Combine: Composer on Stage – Shalygin + Late Night World Premieres #1

Composer on Stage – Shalygin
“Why do requiems always have just one Lacrimosa, the appeal for eternal peace for poor sinners? It expresses everything composers want to tell, which for me makes it the most beautiful part of a requiem”, says Maxim Shalygin. His own Lacrimosa, commissioned by Gaudeamus and November Music, consists of nothing less than thirteen smaller Lacrimosas.

During ‘Composer on Stage’, Maxim Shalygin will tell about his music and his sources of inspiration. The audience also sits on stage in the Grote Zaal, to be as close to the music as possible. The interview, the video and audio fragments, and the interplay between guest and interviewer remove the last visible wall between you, the musicians, and the music. All this results in an intense and unforgettable experience.

Late Night World Premieres #1
Of course it is an honour to be nominated for the Gaudeamus Award, but it also means you have to get to work right away: with the nomination comes a commission to write a short, new work for the upcoming festival’s ensemble-in-residence. This year the five nominees were commissioned to write for the challenging, unusual combination of instruments of Kluster5, an ensemble from The Hague: violin, saxophone, percussion, guitar, and piano.

Over the past few months the five nominees worked closely with the young musicians of Kluster5 who, considering their unusual collection of instruments, are used to performing brand-new material especially composed for them. They are also accustomed to moving flexibly from one genre to the other: contemporary classical music, jazz, pop, or improvisations. Tonight the first three pieces premiere in a nightclub-like atmosphere, on Friday Night the last two will be performed.