Composers
These composers used the Studio31 instruments for their music.
Names are listed alphabetically.
Georg Friedrich Haas
Georg Friedrich Haas wurde in Graz geboren, verbrachte aber seine Kindheit in Vorarlberg, in den Bergen – eine Landschaft und eine Atmosphäre, die ihn nachhaltig geprägt haben. Studiert hat er aber in seiner Geburtstadt, bei Ivan Eröd und Gösta Neuwirth und später in Wien, bei Friedrich Cerha. Die gegenseitige Wertschätzung mit Cerha ist bis heute geblieben, der beide Komponisten immer wieder Ausdruck verleihen. Zuletzt war es Cerha, der Doyen der österreichischen Komponisten, der seinen ehemaligen Schüler für den Großen Österreichischen Staatspreis vorgeschlagen hat, der Haas 2007 auch verliehen wurde.
Georg Friedrich Haas ist international bekannt und anerkannt, als ein hoch sensibler, fantasiereicher Erforscher der Innenwelt der Klänge. Mit ganz wenigen Ausnahmen (wie sein Violinkonzert, 1998) schreibt er mikrotonale Stücke, deren magische Klangwelt den Hörer in Rausch versetzt.
Haas hat sich ernsthaft mit der Mikrotonalität auseinander gesetzt (angeregt von Ivan Wyschnegradsky und Alois Hába) und in mehreren europäischen Ländern Vorlesungen darüber gehalten. Für die Salzburger Festspiele 1999 hat er unter dem Titel Jenseits der zwölf Halbtöneeinen (wie es im Untertitel heißt) „Versuch einer Synopse mikrotonaler Kompositionstechniken“ unternommen. Der abschließende Absatz sei hier zitiert:
„’Mikro-’ ist eine ‚Tonalität’ nur im Gegensatz zu einer als Bezugssystem akzeptierten ‚Normaltonalität’. Wo dieses Bezugssystem obsolet geworden ist, tritt an die Stelle des Begriffes ‚Mikrotonalität’ die freie Entscheidung der individuellen komponierenden Persönlichkeit, über das Material ‚Tonhöhe’ zu verfügen.“
"ceremony – Musik für 36 Instrumente aus 6 Jahrhunderten und 4 Gesangsstimmen", commissioned by Musik-Akademie Basel and the ZeitRäume festival Basel. First performance 17th of September 2017, Kunstmuseum Basel.
Adrian Nagel
Adrian Nagel (*1990) studied composition and music theory in Dresden, Basel and Freiburg
with Mark Andre, José M. Sánchez-Verdú, Caspar Johannes Walter and Felix Diergarten –
further studies he completed with Michel Roth, Franz Martin Olbrisch, Michael Reudenbach
and Clemens Gadenstätter. He received additional impulses from master classes with Salvatore Sciarrino, Pierluigi Billone, Brian Ferneyhough and Mathias Spahlinger. From 2002 to 2010 he was laureate of the Bundeswettbewerb Komposition several times. 2007 he got the frst prize of Jugend komponiert Rheinland-Pfalz. Furthermore he won the Schüler-Kompositionswettbewerb of the Berlin Philharmonics in 2009. He received commissions and wrote pieces for ensemble recherche (2013), Auditivvokal Dresden / Ensemble Moto Perpetuo New York (2014), Ensemble Musikfabrik (Emilio Pomàrico, 2016), Ensemble Phoenix Basel (Jürg Henneberger, 2016), the Black Forest Percussion Group (2017), and for Ensemble Proton Bern (2018). In addition he is laureate of the Karlsruher Kompositionswettbewerb 2015 and hold scholarships of the Stiftung Lyra and Hirschmann Stiftung. His music was played in concerts in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the Ukraine, South Korea, Mexico and the USA at festivals like Zeiträume Basel, Tonlagen Hellerau, Impulsfestival Graz and the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.
"Zone" for quartertone-accordion and arciorgano. First performance 24th of November 2017, Musik-Akademie Basel. With Maria Zubimendi (accordion) and Christoph Prendl (arciorgano).
Eleni Ralli
Eleni attended many workshops, seminars and master classes with various famous composers. Among others Salvatore Sciarrino, Mark Andre, Beat Furrer, George Aperghis, Manos Tsangaris and dissonART Ensemble. She participated in several composition competitions and was chosen as finalist several times. She was finalist at the 2008/2009 "International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition", 2014 "aXes Krakow Festival" and “Iktus Percussion International Score Call” with her piece " Complex Combinations in 3" and in 2015 at "IV Kiev International Master Classer for new Music Course".
She was commissioned as a composer to festivals like Zeiträume Basel, Biennale für Musik und Architektur and Symposium Studio 31, Basel, Switzerland, Impuls and Leicht über Linz, Austria. The latest festival was also broadcasted by Deutschlandfunk Kultur on September 14th 2017. She cooperated with various ensembles all over the world and have some of her works commissioned by them: dissonART Ensemble Greece, Ensemble Recherche Freiburg, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Ensemble Meitar Israel, Ensemble Asamisimasa Denmark, Ensemble Nostri Temporis Kiev, Musikfabrik Köln and Ensemble Il Suono Gialo Italy. She has compositions varying from solo instruments to full orchestra. Her work Circle around the Edge for Solo Accordion was published in 2015 by Edition Avantus. Her works have been performed so far in Germany, the Ukraine, Switzerland, Greece, Poland, Holland, Israel, Italy, England and Iran.
Eleni is also an active academic and is currently working on her PhD thesis at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki about "The influence of Harry Partch's instruments and musical language in the composition 43 in 43 for ensemble and an investigation for an alternative notation system".
"Schwebungs-Etüde", for violin and Fokker-organ. First performance 7th of February 2016, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam. With Eva Saladin (violin) and Johannes Keller (Fokker-organ).
"Aufwärts" for quartertone-accordion and arciorgano. First performance 24th of November 2017, Musik-Akademie Basel. With Maria Zubimendi (accordion) and Ana María Fonseca (arciorgano).
Elnaz Seyedi
Elnaz Seyedi, born in Tehran in 1982, studied computer science at Azad University in Tehran from 2000 to 2005. Parallel to it, she studied piano with Ali Gorji and Farimah
Ghawam-Sadri, music theory and composition with Alireza Mashayekhi. In 2007, she moved to Germany to pursue her studies in composition with Younghi Pagh-Paan
and Jörg Birkenkötter at Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, continuing her master studies with Caspar Johannes Walter at Hochschule für Musik in Basel and Günter Steinke at Folkwang University of Arts in Essen. Elnaz Seyyedi had the honor of receiving Cologne city award, Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Scholarchip for her compositions in 2017. She, as well, has received other awards and scholarships, such as; DAAD Scholarship in 2016, a scholarship of Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation from 2011 to 2017 and won a prize by Ensemble Phoenix Basel Trabant Competition in 2017.
Her music has been performed at numerous festivals such as Achtbrücken Festival in Cologne (2018), Zeiträume – Biennale für Neue Musik und Architektur Basel (2017), Festival Leicht über Linz in Linz (2016), Dastgah Festival of Iranian contemporary arts and music in Hannover (2016), Nietzsche Lektüretage in Nietzsche-Haus in Sils Maria (2012), the student Off-Program at the Donaueschinger Musiktage (2011), the Next Generation Festival at ZKM Karlsruhe (2010) and the Klangwerktage in Hamburg (2010).
"Monolog" for trombone and arciorgano. First performance 24th of November 2017, Musik-Akademie Basel. With Stephen Menotti (trombone) and Ana María Fonseca (arciorgano).
Mauricio Silva Orendain
Mexican composer and diverse keyboardist, Mauricio Silva Orendain, works with unconventional tuning systems to explore the bridges between microtonality and sound synthesis, bringing Klangfarbe to the foreground as a search for authentic sound sculptures. He is continuously composing for Vicentino’s microtonal Arciorgano from the 16th century, and the new experimental organs at St. Martin's Church in Kassel, Germany. His innovative approach to the organ, which treats each pipe as a sole instrument through partial registration and dynamic wind, was the catalyst for his scientific-artistic research project “The Plasticity of The Pipe: Micro- Transdimensional Counterpoint”. His performances explore spatialisation as performance vehicle via acoustic and electronic instruments giving rise to visceral immersive experiences.
He started working with the Arciorgano in 2020 during his master studies at the Musik Akademie Basel under the mentoring of Caspar Johannes Walter and Guillermo Klein. Since then he has been continuously composing and researching diverse tuning systems as well as perfrming with the instrument across different msucial contexts in different countries.
www.mauriciosilvaorendian.com
“Imbuche” for Arciorgano, Alto Saxophon, Trombone, Violoncello, Double Bass and voice. Premiered at Gare du Nord Basel on May 18th 2021 as part of the series “Illuminationen Nr. 4”.
“Jade” for Arciorgano, Viola and Microtonal Guitar. Premiered at The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies I TATTI in Florence, Italy.
Caspar Johannes Walter
He was born in Frankfurt/Main in 1964, and studied composition with V. D. Kirchner (Wiesbaden) as well as with J. Fritsch and C. Barlow (Cologne Conservatory of Music, 1985-90). In 1985 he was cofounder of the Cologne-based Thürmchen Verlag (Publishing House). He has received several major composition awards including the first prize in the Stuttgart Composition Competition (1991), the 13th Irino Prize for Orchestra (Japan, 1992), in 1995 the first prize in the competition »Vienna modern«, the Hindemith Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival and from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia the award for most promising in the category music. In 1988, he was awarded the same by the City of Cologne. He received a scholarship in 1995/96 at the Künstlerhof Schreyahn (Artists' Colony), Lower Saxony, and in 1998 he has been granted a fellowship to carry out his work at the Villa Massimo in Rome. He has represented the young generation of Cologne musicians in exchange projects sponsored by the Goethe Institute in New York (1989) and Atlanta (1993). His pieces were selected for the World Music Days in Stockholm in 1994 and in Copenhagen in 1996. A CD with chamber music works by Caspar Johannes Walter released by the German Council of Music on the Label Wergo has been awarded the »Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik« in 1998.
In 2002/2003 Caspar Johannes Walter was teacher of composition and composer in Residence at the University of Birmingham/UK, since 2006 he was professor for composition and director of the studio contemporary music in Stuttgart/Germany and since since 2013 he is professor for composition at the Musikakademie Basel/Switzerland. In 2014 he was elected into the „Akademie der Künste, Berlin“.
"Studie zu harmonischen Illusionen", for violin, violoncello and cimbalo cromatico. First performance 16th of June 2011, Stuttgart. With Eva Saladin (violin), Caspar Johannes Walter (violoncello), Johannes Keller (cimbalo cromatico).
"Ultrachromatische Fantasie", for violin and fokker-organ. First performance 7th of February 2016, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam. With Eva Saladin (violin) and Johannes Keller (fokker-organ).
"Sono un fumo", music theatre score, commissioned by Il Profondo. First performance 14th of May 2016, Berlin.
"Intermezzi" for arciorgano, lirone and theorbo. First performance 16th of May 2017, SWR-Festspiele Schwetzingen. Commissioned by Klangforum Heidelberg. With Johannes Keller (arciorgano), Simon Linné (theorbo) and Brigitte Gasser (lirone).
Ed Williams
I am a harpsichordist, guitarist and composer working within the interstices between early music practices, noise improvisation, experimental composition and trans*feminist epistemologies.
Based between Marseille, France, and Basel, Switzerland, I am currently working with instruments such as microtonal organ, harpsichord and electric guitar on open compositions that combine 16th-century experimentation into microtonality and improvisation with contemporary performance practice. These are being developed alongside research into queer phenomenology and trans*feminist notions of dis/orientation and social engagement. For example, Decomposition Study for Arciorgano and 6 performers invites its performers to a collaborative approach that breaks down structured written music through improvisation and extended techniques on the organ.
I’ve released music on Editions Wandelweiser, Creative Sources, Insub. Records, Tombed Visions, and play with the Insub Meta Orchestra and Unorthodox Jukebox Orchestra. I’ve toured Europe and North America with improvised music projects, and my podcast "Echo Chamber" (2017-2020) dealt with the philosophical, social and emotional aspects of experimental music-making.
I hold ABRSM Grade 8 in Harpsichord and Classical Guitar and studied composition at the University of Edinburgh and electroacoustic composition at the Marseille Conservatory. I graduated with MA in Open Creation (Improvisation) from the Hochschule für Musik, Basel in 2023, and am currently terminating a year of research within the Music and Research department there relating enharmonic music to queer theory. I also translate texts for French new music publishers Maison ONA and others.
www.edwilliams.xyz
"Decomposition Study" for arciorgano and six performers. First performance March 2022, Musik-Akademie Basel. With Christoph Schiller, Anna-Kaisa Meklin, Abel Fazekas, Noah Rosen, Miriam Paschetta, Ed Williams (arciorgano).
Vito Žuraj
Powerful and meticulously crafted compositions, tailor-made for the performers and often including scenic elements and spatial sound concepts, are characteristic of Vito Žuraj’s work. Born in Maribor in 1979, his works have quickly gained recognition at major concert halls and festivals, interpreted among others by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern and the RIAS Kammerchor.
Vito Žuraj studied composition with Marko Mihevc, Lothar Voigtländer and Wolfgang Rihm. He was honoured with several prizes, including the city of Stuttgart’s composition award 2013 and the Prešeren Award, the highest decoration for artists in Slovenia. In 2014 he was invited to be a fellow at the Villa Massimo in Rome, and in 2016 he was awarded the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize by the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The prize included the commission for the work Alavó for soprano, piano and instrumental groups that was premiered with soloist Rinnat Moriah in Berlin in November 2017 followed by concerts in Paris and Lucerne.
A portrait CD has been released by Wergo, and other recordings of his works have been published on the label Neos. As a professor of composition and music theory at the Music Academy of the University of Ljubljana since 2015, he initiated the setting up of an electronic music studio, parallel to his lectureship in Karlsruhe.
Highlights of last season include the premiere of Stand up in March 2017, commissioned by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and a portrait concert in the new Hamburg Elbphilharmonie given by the Ensemble Modern. Further, Vito Žuraj was in residence at the Philharmonic Orchestra of Theater Erfurt, during which he created Drive for percussion trio and instrumental groups to be performed in May 2018.
This season, the Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra and Nika Gorič premiered Buch der Körper after poems by Aleš Šteger for 12 soloist strings and soprano in Ljubljana in January 2018. This will be followed by a performance of a new work for ensemble by the Klangforum Wien under Emilio Pomárico at the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik. The Philharmonia Orchestra London will present Aftertouch as well as the premiere of the English version of his farce Ubuquity for soprano and ensemble in April 2018.
"Recitativi", first performance 18th of October 2012, Oper Frankfurt, with Daniel Pataky (tenor) and Johannes Keller (cimbalo cromatico). Libretto: Alexander Stockinger. Commissioned by the programme of Academy Opera Today by the Deutsche Bank Foundation.
"Restrung", first performance 18th of January 2013, Frankfurter Positionen, with Ensemble Modern Frankfurt. Commissioned by BHF-Bank-Stiftung.
"Übürall", farces for soprano and instrumental groups. First performance 21st of November 2013, with Ensemble Modern, for "cresc..., Biennale für Neue Musik", Frankfurt.
"Orlando. Das Schloss", opera in one act for solo voices, choir electronics and orchestra. Concept and libretto by Alexander Stockinger. First performance 15th of June 2013, Theater Bielefeld. Commissioned by Deutsche Bank Stiftung and Theater Bielefeld.