Concert series by ON Cologne and the Cologne University of Music and Dance
with the ensemble ColLAB Cologne and students of the class of Prof. Susanne Blumenthal
Composition and interpretation of new music can no longer be clearly separated. Working together from idea generation to performance requires new approaches to collaboration. With a concert series, ON Cologne, the Cologne University of Music and Dance, and the Domforum Köln would like to create laboratory situations for new formats. In four concerts, students of the course »Interpretation and Ensemble Practice New Music«, the Center for Contemporary Dance and the university ensemble »ColLAB Cologne« will explore new ways of concert design.
ColLAB Cologne I
25.05.2022 19:30h Alte Feuerwache Köln
Heinz Holliger »Studie über Mehrklänge« for oboe solo (1971)
Iannis Xenakis »Rebonds« for solo percussion (1987/89)
Roman Haubenstock-Ramati »Multiple 5« for woodwind and string instrument (1965)
Iannis Xenakis »Pléïades« for 6 percussionists (1978)
How closely related are music and freedom? Can we still have freedom in a fully composed work?
In search of answers to such questions, we have developed this concert as an invitation to reflection. From Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001), known for his rhythmic complexity and supreme precision, to Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (1919–1994), whose graphic scores are intended for performance but also have aesthetic value on their own, we navigate through different levels of freedom. With small improvisations between pieces, we will explore the multiple paths that this reflection has opened up for us: what freedoms does interpretation foster, what constraints lie in improvisation? Is it the same freedom?
The ensemble ColLAB Cologne
was founded in the course of Susanne Blumenthal’s appointment as professor for »Interpretation and Ensemble Practice New Music« and consists of students of the Cologne University of Music and Dance. The musicians see themselves as an open and international collective that extends the idea of ensemble into other art forms and makes new artistic experiences possible.
With the aim of transcending genre boundaries and mediating between the numerous departments of the university, the ensemble also addresses a new audience and is always on the lookout for a progressive, individual musical language. Without losing sight of the traditional context of contemporary music and its cultivation at the highest artistic level, ColLAB Cologne is primarily committed to alternative and experimental playing practices at the interface of performance, improvisation and interpretation. The ensemble thus becomes a laboratory for experiments, border crossings and unexpected reactions.
Shaghayegh Farahani, oboe
Carlota Ramos, double bass
Yukari Yagi, percussion
Enyalios Papadopoulos, percussion
Jacqueline Dourado, percussion
Rita Couto Soares, percussion
Juliette Serrié, percussion
Zoe Argiriou, percussion
A series by ON Cologne, the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Domforum. ON Cologne is sponsored by the City of Cologne.
