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

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

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 ...

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

, 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

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 Georg Friedrich Haas (born 16 August 1953) is an Austrian composer. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, pieces by Haas received the most votes (49), and his composition ''in vain'' (2000) topped the li ...

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (; born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. Associated with the "instrumental musique concrète" style, Lachenmann is alongside Wolfgang Rihm as among the leading Germa ...

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to ''Grove Music Online'', with a style that draws on " Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is c ...

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) is an Austrian contemporary classical composer, visual artist and author. She is famed especially for her operas and music theater works, many of which have treated sociopolitical themes. She has emphasized an ...

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 2018 ...

and

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

. Performing ensembles have included the

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

, 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 o ...

, and the Ensemble intercontemporain. 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. 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,

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- ...

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 Music ...

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