The spring season of the Avant Chamber Orchestra will begin with the closing concert of the Musica nova Helsinki festival on Sunday 12 March 2023 at 19.00 in Temppeliaukio Church, conducted by conductor Michael Wendeberg and featuring soprano Juliet Fraser as soloist. The concert will include music by Clara Iannotta, composer-in-residence at the festival, and experimental music composer Alexander Schubert.
The concert begins with Clara Iannotta’s We left her in a sack for fairies to reclaim, based on a poem by Dorothy Molloy, and Iannotta makes extensive use of non-traditional sound sources such as cardboard boxes, styrofoam and various bells.
Alexander Schubert’s music represents a 21st century current, combining artistic heritage with elements of jazz, techno and pop music. His work is also characterised by the use of modern technology as part of the music. Point Ones is a work for small ensemble and “extended” conductor. The conductor is equipped with motion sensors that allow him to conduct both the ensemble and the live electronics at the same time. The piece is not conducted in the traditional way, but with gestures, which means that the piece is slightly different each time it is performed.
Skin, which lends its name to the concert, is a work for soprano and orchestra by Rebecca Saunders, who has now achieved cult status. The work is considered one of Saunders’ major works, with moods ranging from intimate fragility to explosive eruptions. The soloist is soprano Juliet Fraser, for whom the work was written.
The concert, and the festival as a whole, will conclude with Kirmo Lintinen’s Ballata concertante. The piece takes a peek into 13th century Florence and the secular winds of the burgeoning Renaissance. The work plays with its historical roots and a moment later recalls a contemporary perspective. Lintinen himself has compared the impression created by the work to that of a tourist of his time travelling to Florence to experience the art of the Renaissance.
Musica nova Helsinki closing concert: skin
12.3.2023 at 19:00
Temppeliaukion kirkko
