Klangspuren, also Klangspuren Schwaz, subtitled Tiroler Festival für Neue Musik, is an annual festival for contemporary music in

Schwaz Schwaz () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Schwaz district. Schwaz is located in the lower Inn valley. Location Schwaz lies in the middle of the Lower Inn Valley at the foot of the Kellerjoch a ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, founded in 1994. The title literally translates to "traces of sound". It commissioned around 200 orchestral and ensemble compositions as of 2020. The artistic director is Reinhard Kager.

History

The Klangspuren festival was founded, dedicated to contemporary music and avant-garde music, in

, in 1994 by

Thomas Larcher Thomas Larcher (born 16 September 1963, in Innsbruck) is an Austrian composer and pianist. Biography and Work Thomas Larcher completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna under Heinz Medjimorec and Elisabeth Leonsk ...

and Maria-Luise Mayr. The festival commissioned around 200 orchestral and ensemble works as of 2020, including compositions by Georg Friedrich Haas,

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography Györ ...

Johannes Maria Staud Johannes Maria Staud (born 17 August 1974) is an Austrian composer. Biography Staud was born in Innsbruck and studied with, among others, Brian Ferneyhough and Michael Jarrell (at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna). In 1999/ ...

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (born 4 August 1968 in Graz) is an Austrian classical composer, visual artist and author. She gained fame mainly through her operas and music theater works, which often deal with topical and decidedly political themes of identity, ...

Beat Furrer Beat Furrer (born 6 December 1954) is a Swiss-born Austrian composer and conductor. He has served as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 1991. He was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 201 ...

and

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music pri ...

. Performing ensembles have included the

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

, the

Klangforum Wien The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music. Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no ...

, and the

Ensemble intercontemporain The Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC) is a French music ensemble, based in Paris, that is dedicated to contemporary music. Pierre Boulez founded the EIC in 1976 for this purpose, the first permanent organization of its type in the world. Organi ...

. One focus of the festival is the attempt to reach new audiences, for example apprentices and children. Projects are advertised with unusual methods, and some performances scheduled in venues such as supermarkets, tennis halls and factories. In 2003, the South Tyrolean pianist Peter Paul Kainrath became artistic director. He was succeeded in 2013 by the German music curator

Matthias Osterwold Matthias Osterwold (born 1950) is a German culture manager. Life Born in Hamburg, Osterwold studied sociology, economics and urban research in Hamburg as well as musicology in Berlin. In 1983, he was one of the founders of the "Freunde Guter Mu ...

. From 2019, the Austrian music curator and journalist Reinhard Kager has been artistic director. Due to the 2020 COVID19 pandemic, the program of the 2020 festival was changed to a focus on Austrian performers who have no travel restriction, and to small ensembles. The opening concert on 11 September combines works from the 21st century by

Hannes Kerschbaumer Hannes is a masculine given name and a diminutive of Johannes or Hannibal. Hannes may refer to: *Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) Swedish chemist and Nobel-prize winner * Hannes Aigner (born 1989), German slalom canoeist and Olympic medalist * Hannes ...

Adriana Hölszky Adriana Hölszky (born 30 June 1953) is a Romanian-born German music educator, composer and pianist who has been living in Germany since 1976. Biography Hölszky was born in Bucharest. In the years 1959-1969 she studied piano with Olga Rosca-Be ...

and Gerd Kühr with English music from the 20th century by

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...

and

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

, played by the .

References

External links

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Alle Artikel kategorisiert unter "Klangspuren Schwaz"
(list of articles, in German) Neue Musikzeitung
Klangspuren Schwaz
(list of articles, in German) musicaustria.at {{Authority control Classical music festivals in Austria Contemporary classical music festivals Music festivals established in 1994