I wrote a few lines on the questionable tendency in classical music journalism to refer to performers as ›geniuses‹ and to conductors as ›maestri‹. Not that anybody asked for my opinion, and I guess that some of you don’t care at all—but that’s exactly why I felt the need to express my uneasiness with that matter. Out now in VAN Magazin. Your thoughts are appreciated.
PhD Defence Ahead
Dear Viennese people, I have the pleasure to announce the public defence of my PhD thesis, a musicological study of the piano sonatas of Russian composer Nikolai Karlovich Medtner. Attendance will require your early bird virtues—but in case you are willing to take up this challenge, I’d be delighted if you joined me next Friday, 5 April, 9 am, in the Rectorate Meeting Room of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. The presentation will see me giving a 20-minute talk, followed by a 40-minute disputation, both held in German language.
A bilingual abstract of the dissertation is available here.
Get more information on my research related to Medtner’s music.
Sculpture of Sound
The recording of one of my most virtuosic compositions, ›Three‹ from the 2009 piano cycle Skulpturen, is now available for listening. Before I performed the piece in Bremen two weeks ago, I captured the preceding rehearsal somewhat in a hurry—and this material served as a basis for some weirdly detailed audio editing. So be aware that this is not a live recording, even though it may sound as if it were. Measured by these far-from-ideal conditions, I am fairly satisfied with the result and venture to share it with you today. If you are a pianist and feel inclined to tackle this piece so as to produce a more convincing performance or recording, please find the sheet music here.
Composer Slam on the Weser
Thrilled to participate in a Composer Slam once more! Saturday, March 9, will see me performing two of my solo piano compositions in the chamber hall of Die Glocke Bremen, presented by the incomparable Simon Kluth. Get ready for an exciting and multifaceted line-up, also featuring appearances by Lenka Zupkova, Hauke Scholten, Tonio Geugelin, and Ehsan Ebrahimi. Looking forward to traveling to beautiful Bremen again!
Premiere in Slovenia
As a composer, I occasionally show a certain predilection for idiosyncratic combinations of instruments. This applies, for example, to my four-part duo cycle At the Forest Verge for guitar and marimba, which will be premiered on Wednesday, March 6, 7:30 pm, in a faculty concert at Ljubljana Academy of Music. Many thanks to percussionist Petra Vidmar and guitarist Izidor Erazem Grafenauer for staging my music in Slovenia for the first time!