Westdeutscher Rundfunk 50600 Köln

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln
Appellhofplatz 1
50667 Köln
Cologne, 17th April 2015
Festival: The culture radio station WDR 3 extends an invitation to the 47th Wittener
Tage für neue Kammermusik (Witten Festival for New Chamber Music)
The culture radio station WDR 3, together with the town of Witten, extends an invitation to
the 47th Witten Festival for New Chamber Music from 24th to 26th April 2015. More than 20
premieres by composers from 16 nations are on the programme at this year’s festival.
This year’s composer portrait is dedicated to the Swiss composer, Beat Furrer (born 1954 in
Schaffhausen), from whom two new works will be performed: one piece for a chamber
orchestra as well as a work for choir. In a discussion concert on Saturday morning (25.4.),
Furrer will provide information about his life and work. Beat Furrer is also one of the leading
figures in the field of teaching composition. It is no coincidence that several of his former
students are making their debuts at Witten 2015.
A series of solo pieces will run as a recurring theme through the programme. Also providing
a “showcase” for important soloists, all of whom have close associations with the Festival,
like the violinist Carolin Widmann, the accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti, the English pianist
Nicolas Hodges, trombonist Uwe Dierksen, as well as the young clarinet player Boglárka
Pecze. They will present new solo works by Pascal Dusapin for violin, Hans Thomalla and
James Clarke for piano, as well as by Martón Illes for clarinet and Martin Matalon for
trombone, among others.
The list of performers will also include the soprano Tony Arnold, the flutist Eva Furrer and Uli
Fussenegger on bass, as well as the groups Ensemble KNM Berlin and oenm.
Österreichische ensemble für neue musik, directed by Manuel Nawri and Johannes Kalitzke,
the Neue Vocalsoloisten Stuttgart, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne with conductor
Titus Engel and the WDR Radio Choir Cologne, conducted by Rupert Huber.
A sound excursion will extend an invitation to the idyllic Muttental, once the cradle of the
Ruhr mining industry. There, in the countryside, new works can be experienced, by Carola
Bauckholt, Matthias Kaul, Franz Martin Olbrisch, Robin Minard and Barblina Meierhans,
among others.
Music educational and academic activities will also accompany the festival in 2015: a school
project is targeted at teachers and students and a laboratory, which is offered jointly together
with the Musikhochschule Köln (Cologne Music Academy), aims at young students - with
visits to practice sessions and lectures as well as a newcomer concert performed by the
junior formation of the Ensemble Modern (IEMA). The TU Dortmund and the University of
Witten-Herdecke are organizing a symposium parallel to the Witten Festival.
Westdeutscher Rundfunk, together with the town of Witten, has been organizing the festival
since 1969. Responsible for the programme is the WDR 3 editor Harry Vogt. The culture
radio station WDR 3 is broadcasting the entire festival, most of it in its live programme:
Friday, 24th April 20.05 - 24.00 hrs., Saturday, April 25th 16.00 - 22.00 hrs. and Sunday 26th
April 05.20 - 24.00 hrs..
Photos accompanying this press release are to be found at www.ard-foto.de
Please address any inquiries to
Swaantje Benson
on behalf of WDR Presse und Information
Tel.: 0049(0)163 - 5538503
[email protected]
You may also like to visit the Press Lounge: www.presse.wdr.de
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