Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

Last updated

The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) [1] is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, [2] it has featured major international figures of experimental and avant garde music, including guest composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Louis Andriessen, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, John Cage, Steve Reich, Jonathan Harvey, Helmut Lachenmann and Sir Harrison Birtwistle. Its programme also includes improvisation, installation, sound sculptures, happenings, new technology and free jazz. [1]

Contents

The festival is held across several venues in the town, including the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield Town Hall, St Paul's Hall, St Thomas's Church and the Creative Arts Building of the University of Huddersfield. There is also a Festival Hub which offers refreshments, CDs and free live shows every morning of the festival.

The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival archive is held at the University of Huddersfield Archives at Heritage Quay. [3]

History

The festival was founded at the suggestion of Richard Phillips, then music officer of the Yorkshire Arts Association. Richard Steinitz, a composer and lecturer at Huddersfield Polytechnic (later to become the University of Huddersfield), [4] was appointed the festival director. The first concert was held on 13 October 1978. [5]

Steinitz was succeeded as director by Susanna Eastburn in 2001 [6] and guest director Tom Service in 2005. The current director is Graham McKenzie, who was appointed in 2006. [7]

2005

The festival was held from 17 to 27 November.

2006

The festival took place from 17 to 26 November. On the event list was Kitchen Motors, and Psappha.

2008

The festival ran from 21 to 30 November. A highlight was the performance of several Frank Zappa pieces by the Ascolta ensemble with guests.

2009

The festival ran from 20 to 29 November. Jonathan Harvey was composer in residence, and the festival also featured the Arditti Quartet, Nieuw Ensemble, Louis Andriessen and musikFabrik.

2010

The festival ran from 19 to 28 November. The composer in residence was Rebecca Saunders. [8]

2011

In 2011 Bent Sørensen was composer in residence. [9]

2012

The composer in residence for 2012 was Maja Ratkje. [10]

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic saw the festival realised in a reduced form, with live events restricted by the UK's lockdown of autumn 2020. The programme included a livestream by Space Afrika, and BBC Radio 3 live broadcasts with Explore Ensemble, GBSR Duo, and London Sinfonietta, featuring music by Joanna Bailie, Oliver Leith, Cassandra Miller, Arne Gieshoff, Angharad Davies, and James Dillon .

2021

Chaya Czernowin was composer in residence, and the programme featured composers and artists including Brigitta Muntendorf, Georgia Rodgers, Mauro Lanza & Andrea Valle, Eva Maria Houben, James Dillon, Enno Poppe, Cath Roberts, Clara Iannotta, Bára Gísladóttir, Hannah Kendall, Laurence Osborn, Eva Reiter, John Butcher, Laurence Crane, Luke Nickel, Lisa Illean. Performer and groups included Explore Ensemble, GBSR duo, Red Note Ensemble, Ensemble Musikfabrik, The Riot Ensemble, Ensemble Klang, Arditti Quartet, Ictus Ensemble, Juliet Fraser & Mark Knoop, Zubin Kanga, London Sinfonietta

2022

Lisa Streich was composer in residence. The programme featured composers and artists Jürg Frey, Liza Lim, Philip Venables, Pat Thomas, Jan Hendrickse, Raven Chacon, Andreas Borregaard, Tyshawn Sorey, Justė Janulytė. Performers and groups included Decibel, Australian Art Orchestra, Crash Ensemble, Quatuor Diotima, Riot Ensemble, Marco Blaauw, London Sinfonietta, Red Note Ensemble, and Ensemble Intercontemporain.

2023

Jennifer Walshe was composer in residence, and the programme featured composers and artists including Rebecca Saunders, Laura Bowler, Angharad Davies, Steven Daverson, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, Lisa Illean, Nicole Lizée, John Butcher, Liza Lim, Michel Chion. George Lewis, Hans Werner Henze, Anna Korsun, Charles Uzor, Tyshawn Sorey, Mariam Rezaei, Jürg Frey, and Bára Gísladóttir. Performers and groups included Oslo Sinfonietta, GBSR Duo, Nadar Ensemble, Ensemble Nikel & Noa Frenkel, Ensemble Synaesthesis, Lee Patterson, Stone Drawn Circles, Apartment House, London Sinfonietta, Exaudi, Quatuor Bozzini, Matmos, Éliane Radigue, and Riot Ensemble.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maja S. K. Ratkje</span> Norwegian vocalist and composer (born 1973)

Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje is a Norwegian vocalist and composer. She plays on vocals and elektronics instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Sinfonietta</span> English contemporary chamber orchestra

The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London.

Oslo Sinfonietta is a Norwegian contemporary classical orchestra. It was founded by composer Asbjørn Schaatun in 1986. The current artistic director is Christian Eggen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icebreaker (band)</span> British minimalist band

Icebreaker is a UK-based new music ensemble founded by James Poke and John Godfrey. They interpret new music, specialising in a post-minimal and "totalist" repertoire. Icebreaker always play amplified and have a reputation for playing, by classical standards, "seriously loud". They have expanded their repertoire to include non-classical material, particularly in their version of the Brian Eno album Apollo, a project based on the music of Kraftwerk, and music by Scott Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alarm Will Sound</span> American chamber orchestra

Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the Financial Times and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco Chronicle. The New York Times said that Alarm Will Sound is "one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey King (composer)</span> British composer and teacher (born 1949)

Geoffrey King is a British composer and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilda Paredes</span>

Hilda Paredes is one of Mexico's leading contemporary composers, and has received many prestigious awards for her work. She currently resides in London, and is married to the noted English violinist, Irvine Arditti.

Joe Cutler is a British composer who grew up in Neasden and studied music at the Universities of Huddersfield and Durham, before receiving a Polish Government Scholarship to study at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. He has taught composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire since 2000, and since 2005 he has been the Head of Composition there. In 2015 he was made Professor of Composition. He is also the co-founder of the instrumental ensemble Noszferatu.

Richard Ayres is a British composer and music teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvine Arditti</span> British violinist

Irvine Arditti is a British violinist, as well as the leader and founder of the Arditti Quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensemble Musikfabrik</span> Contemporary classical music ensemble based in Cologne, Germany

The Ensemble Musikfabrik is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V..

Rebecca Saunders is a London-born composer who lives and works freelance in Berlin. In a 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, Saunders' compositions received the third highest total number of votes (30), surpassed only by the works of Georg Friedrich Haas (49) and Simon Steen-Andersen (35). In 2019, writers of The Guardian ranked Skin (2016) the 16th greatest work of art music since 2000, with Tom Service writing that "Saunders burrows into the interior world of the instruments, and inside the grain of Fraser's voice [...] and finds a revelatory world of heightened feeling."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyshawn Sorey</span> American composer and multi-instrumentalist

Tyshawn Sorey is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music.

Cecilie Ore is a Norwegian composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Felder</span> American composer and academic

David Felder is an American composer and academic who was a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University at Buffalo until his retirement in 2022. He was also the director of both the June in Buffalo Festival and the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November Music</span>

November Music is an annual international festival of contemporary music in the Netherlands on various locations in 's-Hertogenbosch. Its motto is 'Today's Music by Today's Makers'.

James Saunders is a British composer and performer of experimental music. He is Professor of Music and Head of the Centre for Musical Research at Bath Spa University.

Juliet Fraser is a British soprano, based in London and specialising in contemporary classical music. She has commissioned more than 20 solo vocal works and premiered several hundred new works, many written for her. Fraser is the artistic director of eavesdropping, an experimental music festival in East London, and co-director of all that dust, the record label she founded in 2018 with Mark Knoop and Newton Armstrong. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Southampton in 2023.

Bryn Harrison is a British experimental composer. His works have been widely performed by international ensembles and he was a recipient of the 2013 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers. He is currently Reader in Composition at the University of Huddersfield.

TAK ensemble is a contemporary chamber ensemble based in New York City consisting of flute, clarinet, violin, percussion, and soprano voice.

References

  1. 1 2 "Interview: Graham McKenzie on 40 years of Huddersfield | Kate Molleson". katemolleson.com. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  2. Pratt, George (2001). "Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN   978-1-56159-239-5.
  3. "Archival Collections - University of Huddersfield". Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  4. Clements, Andrew (21 November 2017). "Huddersfield hits 40 with a broader scope but its spirit undimmed". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  5. "Forty Years of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival". frieze.com. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  6. "Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Huddersfield". The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  7. Glover, Chloe (20 November 2015). "Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival artistic director Graham McKenzie celebrates 10 years in role". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  8. "Pulling Threads of Sound: Rebecca Saunders interviewed". Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  9. "Reflections on Bent Sørensen". Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  10. "Maja S K Ratkje is HCMF 2012 Composer in Residence". Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.