ONO (Ostrava New Orchestra) at 2017: New Music Institute and Festival

After 16 years of its existence, Ostrava Center for New Music will form a resident symphony orchestra for contemporary music ONO (Ostrava New Orchestra). ONO will consist of young musicians interested in performance of new music. ONO will have cca 80 members (age 18 - 35) who will rehearse and perform in Ostrava from August 16 - September 2, 2017.

WHO WE ARE? Ostrava Center for New Music Ostrava Center for New Music (OCNM) was founded in 2000 thanks to the initiative of Petr Kotík. A series of concerts with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra led to the idea of creating a special independent organization for new music. (This first concert included pieces by composers as varied as Earle Brown, , , Pauline Oliveros, Martin Smolka, and .)

OCNM was created for the purpose of organizing Ostrava Days, a summer Institute and Festival which gives composers, musicians, and musicologists an opportunity to work with leading representatives of contemporary music. OCNM has founded an international chamber orchestra, Ostravská banda, and since 2001 has been organizing concerts in cooperation with Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2012, OCNM has been working in cooperation with the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre to organize NODO (New Opera Days Ostrava), a festival of contemporary opera. OCNM also produces publications about contemporary music and releases recordings from its various concerts.

DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT ONO ONO – symphonic youth orchestra ONO will consist of young European musicians interested in the performance of new music. It will give an invaluable opportunity to young instrumentalists from different countries in Europe to work with some of the most respected composers and conductors living today. OCNM has a long history of cooperating with schools while selecting Ostrava Days Institute artists-in-residence (including institutions in , Krakow, Budapest, Bratislava, Huddersfield, Berlin, Cork, The Hague, and elsewhere). To start, the new orchestra will be supervised by the core players of Ostravská banda, who will serve as natural role-models in the ensemble.

Over the course of Ostrava Days, young ONO members will spend 18 days studying and rehearsing compositions for the festival and will perform at two or more symphonic concerts. In addition to pieces by the festival’s artists-in-residence (35 young composers, mostly from Europe, the U.S. and Asia) and lectors (10 established composers), ONO will also perform “canonical pieces of modern art music. Ideally, the orchestra should be composed of 80 classically trained musicians aged 18 to 35.

The idea to form a new symphony orchestra consisting of young musicians is a response to the difficulties inherent in performing new and experimental works with “conventional” orchestras. Traditional-minded orchestra members often lack the necessary motivation, energy, and skills to perform contemporary music, especially compositions that are new in their concepts and execution. These works, often controversial, are at the core of the Ostrava Days concert program. Conventional, traditionally minded orchestras exist mainly as “musical museums." Our intention, by starting ONO, is to demonstrate the feasibility and success of a large-scale ensemble that is focused on performing the music of today, premiering new works by established and young composers (as demonstrated in the programs of Ostrava Days festivals), and on a repertoire of music from the past sixty years that has been until now marginalized, especially in the Czech Republic. The experience in performing as part of ONO will give young musicians a fresh start in their careers as professional musicians.

Time Frame Arrival: August 16, 2017 Rehearsal starting August 17, 2017 Performances starting August 27 (Opening Concert) Closing Concert on September 2, 2017

Location Ostrava, Czech Republic

Practical information for ONO members: OCNM will provide: - accommodation including breakfast in the new student residence house in the centre of Ostrava (http://www.kampuspalace.cz/?lang=en) - board: lunch and dinner provided by a selected local restaurant with all other Ostrava Days participants - travel expenses - honorarium: 150 - 200 EUR (depending on amount of work).

PARTNERS Persons and institutes involved Possible partners: Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest (HU), Academy Music in Cracow (PL), Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (SK), State Academy in Oslo (NO), Conservatorio Lugano (SWISS) 10 composers: Richard Ayres (UK/NLD), Petr Kotík (CZ), George Lewis (US), Roscoe Mitchell (US), Muhal Richard Abrams (US), Salvatore Sciarrino (IT), Bernhard Lang (AT), Olga Neuwirth (AT/DE), Miroslav Srnka (CZ), (BE), Christopher Butterfield (CA) others TBA 5 conductors: Rolf Gupta (NO), Petr Kotík (CZ), Johannes Kalitzke (AT), Joseph Trafton (DE), Ondřej Vrabec (CZ) 18 guest artists and soloists: Daniel Havel, Flute (Prague), Beatrice Laplante, Oboe (Basel), Irvin Venyš, Bass Clarinet (Prague), Stefanie Liedtke, Bassoon (Amsterdam), Daniel Costello, Horn (Dessau), William Lang, Trombone (New York), Reinhold Friedl, Piano (Berlin), Joseph Kubera, Piano (New York), Daan Vandewalle, Piano (Ghent), Johannes Öllinger, Guitar (Munich), Georg Glasl, Zither (Kochel), Chris Nappi, Percussion (New York), Eirik Raude, Percussion (Spikkestad), Tamás Schlanger, Percussion (Budapest), Hana Kotková, Violin (Lugano), Nikolaus Schlierf, Viola (Berlin), Measha Brueggergosman, Soprano (Fredericton, CA), Marta Culver, Soprano (New York), Annika Schlicht, Mezzo-Soprano (Berlin), Taylan Reinhard, Tenor (Graz), Holger Falk, Baritone (Berlin), Maciej Idziorek, Baritone (Wien), Kate Soper, Voice (New York), Denis Beuret, Live Electronic (Basel)

OSTRAVA DAYS 2017 ONO will be part of Ostrava Days Institute and Festival The biennial festival and institute of new and experimental music, Ostrava Days [OD], began in 2001. Over the last 15 years, OD has become one of the most renowned summer programs for new music in the world. The international chamber orchestra Ostravská banda [OB], which was organized at OD 2005 as the resident chamber orchestra, has also become well known internationally with critically acclaimed performances in Europe and the United States (Paris Conservatoire, Carnegie Hall, Prague Spring Festival, Ensemble Europa series at WDR, Cologne, Akademie der Künste in Berlin, Vredenburg in Utrecht, Allice Tuly Hall at Lincoln Centre, Huddersfield Festival, and musicadhoy in Madrid, among others). Next year, as part of the Ostrava Days 2017, ONO (Ostrava New Orchestra) will be formed as the resident symphony orchestra for Ostrava Days.

Ostrava Days 2017 Festival (August 25-September 2) will include 18 performances, of which ONO will present three concerts. These symphony orchestra concerts will take place at Karolina Tripple Hall (ideally suitable for compositions for three orchestras), and at the industrial area Vítkovice.