Contemporary Music in Odessa: the Festival “Two Days and Two Nights of New Music” in April 2017

Международный отдел • International Division 2017,2 DOI: 10.17674/1997-0854.2017.2.072-077 CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN ODESSA: THE FESTIVAL “TWO DAYS AND TWO NIGHTS OF NEW MUSIC” IN APRIL 2017 n April 22–23, 2017 a notable event to the festival “Two Days and Two Nights of New happened in Odessa, Ukraine, – namely, Music” to perform or to have their music heard Othe 23rd contemporary music festival there. In various years such composers as Jean- “Two Days and Two Nights of New Music.” This Luc Darbellay from Switzerland, James Clarke of festival has been organized since 1995 by composer England, Ghennadie Ciobanu and Vladimir Beleaev Karmella Tsepkolenko and her husband Oleksandr from Moldova, Mikhail Kokzhayev from Yerevan, Perepelitsya, who are the directors of the Odessa- Armenia, Dmitri Kapyrin from Moscow, Russia, based Association for New Music. Every year for two Rashid Kalimoullin from Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, days in April the concerts of the festival have started Volodymir Huba, Alla Zahaikevich and Alexander at 4 PM and have continued non-stop until late at Shchetynsky from Kiev and many others have been night, about 3 or 4 AM, with merely short 15-minute the participants of this festival. Such performers as intermissions between each concert. According to Joel Sachs and the Continuum Ensemble from New Ms. Tsepkolenko, the idea for setting up a festival of York and cellist Ivan Monighetti from Switzerland such a peculiar format was conceived by her, when have performed at the festival. One important she attended one of the irst contemporary music participant of the festival, who serves as its president, festivals of European avant-garde music to be held is German percussionist and composer Bernhard in the Soviet Union – in Leningrad in 1988 – and Wulff, who comes to Odessa every year to perform after the concerts of the festival inished she and her at the festival and takes a most active part in the colleagues met and discussed actively during the festival’s organization. He frequently brings other wee hours of the night the music heard by them at percussionists with him, including his students, and the festival’s concerts. Perhaps this has also been together they present a lively addition to the festival’s one of the leading factors for the very generous and program by performing intriguing music by new warm bohemian atmosphere inherent to the Odessa European and American composers for percussion festival, the congenial environment for bringing instruments. The Association for New Music has together composers and performers from different also hosted other events, including a conference in parts of Ukraine, from Russia, Moldova, Georgia and memory of the famous professor of orchestration Armenia, and from many other countries of Europe, at the Moscow Conservatory Yuri Fortunatov, Asia and America. Usually prior to these two days which was organized by Odessa-based musicologist there has been an opening concert (at a regular time Iouri Semenov, to which many composers and format), conferences, master-classes and meetings musicologists from many former Soviet republics with some of the guest composers. This has created came, including Fortunatov’s former students. numerous opportunities for the participants of the This year the festival presented a broad festival to meet each other and to develop professional assortment of trends of contemporary music as and creative contacts and friendships. Add to this the exempliied by brilliant performers playing the unforgettable atmosphere of Odessa in its historical music of various composers. The irst event, which center, and then we can fully appreciate the wealth took place on April 21, 2016 was a pre-festival of impressions the participants and attendees of the concert in the concert hall of the Odessa Music festival have received upon coming to the numerous Academy, performed by musicians from Lviv – musical events of this great artistic endeavor. violinist Lydia Shutko and pianist Oleksandr Since Karmella Tsepkolenko is the president of the Kozarenko (the latter being primarily a composer). Ukrainian section of the International Society for The program consisted of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Contemporary Music (ISCM) and attends the annual Sonata for Violin and Piano, opus 134 from World Music Days festivals in the different cities of 1968, the Sonata for Violin and Piano from the world that they are organized, she has developed 1926 by early 20th century Ukrainian composer contacts with some of the most signiicant composers Boris Lyatoshynsky and the Second Sonata for and performers of contemporary music from many Violin and Piano by contemporary Ukrainian countries. Many such musicians have been invited composer Myroslav Skoryk, written in 1990. All 72 2017,2 Международный отдел • International Division three sonatas, being tonal in harmony and mostly textures and sonorities, the composition possessed romantic in their styles, presented varieties of brilliant theatrical qualities and was appreciated lyrical, epic and at times melodramatic musical by the audience. Concerto for Marimba with moods. This featured a more “accessible” program, Percussion Instruments and Chorus by American in stark contrast to the more complex music to come Composer Gene Koshinski, performed by the during the two nights of the festival, in the way of a aforementioned percussionists along with the musical “hors d’oeuvre.” Student Chorus of the Odessa National Music After the concert American composer and Academy, conducted by Grigoriy Liosnov and bassoonist from New York, Johnny Reinhard, Galina Shpak contrasted the lengthy drawn out known for being a specialist in microtonal music sounds of the chorus with the lively motor sounds and the artistic director of the American Festival of the percussion instruments, to which the chorus of Microtonal Music in New York, presented a tuned in at times. Possessing tonal harmonies master-class at the Small Hall of the Odessa Music and features of a neo-classical style, combined Academy, which was well-attended by many with an innovative percussive textural world, people, including the visitors and participants of the composition stood out with its dramatic and the festival, as well as the faculty members and theatrical qualities and its ambivalence in regards students of the Music Academy – most notably, to the alternating leadership between the chorus, bassoonists. Reinhard demonstrated to the audience marimba and other percussion instruments. an assortment of new extended techniques for the Johnny Reinhard gave a virtuosic performance bassoon, including microtones, circular breathing, of four bassoon pieces, starting with his already multiphonics and, most notably, taking the bassoon famous work “Dune,” inspired by the science iction apart and producing unusual yet very musical novel by Frank Herbert, which alternated lengthy sound effects on separate parts of the instrument. In alternately tuned melodic lines with virtuosic trill- addition to that, he gave some very comprehensive like and quasi-tremolo effects and special techniques explanations and demonstrations of various new of taking the bassoon apart and playing into its microtonal tunings, most notably, his recently separate constituent parts – the latter presenting both invented tuning of 128 tones per octave, all based satisfying acoustic and theatrical effects. “Ballad” on extensions of the overtone series to the ninth by the writer of these lines was a slow and lyrical octave, and performed parts of his compositions for composition combining plaintive melodic writing bassoon “Dune” and “Zanzibar”, which involved with usage of intervals from the 128-note scale. A many of these techniques. Finally, he presented a more intellectually complex piece, extended in its demonstration of improvisation on the bassoon, duration and extensive in its gradual development asking a few of the bassoon students to accompany was the piece “For Johnny Reinhard” by Austrian him, which resulted in a brilliant improvisatory composer living in New York, Georg Friedrich performance on the stage of the Small Hall. He Haas, where the audience had ample opportunities encouraged the performers and composers present to delve into the intricate sounds of the tiny intervals at the festival not to be afraid to experiment and comprising the 128-note scale, played at close search for new musical solutions while playing their proximity with each other. “Hard Rain, Johnny” instruments or while composing their music. by Bosnian born and New York-based composer The festival proper started the following day, on Svjetlana Bukvich for bassoon and electronics was April 21. The Percussion Ensemble of Freiburg a lively composition making full use of nonstandard Music University represented by Mathias Droll textural noises in the electronics and colorful from Germany and Arrigo Aixa from Italy together melodic writing inspired by Bosnian folk music, with the Percussion Ensemble of the Lübeck which greatly impressed the audience. Music University, represented by Vera Seedorf, Most impressive was the performance of young Florian Stapelfeldt and Seorim Lee, all directed 24-year-old Ukrainian pianist Vitaliy Kyianytsia, by Bernhardt Wulff, gave a brilliant performance who gave brilliant performances of Tristan Murail’s of “Clash Music” by famous German composer texturally elaborate and emotionally expressive Nicklaus Huber, involving regularly pulsed harsh piano piece piano piece “La Mondragore” (written percussive sounds played both on the

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