Poznan’s Sepia Ensemble and the artistic agency Sonora explore contemporary music in many ways, one of them being the project Zooming. Now, after projects in Estonia and in Ireland, Zooming: Luxembourg was the third of the projects presenting contemporary music of selected countries.
About contemporary music in Luxembourg, Sepia’s artistic director Artur Kroschel, says: « The contemporary music of this country is certainly rich in individual traits of the composers. The combination of tradition with modernity, ‘new virtuosity’, extended instrumental techniques, colour sensitivity and new impressionism were the most important characteristics of the music in the Zooming: Luxembourg program. Another important aspect of the project was to present the music from Luxembourg in a generational dimension. The program was composed of pieces by the well-established composers Jeannot Heinen (born in 1937) and Alexander Müllenbach (born in 1949), by composers whose original style is clearly recognizable, Claude Lenners (born in 1956) and Roland Wiltgen (born in 1957), as well as by composers of the younger generation, with clear aesthetic preferences, Albena Petrovic-Vratchanska (born in 1965) and Marcel Reuter (born in 1973). »
Thanks to the support of music:LX and the composer Albena Petrovic-Vratchanska for the FLAC (Luxembourgish Composers Association), the Polish musicians could acquire a number of scores by Luxembourgish composers and put together two programs. The result were an all-Luxembourgish program for the concert in Poznan (13th of December 2015) and a program mixing pieces from Poland with the ones from Luxembourg, presented as part of the concert series of Foyer Européen in Luxembourg (28th of February 2016).
Stanislaw Suchora, manager of the Zooming: Luxembourg project says: « One of the values of the Zooming: Luxembourg project was that it presented a repertoire which is performed very rarely both in Poland and in Luxembourg. The project turned out to be a big success, taking in consideration positive reactions of the public both in Poznan and in Luxembourg. »
According to Suchora, « it was also interesting to see how Polish composers inspired their pairs in Luxembourg, to name Aspekte über den Minutenwalzer von Frédéric Chopin, op. 66 for piano by Jeannot Heinen, or the use of controlled aleatoric techniques, developed by Witold Lutoslawski, and present in the music of Albena Petrovic-Vratchanska. I do hope that thanks to our project and a consequent representation of contemporary music from Luxembourg in Poland, we will be soon able to observe Luxembourgish inspirations in the music by young Polish composers.
Another value of the Zooming: Luxembourg is the fact that it is a sustainable project. Having learnt and enjoyed performing pieces by composers from Luxembourg, the musicians of Sepia Ensemble will surely keep them in their repertoire, presenting them both in Poland and internationally beyond this very project.
Finally, the success of the project in both countries, the enthusiasm and determination of Albena Petrovich-Vratchanska who was one of the pillars of Zooming: Luxembourg, as well as the interest of new partners from both countries make me believe that a further fruitful musical collaboration between Poland and Luxembourg in possible. »
Albena Petrovic – Vratchanska says: « From my point of view, the project Zooming:Luxembourg could be a model to adopt for future exchanges among contemporary composers from different countries, involving the leading musicians in that genre. We had a big success both in Poznan and Luxembourg, the audience was enthusiastic to discover a new repertoire! I believe this experience will encourage all the stakeholders involved in the project to continue in exchanging concerts, compositions and interpreters.
When generally the majority of musicians play 200 compositions from 20 dead composers, I think it is kind of a ‘revolution’ when an ensemble, a concert or even an article on the media is dedicated to living composers and their works. Zooming:Luxembourg was a great initiative – it was a cultural bridge that gave the possibility for discovering, promoting and informing the public of two different European countries on the contemporary music of the respective countries. I would like to thank you the talented musicians of the Sepia Ensemble for their job! »
More information about the project can be found here.
