lot of phantastic musicians around me (actually not only around me, I'm collaboration with musicians from several countries) to collaborate. Well otherwise there are a lot of great musicians around with whom I would be interested to collaborate. I like to collaborate with people from different countries and different cultures, it's always a great experience because through collaborations You always learn a lot about the country itself.
Your next projects?

We are currently preparing our "10 Years Ensemble Phoenix Basel-Birthday-Concerts" with two new pieces by Alex Buess and Knut Remond for Flute, Percussion , Piano and Electronics and an old electroacoustic piece from the 70's by Bernard Parmegiani. On the 14th of december we will play this program in Basel, together with a very special performance of the legendary american noise-trio Borbetomagus, they will be on their 30 anniversary-tour.

The last question …. the Blog is read by several students .. any good advices to give them?
Go Your own way and don't forget to eat good and have a beer in between.

Thank you very much Daniel!