The first edition of KONTAKTE explores today’s internationally profiled positions in electroacoustic music and sound art. Geared towards a broad and diverse public, this three-day festival offers a space for debate and reflection on musical thought in our new media Age. From 25–27 September, a broad spectrum of music will fill the entire building of Berlin’s Akademie der Künste in Hanseatenweg.
The rich programme will feature world premieres, classic avant-garde works, chamber music and live electronics in the form of concerts, sound installations, performance and films. In addition, KONTAKTE offers the exclusive presentation of Georg Katzer’s CD Elektroakustische Kompositionen aus vier Jahrzehnten (Electroacoustic Compositions From Four Decades) and the DEGEM CD release Grenzen (Borders). Workshops, artist talks and a panel discussion complement the festival program.
http://https://youtu.be/ktNX5FItUWU
A leitmotif of KONTAKTE is the building of bridges between the traditional and the modern. To this end, Valerio Sannicandro’s spatial composition Ephemeris will be premiered in the Studiosaal of the Akademie der Künste. This work, which oscillates between a stage piece and an installation, can be heard and seen from both sides of the auditorium. Composers like Hans Tutschku and the Lebanese improvising musician Mazen Kerbaj are also presenting new works during the festival.
In addition, KONTAKTE is staging exceptional works and rare historical documents by twentieth-century composers, including Boris Blacher, Roberto Gerhard, Hermann Scherchen and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Other highlights of the festival include Peter Vogel’s legendary Schattenorchester and the preview of the film The Subharchord. The up-and-coming generation of artists will be given a platform through open calls and composition prizes offered by the Studio for Electroacoustic Music and partner institutions of the festival. The prize-winning works will also be integrated into the programme. Composers from Mexico and Canada are our invited guests at KONTAKTE ’15.
[vimeo 42913827 w=620&h=300]The name KONTAKTE is a play on Stockhausen’s pioneering work of the same title (which proposed a new context for the connection of musical categories) as well as the name of a series of events coordinated in the 1980s by the Studio for Electroacoustic Music at the Akademie der Künste. The founder of the series, Georg Katzer, turns 80 this year, offering us a festive occasion to relaunch KONTAKTE.
For the detailed program and time table, visit the website: adk.de
Kontakte Festival 2015
Friday, 25 September – Sunday, 27 September 2015
Akademie der Künste (AdK) | Hanseatenweg 10 | 10557 Berlin/Tiergarten
