Studio for New Music
Moscow, Russia

The Studio for New Music (SNM) is the leading contemporary music group in Russia. The ensemble was founded by composer Vladimir Tarnopolski and conductor Igor Dronov in 1993. Their first concert was given in France with Mstislav Rostropovich as conductor. Every year the ensemble performs about 30 programs in Moscow and throughout the country, and is a frequent guest in many Western contemporary music festivals. SNM has performed in the halls of the Berliner Philharmonic, Paradiso Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Jacqueline du Pre Concert Hall Oxford, Deutschlandfunk Koeln, Schoenberg Center Vienna, and Hellerau Dresden among others. They have been involved in workshops, including Oxford University, Harvard and Boston University. The ensemble has given many concerts in Austria, Belgium, Czechia, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Poland, Portugal, USA, Uzbekistan, and other countries.

SNM has premiered about 150 compositions of Russians and foreign composers. One of the most important events was the world premiere of the Chamber Symphony No. 2 by Nikolai Roslavets (composed 1934) which was recently found in an archive. In association with Ensemble Modern, «Studio» also performed the Russian premiere of Requiem by Henze. In this way it cooperates with other leading foreign ensembles, performing the Russian premieres of pieces by Andriessen, Lachenmann, Ligeti and many others. SNM has presented about 60 concert-portraits of the leading contemporary composers.

Among its vast repertoire, special attention is given to the Russian Avant-garde of the 1920’s as well as compositions by contemporary composers written especially for the group.

SNM has won status as the ensemble-in-residence at the Moscow Conservatory. It is the core ensemble for the «Moscow Forum» Festival of contemporary music. In 2002-2003, the ensemble received a special grant from the Ernst-von-Siemens Musikstiftung for a cycle of concerts «Russia-Germany: chapters of the 20th century», which included a total of 17 programs. In 2005-2007 SNM presented a three-year cycle entitled «EinKlang. Anthology of the Musical Avant-garde of the XX century in the Russian regions». This project has won a special grant from the Kulturstiftung des Bundes and Ernst-von-Siemens Musikstiftung.
 
www.studionewmusic.ru

Alter Ego
Italy 

Manuel Zurria, flute
Paolo Ravaglia, clarinet
Aldo Campagnari, violin
Francesco Dillon, cello
Oscar Pizzo, piano

Alter Ego earned a reputation as one of the major European chamber groups performing twentieth-century classical compositions and works at the cutting edge of new directions in music. Alter Ego has given concerts at principal venues in Italy, Europe and elsewhere, such as the Scala in Milan, the Philarmonie in Berlin, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, De Yjsbreker in Amsterdam, Musica in Strasbourg, Nybrokaien 11 in Stockholm, the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin, Wien Modern, Maerz Musik in Berlin, Agorà Festival in Paris and the Illkom in Tashkent. Nontheless, the ensemble has never felt that its sole purpose was to perform music in a traditional manner or setting, its prime objective being the development of creativity in contemporary art. This has constantly meant new, stimulating experiences as the ensemble works with artists from various disciplines, such as Italian rapper Frankie HI-NRG, Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), Philip Jeck, Pan Sonic and Matmos, visual artists Michelangelo Pistoletto, Andrew Hooker and D-Fuse and performers synonymous with the musical avantgarde such as violinist Irvine Arditti or the extra-ordinary singer David Moss. Such wide-ranging collaborations are also the result of Alter Ego’s conviction that the language of contemporary music will make greater sense if perceived as part of a total performance and a cultural event and will thus be understood by a broader audience than normally associated with the genre. Alter Ego also worked closely with many of the major composers of our time, including Alvin Curran, Philip Glass, Giya Kancheli, David Lang, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gavin Bryars, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski and Alvin Lucier. Alter Ego’s recording of various compositions by Sciarrino, Esplorazione Del Bianco on the Stradivarius label, should win the unanimous approval of both critics and record buyers. Alter Ego’s Music in the Shape of a Square by Philip Glass earned the Editor’s Choice from the english Magazine Gramophone. The recording of The Sinking of the Titanic made with the author and Philip Jeck for Touch was included in the best 50 records of 2008 by the MOJO magazine. 
 

Xenia Ensemble
Italy

Adrian Pinzaru,violin 
Eilis Cranitch, violin
Maurizio Redegoso Kharitian ,viola
Elizabeth Wilson, cello

Xenia Ensemble was founded Turin in 1996 by four foreign musicians living in Italy and sharing a keen interest in contemporary music. Xenia´s basic formations, the string quartet and piano trio, can be extended to include voice, wind instruments and ethnic instruments. In keeping with the original double significance of the Greek word "Xenia" as both "host" and "guest," the Ensemble has presented the work of many foreign composers in Italy, and conversely propagates and performs Italian contemporary music abroad.

Amongst recent projects has been the presentation of Tan Dun´s Ghost Opera in a staged version, as well as performances with actors of words and music, dedicated to various themes ranging from the Russian and American avant-garde, the poets Pushkin and Brodsky, the composers Shostakovich and Denisov, and most recently programmes celebrating the centenary of Italian Futurism.

Xenia Ensemble participates regularly in international festivals and concert seasons; amongst them are the Ravenna Festival, MiTo Settembre Musica festival and the Piccolo Regio Laboratory series- Turin, Holland Festival, Gulbenkian Foundation - Lisbon, Ilkom Festival - Tashkent, Arts Square Festival - Saint Petersburg, Morgenland Festival, Lieu Unique - Nantes, Meridian Festival Bucharest , Icebreaker Festival Seattle and many others.

Amongst Xenia Ensemble´s principal activities is the organisation and presentation of an annual contemporary music festival in Turin entitled " EastWest” , A journey in the music of Today". Founded in 2001 , the festival has presented and commissioned much new music, and has hosted performing musicians and composers from all over the world, including such well known groups as the NYYD ensemble from Estonia, Electra Ensemble from Holland, the Seattle Chamber Players from the USA and Dissonanzen Ensemble from Naples. 

Amongst the artists who have played with the ensemble are such soloists as the violinist Alexander Balanescu, the tabla player Federico Sanesi, the cellist Rohan de Saram, the pianist Peyman Yazdanian, the singers Cristina Zavalloni, Sarah Leonard, Elena Vassilieva, and the actor Eugenio Allegri, as well as many perfomers on ethnic instruments including Liu Fang (pì’pa ) and Dai Ya (dizi,) from China, Khaled Jubran (Oud) from Palestine, Gevorg Dabagyan (duduk) from Armenia, Tamami Tonu (sho) from Japan. 
Xenia Ensemble has a long tradition of working with living composers and has presented and performed in Italy Giya Kancheli (Georgia), James Macmillan (Scotland), Arvo Pärt (Estonia), Franghiz Ali-Zadeh (Azerbaijan), Gerald Barry (Ireland), Simon Holt ( England), Alexander Raskatov (Russia), Steve Mackey and Frederic Rzewski(USA). Recordings include the CD "Eastern Approaches" (music by Kancheli, Yanov-Yanovsky and Ali-Zadeh) released by Felmay, and a CD of Gerald Barry´s chamber music (Blackbox).

www.xeniaensemble.it

  

Yury Lyubimov, stage director
Russia


Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov (1917) is a Soviet and Russian stage actor and director associated with the internationally-renowned Taganka Theatre which he founded. He is one of the leading names in the Russian theatre world. After service in the Soviet Army during the World War II, Lyubimov joined the Vakhtangov Theatre (founded by Yevgeny Vakhtangov). In 1953, he received the USSR State Prize.

Lyubimov started teaching in 1963 and formed the Taganka Theatre the following year. Under Lyubimov, the theatre rose to become the most popular in Moscow, with Vladimir Vysotsky and Alla Demidova as the leading actors. After Vysotsky's death in 1980, all of Lyubimov's productions were banned by the Communist authorities. In 1984, he was stripped of Soviet citizenship. Thereupon Lyubimov worked abroad before returning to the Taganka Theatre in 1989, which he left in 2011.

Lyubimov staged many operas (over 30) around the world, including Nonos' Al gran sole carico d'amore (1975, Teatro alla Scala).

Ivan Fedele, composer
Italy

Ivan Fedele was born in Lecce in 1953. He studied piano with B. Canino, V. Vitale and I. Deckers, and composition under the guidance of R. Dionisi, A. Corghi and F. Donatoni. At the same time, he studied philosophy at the University of Milan, with E. Paci, L. Geymonat, G. Giorello, R. Mangione and R. Cantoni. Ivan Fedele carries also an intense academic activity, which has seen him participating to the activities of important institutions, like Harvard University, University of Barcelona, Sorbonne and IRCAM in Paris. In 2005 Fedele has been appointed Member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 2007 the Italian Ministry of Culture entrusted him with the Professorship of Composition for the “Corsi di Perfezionamento in Studi Musicali” at the same Accademia.

Photo: Ugo Dalla Porta

Nicola Sani, composer
Italy

Nicola Sani was born in Ferrara in 1961. His musical training included studies in composition with Domenico Guaccero and Karlheinz Stockhausen and electronic music with Giorgio Nottoli. He is the author of a large number of instrumental and electroacoustic compositions, stage operas, dance operas and multimedia installations commissioned, produced and performed by internationally renowned Institutions, ensembles and soloists within the most important seasons and festivals worldwide.



 

Luigi Ceccarelli, composer
Italy


Luigi Ceccarelli è nato a Rimini nel 1953. Ha compiuto gli studi di Musica Elettronica e Composizione presso il Conservatorio di Pesaro con Walter Branchi, Guido Baggiani e Giuliano Zosi, dedicandosi alla composizione musicale con le tecnologie elettroacustiche.
Alla fine degli anni '70 si è trasferito a Roma incontrando Achille Perilli e Lucia Latour con i quali ha approfondito il rapporto tra musica, arti visive e danza. Da allora la sua attività si svolge parallelamente sia nel campo della musica elettroacustica, che nel teatro musicale, inteso nelle sue forme più disparate. È titolare dal 1979 della cattedra di Musica Elettronica presso il Conservatorio di Perugia.

Stefano Pierini, composer
Italy


Stefano Pierini was born in Turin in 1971, in 2005 he graduated from the Conservatoire of his native city, where it has also attended the Experimental Superior Biennium. Recently the prestigious scholarship has been assigned to him for the composition at the Association De Sono of Turin. His composition Taksimler is awarded at IV Composer’s Competition Euritmia di Povoletto (Udine) and will soon be published. At present Pierini works at the Centre of Research for the electronic music AGON Arsmagnetica (Milan) and with Edizioni Ricordi.






  

Michele Marelli, clarinet, basset horn
Italy

Michele Marelli, born in Alessandria (Italy) in 1978 began studying the clarinet from a very early age, completing a degree at the Conservatory of his city with best marks cum laude under the guidance of Professor Giacomo Soave. He has studied composition and electronic music in Milan and Turin. 

Internationally recognised as one of the best soloists in contemporary music of his generation, he collaborated with Karlheinz Stockhausen for more than 10 years. In May 2010 he performed the World Première of Stockhausen's UVERSA, 16. Stunde aus KLANG, for basset horn and electronic music during the MusikTriennale in Cologne with Ensemble Musikfabrik, the last basset horn piece composed by Stockhausen in 2007. He has an intense schedule of concerts all over Europe and holds regular master classes and seminars on the interpretation of contemporary music.

 

Studio for New Music String quartet
Moscow

The Studio for New Music string quartet was created within the walls of the Moscow Conservatory by its graduates in 2004. The performers studied chamber music with such well-known professors as A.Bonduryansky, A.Korchagin, N.Kogan, A.Rudin, T.Alikhanov and A.Shishlov.
During the course of their studies and participation in various ensembles, the participants of the string quartet frequently became winners of international competitions (including the Sergei Taneyev Competition in Russia in 1999, the Vincenzo Bellini Competition in Italy in 2000) and musical festivals, such as the «Russian Youth Academy» in 2003, 2004 and 2005, the festival «Commemorating Sixty Years», the Usidom Chamber Festival held in Germany and Poland, the festival of Russian culture in Cannes, France in 2006, and others.
Since 2005 the string quartet has performed as part of the «Studio for New Music» ensemble. During the time of its participation in the ensemble, the string quartet has performed with great success the Russian premieres of compositions by Alban Berg, Gerhard Zinsstag, Gyorgy Ligeti, Steve Reich, Wiltold Lutoslawski, Luciano Berio, Franco Donatoni and many others. In the relatively short time period of its activity, the quartet has already earned the most complimentary comments from famous contemporary composers, including Valentin Silvestrov, Krzysztof Penderecki and Allain Gaussin. The quartet has toured extensively both in Russia and abroad, taking part in various music festivals, such as «Suono Immagine» in Milan, «Lenin, Stalin and Music» in Paris, the Bach festival in Istanbul, the festival in El Djem, Tunisia, the Moscow Forum and Moscow Autumn festivals, the P.I.Jurgenson International Competition in Moscow, and many others.


 
 

Vocal ensemble Εἶδος
Moscow