LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The annual New Music Festival at the University of Louisville School of Music will feature several of Europe’s leading contemporary composers and musicians.
Danish composer Bent Sorensen is the featured guest composer for the New Music Festival which will be Nov. 5-9 at the School of Music. International guest artists including Polish composers Agata Zubel, Cezary Duchnowski and Pawel Hendrich and Danish pianist Katrine Gislinge will join UofL students and ensembles for performances throughout the week. The visiting artists also will conduct master classes and lectures with UofL students throughout the festival.
Sorensen is a renowned composer and musician known for his aesthetic take on contemporary music. He is the recipient of the Nordic Council Music Prize and the Wilhelm Hansen Composer Prize and composer-in-residence at the Danish ensemble Scenatet.
Sorensen’s pieces will be played throughout the week, including a performance of “Pantomime – Papillons” with the University Symphony Orchestra and the premiere of “Nocturns” for piano and wind ensemble.
All concerts are free and open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, performances begin at 8 p.m. in Comstock Concert Hall.
- Wednesday, Nov. 5 – Faculty Chamber Music featuring Sorensen’s “Trotto” and “Cascando,” composed and performed by Zubel.
- Thursday, Nov. 6 – Electronic and Improvised Music featuring compositions and performances by Zubel, Duchnowski and Hendrich in Rauch Planetarium.
- Friday, Nov. 7 – University Symphony Orchestra and New Music Ensemble featuring works by Sorensen.
- Saturday, Nov. 8 – University Wind Ensemble with pianist Katrine Gislinge. The group will premiere “Nocturns” by Sorensen.
- Sunday, Nov. 9 – University Collegiate Chorale and Cardinal Singers performing Sorensen’s “Fragments of Requiem.” Concert will begin at 7:30 p.m.
The concerts of Zubel, Duchnowski and Hendrich are presented by the University of Louisville New Music Festival in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute under its flagship brand Culture.pl.
Following this year’s festival, the School of Music will host a New Music Festival Postlude. The event, to be held Nov. 14, will feature the Illinois Modern Ensemble conducted by Stephen Andrew Taylor with performances by Zubel, Duchnowski, Hendrich, composer Ewa Trebacz and New Music Festival director and UofL professor Krzysztof Wolek.
For more information, contact Wolek at 502-852-7879 or krzysztof.wolek@louisville.edu.