Call for participants to perform works by composers Peter Ablinger and Silwia Zytynska

The experimental music festival Skaņu mežs invites kids and adolescents aged from 7 to 18 years to take part in performing works by Peter Ablinger and Sylwia Zytynska from 3 -7 October. The invitation is intended for participants who are studying or have studied music, as well as those who have no musical skills. Participants can either take part on all days or for a shorter period of time. Participation is free of charge.

Ablinger is one of the world’s most renowned composers of contemporary music and his collaborative partner Zytynska is a highly rated Polish percussionist and composer. In turn, last year, the British music magazine The Wire described Skaņu mežs as the “biggest avant-garde music festival in the Baltics”.

Zytynska and Ablinger will conduct workshops for adolescents and kids, who they will then involve in producing heir works in Riga. The works will be presented at a Skaņu mežs concert intended for kids and adolescents that will take place at 13:00 on 8 October at Hanzas perons, Hanzas Street 16A in a programme lasting about 45 minutes. The programme, which will be announced later will also include works by other foreign and Latvian musicians.

From time to time, Ablinger teaches composition at the Berlin Academy of Arts, while from 2012 to 2014 he was a lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, and has also served as guest conductor for prestigious ensembles including Klangforum Wien, United Berlin and Insel Musik Ensemble. Ablinger’s music has been performed by celebrated contemporary music performers and group including Irvine, Arditti, JACK Quartet, Quatuor Diotima and Wet Ink. Both Zytynska and Ablinger are experienced and original educators much respected by students.

Silvija Zytynska was born in Warsaw and learned to play piano, cello and percussion in Poland and Sweden. She plays both contemporary music and its free improvisation. She has taught students how to play percussion instruments at the City of Basel Music Academy since 1985, as well as being a member and co-founder of Zuhören Schweiz, an organisation dedicated to music education. For over 10 years, she has been one of the presenters of the radio programme Musik unserer Zeit on the Swiss station SRF2, where she joins colleagues in commenting on the latest contemporary music recordings.

DATES: 3 – 7 October

START TIMES (ON ALL DATES): 16:00-19:00 with the option to adjust the timing of the workshops to the participants’ needs

VENUE: Thirst for Knowledge Centre Futurimo Riga (Meža Street 1 k-6)

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BRING WITH THEM: a good mood and musical instruments if they have them. If they plan to bring instruments with them, please write to the e-mail address below and specify which instruments.

AGE OF PARTICIPANTS: 7 – 18 years

DURATION: maximum five, minimum – one day

The workshop will be conducted in English with Latvian translation if needs be.

Participation is free of charge!

Applications can be made in free form, by writing to the following e-mail address: simonakaupuza@gmail.com or calling: +371 27485473.

From 13 – 15 September, masterclasses will be conducted in Daugavpils, Riga and Liepaja by electronic musical and synthesiser maker Eric Synths representative Kodek. In turn, on 9 October a masterclass conducted by electronic musician and vocalist Evita Manji will take place in Riga. All the aforementioned events are intended for kids and adolescents. More detailed information will follow in future notifications.

MASTERCLASS GOAL: to get youngsters interested in music technologies and to demonstrate how disciplines like music and physics can be integrated.

DESCRIPTION: Despite the fact that he represents a rather narrow genre of non-academic electronic music, judging by his international renown, musician Raivo Vainovskis, who goes by the stage name of KODEK,  is considered “the most successful and progressive representative of the modern electronic music scene in Latvia”. Having performed at the world’s major electronic music festivals, KODEK positions Latvia as an important country in the music world not only through his excellence in his genre, but also as a key creative industry exemplar, because he performs using synthesizers made in Latvia by Erica Synths. Creating sounds in non-typical genres, KODEK works in the vanguard, typically surprising his audience with his modern take on accepted standards. In his concerts, he usually challenges his audience to think outside of what culturally conservative public considers to be “the box”. He dares to disrupt the conformist aesthetics of “normality” for which he has received enormous acclaim. KODEK has regularly released records and given concerts since 2005. Nominated on several occasions, KODEK won the Latvian Music Recording of the Year Award in the Best Electronic Music Album category for his 2012 album Flavours from the Future.

Participants do not need to bring any kind of equipment with them – this will be provided at the event venue.

AGE OF PARTICIPANTS: 14 +

DURATION: 2 hours

MAXIMUM NO. OF PARTICIPANTS: 10

EVENT TIMES:

• 13.09. 17.00-19.00

Daugavpils Mark Rothko Arts Centre (Mihaila Street 3, Daugavpils)

• 14.09. 17.00-19.00

RTU Thirst for Knowledge Centre Futurimo Riga (Meža Street 1 k-6, Riga)

• 15.09. 16:00 – 18:00

Cultural venue “Pegasus Courtyard” (Kuršu Street 20, Liepaja)

Applications can be made in free form, by writing to the following e-mail address: simonakaupuza@gmail.com or calling: +371 27485473.