Maybe we fight, maybe we defend

The 2018 edition of the annual UNM festival for young composers displayed a somewhat defensive group of artists. Are commercial demands finally beginning to influence contemporary music in the Nordic countries? James Black writes from Bergen, Norway.

Alex Mørch: ‘Beta-Hex’. © Tine Surel Lange

ByJames Black

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11

The most incomprehensible aspect of September 11 may well have been the aftermath, a time when suddenly nothing made sense. Tim Rutherford-Johnson on the musical responses to the 2001 terrorist attacks.

ByTim Rutherford-Johnson

»An opera you need to see twice«

A generational cycle of sexual abuse paired with a clear and lucid score. Last year’s operatic talk of the town, Louise Alenius’ ‘Silent Zone’, was back for one day, presenting both limitations and intense dramatic focus.

Mona Alenius Kaniewski. © Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Copenhagen Opera Festival

ByAndrew Mellor

Lullabies and memory loss

It’s the opening concert of Klang Festival 2018. Everyone is paying close attention, preparing to discuss the music afterwards. But listening is no simple task – what’s it all about? Professor Holger Schulze, author of ‘The Sonic Persona – An Anthropology of Sound’, takes us through his listening experience.

ByHolger Schulze

Noise in the tropical underground

Interest in experimental music scenes from a global perspective has grown in recent years as familiar avant-garde art forms are found ensconced in various communities in many parts of the world. Often, the aesthetic expression found in these scenes could be understood as a mixture of a globally recognized phenomena, such as noise art, and distinctive practices drawn from the situated local cultures. In January, Sanne Krogh Groth visited the Indonesian noise and experimental music scene on Central Java in Indonesia.

BySanne Krogh Groth

Heterotopias

Amid what has been labelled a ‘culture war’ in Israel, with politicians demanding loyalty from cultural institutions, Maya Shenfeld returns to her native country to investigate the local contemporary music scene. Is art even possible under such conditions?

The Evangelical Church Ramla. © Maya Shenfeld

ByMaya Shenfeld

Shouting, naked. James Black, the composer

Five years ago the British-born composition student James Black moved to Copenhagen, mainly to get out of Oxford. Unlike most of his fellow young composers, he ‘tends to write loud music’, Black tells Andrew Mellor ahead of his debut concert.

ByAndrew Mellor

The gradual growth of ice crystals

Thinking big suits Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Celebrated for her orchestral endeavours, the second edition of Njord Biennale let the Copenhagen audience encounter the Icelandic composer’s works for smaller ensembles. Andrew Mellor on Saturday’s double concert.

ByAndrew Mellor