Residence for composers | Ars SummerFest

Residence for

composers

What's new this year?

Call for young composers!

Two weeks (optional: one week) of intensive masterclass with acclaimed Lithuanian composer, winner of the Lithuanian National Prize Anatolijus Šenderovas and workshop with distinguished Scottish performer and composer Garth Knox, whose works are being commissioned by such ensembles as the Kronos Quartet. Young composers will be residing at the Paliesius Manor, write pieces mainly for solo or ensembles of string instruments - violin, viola and/or cello, optionally for string instruments with piano. Selected successful works will be performed live during the closing concerts of the Ars SummerFest in Vilnius Town Hall and Paliesius Manor and recorded with professional studio equipment.

Selected successful compositions for violin, viola or cello solo or accompanied by piano will be included to concert repertoire of Vilnius Town Hall in 2019 and will be kindly asked to perform during the LITHUANIA CONCERT TOUR 2019 (for more information about the Lithuania Concert Tour 2019 please click here).

What is the place of residence?

Composers will be residing at the beautiful and isolated Paliesius Manor Hotel and Wellness centre located 112 km east from Vilnius. The masterclass price includes accommodation and meals 3 times per day at the exclusive Paliesius manor restaurant.

What is the plan of masterclass?

The masterclass will take place from 2nd to 13th of July:

July 2-13 (optional: July 9-13) - composing, working with Maestro Šenderovas, several meetings with musicians (experimenting, searching for best solutions, finding out what's possible for the instrument);
July 10 - workshop with Scottish violist and composer Garth Knox;
July 11-12 - selected finished compositions will be rehearsed for the final concert;
July 13 - final concert at the Paliesius Manor;
July 14 - final concert at the Vilnius Town Hall;

Dear friends,

The organizers of this festival form a rather unusual situation for the festival dedicated to the instrumental genre - Residence for composers. What could this be?

Lately, creation of music is becoming more of an interaction between two entities - the composer and the computer. The sound of live musical instruments and direct communication with musicians has become a rarity. Creation of music gradually turns into an exceptional process, which is not necessarily linked to people who had direct impact on bringing music to life, giving it a breath, constantly changes, depending on the performers themselves and their attitudes towards the music they perform on the day of the performance. And the next day, new variables may appear, that may even have a contrast with the already formed attitude to the same music.

What is this process? What could the composers oversee while creating music? What is the preparation for performance of a new musical piece? Finally, what are the specifics of each musical instruments?

During the festival a special situation should take place where, composers and performers will have enough time and opportunity to interact, co-produce new pieces of work and finally, to publicly perform it. This is a unique school for young creators – to take a step back from computerized thinking, come closer to live sound, instrument, and people, in whose hands signs from piece of work come to life. An opportunity to communicate with live sounds and people who "decipher" those sounds to turn them into music. Also not forgetting the listeners who are rarely professionals of music and do not get into technological issues, but have a good sense of feeling...

For us, creators of music, this means a robust dramaturgy of the work, the ability to capture listener’s attention by proposing an appealing idea and language of a piece.

We suggest to pre-think a plan for small piece of violin, alto, cello (alone or in conjunction, with or without piano) and even a string quartet. Preferably to have a certain musical composition of the future work. Of course, you may start your composition upon arrival, but this may take a lot of time during the festival, which is quite limited. You may even bring along a piece of composition already created for the instruments listed. Our task would be, if necessary to adjust the composition while still in creation stage (or already created) present it to the performers and take part in preparation for performance. There, of course, will be certain issues raised that we will all attempt to solve together. And finally - the piece of work will be done and recorded. Composers will be able to dispose this recording. We will have opportunities for discussion - I think it would be beneficial for everyone.

The composer should master the principles of communicating with performers, be able to pick up on the edited parts of work, to recreate work that has already been created, prepare it for life of independence. The path of music - from creation to performance - is our main task.

Sincerely-

Anatolijus Šenderovas

Composition

Anatolijus Šenderovas

ANATOLIJUS ŠENDEROVAS is one of Lithuania's most prominent composers, Laureate of the Lithuanian National Award - the country’s highest recognition for excellence in the arts. He was awarded the European Composer's Prize -(Europäischer Komponistenpreis) at the Europäischer Musik Sommer Berlin, 2002 for his Concerto in Do for Cello and Symphony Orchestra, dedicated to famous cellist David Geringas,

Creative Award and Gold Medal by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, Switzerland, 2008), Gold Star by Lithuanian Intellectual Property Assotiation LATGA (2010), Highest Award of Lithuanian Ministry of Culture "Carry your light and believe" (2015), etc.

He is a bearer of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (1995), and of the Order of Merit to Lithuania (2006),

Anatolijus Šenderovas was born on August 21, 1945 in Uljanovsk (Russia) into a family of musicians, has been living in Vilnius, Lithuania since 1946.Graduated from the Lithuanian Conservatoire (now Academy of Music) in 1967 with Prof. Ed.Balsys while simultaneously studying composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Prof. Orest Evlachov (one of the former students of Dmitri Schostakovitch).. In 1990 he was a guest composer at the Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music (Tel Aviv).

Anatolijus Šenderovas is the author of three staged ballets: “Maiden and Death”, staged in Vilnius, 1982 (choreographer Ulo Vilimaa) “Mary Stuart”, staged in Tartu, Estonia, 1984 (choreographer Ulo Vilimaa), “Desdemona”, staged in Vilnius, 2005 (choreographer Kiril Simonov),, three symphonies, oratorio, seven solo concertos ( three Cellos, concertos for Violin, Guitar, Accordion , Percussion), Concerto for Piano trio and Symphony Orchestra (2017), wide range of symphonic, vocal, chamber music, music for drama and films. (Lithuanian – German film “Ghetto” with his music won 1-st prize at the “Jewish Eye” 2007 film festival in Israel and was selected as the best Lithuanian film)

Composer does not adhere to a single method of composition, his music is characterized by moderately modern language, bright emotionality, he gives a lot of attention to the sacred themes of the Tanach

His music perfectly fits in the European new music context; his pieces have been performed at the more than 70 international music festivals and concert halls all over Europe, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, China, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel, and many others. He was invited also at a lot of Music festivals as a composer-in-residence and guest composer.

Course languages: German, Lithuanian, Russian

Optional: English, Japanese

Garth Knox (workshop)

Garth Knox was born in Ireland and grew up in Scotland. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Fredrick Riddle, where he won several prizes for viola and for chamber music. Thereafter he played with most of the leading groups in London in a mixture of all repertoires, from baroque to contemporary music. In 1983 he was invited by Pierre Boulez to become a member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, where he had the chance to do much solo playing (including concertos directed by Pierre Boulez) and chamber music, touring widely and playing in international festivals. In 1990 Garth Knox joined the Arditti String Quartet, playing in all the major concert halls of the world, working closely with and giving first performances of pieces by most of today’s leading composers including Ligeti, Kurtag, Berio, Xenakis, Lachenmann, Cage, Feldman and Stockhausen (the famous «Helicopter Quartet»). Since leaving the quartet in 1998, Garth Knox has given premieres by Henze (the Viola Sonata is dedicated to him), Ligeti, Schnittke, Ferneyhough, James Dillon, George Benjamin and many others. Improvisation is also an important part of his musical activity. In the past decade he has begun to write his own music, and is much in demand for theatre, dance and film scores as well as concert pieces and instrumental works. Garth Knox has recently begun to explore the possibilities of the viola d’’amore in new music, with and without electronics, and is in the process of creating a new repertoire for this instrument.

Course languages: English, French

Optional: Japanese, German, Lithuanian, Russian