KLANG – Copenhagen Avantgarde Music Festival opens on June 7 with an international guest, Basel Sinfonietta.
The Opening Concert at the Black Diamond in Copenhagen will present the Danish Premiere of Considering Icarus by Maja S. K. Ratkje, with trombone soloist Stephen Menotti and conductor Titus Engel.
Commissioned by Donaueschinger Musiktage, Considering Icarus is inspired by the 1960 poem by Anne Sexton called To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph about Icarus acclaiming the sun. A poem that the composer sees as an encouraging advice to reach the sun.
If you never tried, you'll never know. I thought it fitted very well to the trombone concerto and the soloist's determined will to make the music fly.
- Maja S. K. Ratkje
On June 9, Basel Sinfonietta will also be performing the Swiss Premiere of Consindering Icarus, back home in Basel.
Pelle Prize 2024
On June 9, the Pelle Prize will be awarded to a composer whose talent dares to cross the norms of the time, and to a musician who has made a special contribution to the interpretation and realization of new music.
The prize is named after Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. After his death in 2016, the festival, Edition Wilhelm Hansen and Pelle’s widow Karin Birgitte Lund founded the prize to honour the composer’s legacy and his constant support of young composers. This years Pelle Prizes were awarded to composer Kirstine Lindemann and singer and performaer Hanne Marie Le Fevre.
After the Award Ceremony, last year's winners, composer Nikki Martin and pianist-perfomer Fei Nie will present their collaboration work Sunshine, Becky commissioned by KLANG Festival.
International Guest Programme
