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Kulenty’s Music Blog

 News and information about past concerts, premières and events.

Posted  March 2024

La Scala Tutti – World première       

     
On 18 October 2022 the world premiere of La Scala Tutti (2022) for trumpet and trombone solo and string orchestra, will be performed at Filharmonia Łódzka im. Artura Rubinsteina in Łódź (PL). Kulenty's son Piotr Majoor takes on the trumpet part where Adrian Gryciuk will be the trombone soloist accompanied by Primuz Chamber Orchestra. The poster was designed by Kulenty's daughter Kaja Majoor.

Posted August 2020

Stunning performance of VAN... by Jussen brothers       

     
On 1 July 2020 the brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen performed a breathtaking concert at Concertgebouw Amsterdam. “In the work 'VAN...', written by the Polish Hanna Kulenty, the pianists forced a deep concentration of listening. The minimalist trance and the melancholy character came into the limelight. All in all a downright happening.” (Frederike Berntsen)

— “Incredible piece, incredible playing .. bravo!”
— “After such rapid-fire explosions, Kulenty's piece enables us to hear the music of silence -
      for  25 seconds. An eye-opening and ear-opening performance. Bravo!”
— “This could perfectly be the soundtrack of a movie”
— “Spectaculaire et magistral...”

Watch the performance by Lucas & Arthur Jussen here.

Posted 30 November 2016

‘String Quartet Nº 6’ – World première by Arditti Quartet       

     
The WORLD PREMIÈRE of ‘String Quartet Nº 6’ (2014), performed by the world renowned Arditti Quartet, took place at Wigmore Hall in London on the 26th of November 2016.

“In String Quartet No. 6 (which can be seen as a follow up of my String Quartet No. 5) I try to combine an existing theme that I used in the music for the feature film ‘Influence’ (‘Hiszpanka’) with quasi-melodical motives that from time to time accelerate, decelerate and come to a standstill, like a Doppler effect. This combination results in an almost ‘surrealistic’ effect. I sometimes use these different ‘time dimensions’ parallel, other times they follow each other chronologically, but in any case the listener experiences different feelings of time.”

‘String Quartet Nº 6’ was commissioned by Wigmore Hall (London) and De Doelen (Rotterdam). Listen to String Quartet Nº 6 here. 

Posted 20 November 2016

Opera ‘The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams’ – Dutch Première       

     
The DUTCH PREMIÈRE of the opera The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams (libretto by Paul Goodman) took place at the Zwitsal Fabriek in Apeldoorn on 6 August 2016, 20 years after its highly succesful world première during the Munich Biennale. Musicians from the National Youth Orchestra (conducted by Clark Rundell) and singers from the Dutch National Opera Academy gave five stunning performances. The opera was directed by Javier López Piñón, on which occasion he colaborated with Rieks Swarte (stage design), Alex Brok (lighting design) and Sacha Zwiers (stage clothes).

Music critics were divided about the reality and relevance of the subject, but specialists from the field of Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as ‘split personality’) were unanimously impressed with the opera's realistic approach.

“One of the great modern pieces”. Thea Derks, musicologist 

Posted 26 June 2016

‘Viola Concerto No. 1’ – Musique surrealistique       

     

When Hanna Kulenty wrote ‘Viola-Viva’ in 2014 she didn't know its succes would lead to the commission of a major concerto. She was asked to write a viola concerto, again for the amazing French violist Geneviève Strosser (right) and this time for Residentie Orkest, conducted by Otto Tausk (middle).

Viola Concerto No. 1 was performed three times (13, 14 and 15 May 2016). It was broadcasted on Dutch National Radio. Listen to Viola Concerto No. 1 here.
  

Posted 26 June 2016

Three times ‘Saxophone Concerto No. 1’       

On 22 April 2016 the world premiere of Saxophone Concerto No. 1 (written in 2015) took place in Warsaw at the National Philharmonic Concert Hall. Sold out twice and an enthousiastic response from the audience. Alina Mleczko (on the photo left), the saxophone player, gave a stunning performance as did the Warsaw Philharmonic, conducted by Michał Dworzyński. A third concert took place on 29 April 2016 with the Kielce Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Gazon.

Listen to Saxophone Concerto No. 1 here.
  

Posted 16 March 2016

Annual Award of the Polish Composers’ Union

       

On 23 September 2015 Hanna Kulenty received the Annual Award of the Polish Composers’ Union (ZKP). Kulenty was recognized for her outstanding body of compositions, strong individuality and combination of musical vigor with interesting structural solutions.
  

Posted 9 November 2015

New Hanna Kulenty YouTube channel

On Hanna Kulenty's official YouTube channel you will find full versions of several compositions. New works will be added regularly.
  

Posted 20 April 2015

Trumpet Concerto No. 3 – world premiere

After the succes of Trumpet Concerto No. 1, for which Hanna Kulenty in 2003 received the first prize at UNESCO’s 50th International Rostrum of Composers, she wrote Trumpet Concerto No. 3 in 2014.

On 17 April 2015 the world premiere of this Trumpet Concerto No. 3 took place in Katowice during the  Festival of Premieres of Polish Modern Music, hosted by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) in their new venue. With Marco Blaauw on trumpet and NOSPR conducted by Alexander Humala, it was an overwhelming concert, with a solo encore by Blaauw.
  

Posted 23 January 2015

Music for the film ‘Hiszpanka’

In 2014 Hanna Kulenty wrote the music for the feature film HISZPANKA (english title INFLUENCE) from Polish film director Łukasz Barczyk. On 22 January 2015 the film was premiered in Warsaw. Watch the trailer of the film on the official website.

INFLUENCE is a story about the key events of the Wielkopolska Uprising - a dramatic arrival of Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Poznan, and the people who prepared the uprising, fought in it and won. INFLUENCE uses the characteristics of action and thriller movies. Refers to the cinema era - German expressionism, and the atmosphere of the era - the pervasive sense of the end of old world and the birth of the new one, fear of change and at the same time striving for it.
  

Posted 10 November 2014

Guest Composer at GAIDA Festival, Lithuenia

Hanna Kulenty served as Guest Composer for the 2014 Gaida Festival, in October and November, 2014,  in Vilnius, Lithuania. A Portrait Programme with her music was presented.

Five concerts with her music were performed during the Festival: Part One, Crossing Lines, E-Motions (with Eneasz Kubit as soloist), GG Concerto (with Goska Isphording as soloist) and Trumpet Concerto (with Marco Blaauw as soloist).
  

Posted  22 September 2014

VAN… a new work for piano four hands (quatre-mains)

On 24 and 25 June 2014 King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of The Netherlands were going to Poland as their first state visit. One of the activities during their visit was a concert for which Hanna Kulenty wrote the composition ‘VAN…’ for piano four hands, to be performed by the dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the work was not performed during this concert.

On 20 September 2014 ‘VAN…’ finally was premiered by the polish pianists Piotr Kopczyński, and Julia Samojło (image above) during the Warsaw Autumn Festival. More than half a year later the work was eventually performed by Lucas and Arthur Jussen during a concert in Utrecht (NL). Listen to the polish performance here:

. VAN… (2014) - for piano four hands.
  

Posted 8 March 2014

‘Viola-Viva’ – Geneviève Strosser and Asko|Schönberg Ensemble

Viola-Viva (2013) was commissioned by Asko|Schönberg Ensemble (conducted by Etienne Siebens), with the French violist Geneviève Strosser playing the solo part. It was premiered on 5 March 2014 at De Doelen, Rotterdam. Dutch music critic Thea Derks wrote the following:

As in most of her music, Kulenty grabs her audience by the throat directly, Strosser setting off with long-held, emphatically repeated notes in the darkly resonating low register. Only very slowly the ambitus is widened, from a second to a third and more, and hesitantly develops into a very simple melody. The atmosphere is intoxicating and threatening, the viola taking the lead in a primordial ritual from which nobody can escape.

The piece heaves and breathes in obsessive crescendos and decrescendos, the ensemble playing upward and downward scales that echo the viola part. It’s almost as if the soloist has the other musicians on a string, like a regular shaman. The rhythm becomes quicker and more intense, and is interspersed with sudden silences - the musicians seemingly stumbling over their own quick notes. The viola moves on into its higher register, producing fearful, whining tremolos, as if it’s losing control. The wonderfully assured Strosser then plays a lament, accompanied by woodblocks and piano arpeggios and the piece dies away with softly tinkling bells.
  

Posted 28 November 2013

Kulenty at EFG London Jazz Festival

In November 2013 Hanna Kulenty was invited for a UK tour on which her composition Smokey Eyes was performed by the Alexander von Schlippenbach Trio and Noszferatu. The premiere took place on 16 November 2013 at the EFG London Jazz Festival and it was broadcasted by BBC Radio 3.

Other performances were in Oxford and in Birmingham. On the images above: the Oxford poster, Hanna Kulenty and Joe Cutler, rehearsal at the Southbank Centre, London.  

Posted 25 November 2013

‘Five-for-Five’ – Transemble performs world première

Photo: Joanna Stoga

On 18 November 2013 the world première of the string quintet ‘Five for Five’ was performed by Polish string quintet Transemble. You can see a small video of the rehearsal here.

 

Posted 27 January 2013

‘E-motions’ world première

19 January 2013 the world première of E-motions (written in 2012) for accordion, string orchestra and percussion was premiered by Eneasz Kubit on accordion and the Leopoldinum Orchestra, conducted by Ernst Kovacic. After Preludium, Postludium and Psalm this is the second time Eneasz Kubit is performing an accordion work by Kulenty. The performance took place at the Wrocław Philharmonic in Poland.

Another Kulenty composition, Emotionsolo for accordion solo (2013), was premiered by Eneasz Kubit at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw on 15 November 2013.

You can see a video fragment of E-motions here.  

Posted 26 December 2012

‘Preludium, Postludium and Psalm’ included on CD

In december 2012 Preludium, Postludium and Psalm was included on the CD ‘Satin’ by Magdalena Bojanowicz (cello) and Maciej Frąckiewicz (accordion). Both musicians graduated at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. They also perform under the name of TWOgether Duo.

Preludium, Postludium and Psalm is a triptyk, in which the three seperate parts fluently go over in each other, even overlapping each other. Postludium is the upbeat for Preludium. In the end the mystic line of Psalm starts, in which the utmost possibilities of the accordeon and cello are used, untill almost inaudible pitches.

The CD can be ordered online at Sarton Records.  

Posted 8 April 2012

Kronos Quartet, world première of String Quartet No.5

Shortly after the concert in Rotterdam

In 2007 Kronos Quartet ("probably the most famous 'new music' group in the world") commissioned Hanna Kulenty to write a string quartet. String Quartet No. 4 (A Cradle Song) was performed more than 20 times throughout the world, including at the Sydney Opera House (5 june 2009) and at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

In 2009 Kronos Quartet again asked her to write a composition. The WORLD PREMIÈRE of this String Quartet No. 5 was performed by them on the 19th of May 2012 at De Doelen in Rotterdam (NL).

On the picture above from left to right: Hank Dutt (viola), Kaja Majoor, Hanna Kulenty, David Harrington (violin), Piotr Majoor, Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), John Sherba (violin).

Posted 8 April 2012

‘Kulenty—improvisando—Konikiewicz’

An unconventional concert took place on 23 March 2012. The four compositions on the CD ‘Music 4’ took a central place during a concert in which Polish jazz pianist Wojciech Konikiewicz improvised using piano and electronics. The program included:
GG Concerto (2009), for harpsichord and string orchestra
Music for Roy (2010), for mixed choir and chamber orchestra
Breathe (1987), for string orchestra
Sinequan Forte B (1994), for solo amplified cello with delay and chamber orchestra

The concert was co-organized by DUX Recording Producers and took place at Lokal Uzytkowy in the old city of Warsaw. 

Posted 22 May 2011

New CD release Hanna Kulenty ‘Music 4’

On 13 May 2011 the CD ‘Hanna Kulenty – Music 4’ was presented at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. It contains 4 works that were all performed by the Wrocław Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum conducted by Ernst Kovacic. All compositions have been recorded in the studio, in presence of the composer. 

Gośka Isphording (harpsichord) and Bartosz Koziak (cello) are the soloists on this CD. Also the Wrocław Philharmonic Choir performs on one of the presented works. 

1.  GG Concerto (2009) for harpsichord and string orchestra
2.  Music for Roy (2010) for mixed choir and chamber orchestra
3.  Breathe (1987) for string orchestra
4.  Sinequan Forte B (1994) for amplified cello and chamber orchestra

There is an excellent review in Polish by Anna Iwanicka-Nijakowska. Read the review here

Released by the Wrocław Philharmonic and DUX Recording Producers (DUX 0823).
You can buy the CD online here.

Posted 15 May 2011

‘Trumpet Concerto’ at the Warsaw Philharmonic

The program booklet of the Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

On 12 and 13 May 2011 Trumpet Concerto was succesfully performed twice at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall. Marco Blaauw was the soloist of this award-winning composition, this time with the Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by swedish Niklas Willén. Since its world première in 2003 it was the 7th and 8th time Trumpet Concerto has been performed.

Posted 14 January 2011

Full of Grace: ‘Decimo Forte’

Emilio Pomárico (on the right) shortly after the première of ‘Decimo Forte’ 

On 12 January 2011 the WORLD PREMIÈRE of Decimo Forte, for choir and ensemble, was  performed by Asko|Schönberg Ensemble and the Nederlands Kamerkoor (Netherlands Chamber Choir), conducted by Emilio Pomárico, during the program ‘Vol van Genade’ (Full of Grace). The text in Decimo Forte is the Ave Maria. The concert took place at quite a suitable venue: the Laurens Church in Rotterdam (see picture above). A day later Decimo Forte was again performed for a full house at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam.

Posted 5 October 2010

Two premières by Gośka Isphording

In 2010 harpsichordist Gośka Isphording premièred two Kulenty-compositions: G for G (for harpsichord solo) and  GG Concerto (for harpsichord and string orchestra). On 14 August 2010 G for G was played at the Procembalo 2010 Festival, the first International Contemporary Harpsichord Festival in Parma. GG Concerto was presented at the seasons opening concert of the Wroclaw Philharmonic on 3 October 2010. The excellent play of Gośka Isphording was accompanied by the Wrocław Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, conducted by Ernst Kovacic.

The two G’s in both titles refer to G-major and to Gośka, or Gośka Isphording, the talented Polish harpsichordist for whom GG Concerto and G for G were written. In its turn the title G for G refers directly to Hanna Kulenty’s first composition for harpsichord solo: E for E, written twenty years ago for the famous Polish harpsichordist Elizabeth Chojnacka, thus a work in E-major for Elizabeth. 

On 19 February 2008 Gośka Isphording also performed E for E during the ‘Musica Polonica Nova 2008’ festival in the beautiful concert hall of the Oratorium Marianum in Wrocław (picture above left). It is included on her CD ‘Per Clavicembalo Moderno’.

Posted 23 September 2010

‘Twenty-five’, a symphonic work

René Gulikers (conductor) and Hanna Kulenty on stage after the première of Twenty-five 

The legendary Warsaw Autumn Festival commissioned Hanna Kulenty to write a work for symphony orchestra. The result was the composition Twenty-five. On 21 September 2010 the WORLD PREMIÈRE took place at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw. Dutch conductor René Gulikers conducted the Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus.

Posted 17 May 2010

Opera: ‘The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams’

A succesfull POLISH PREMIÈRE of the opera The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams (libretto by Paul Goodman) took place at the Wroclaw Opera on 15 May 2010. The reviews were favourable and so far all performances have been sold out, just like 15 years before when the opera was premiered at the Munich Biennale. Below are two reviews of the first opera performances in Munich/Hamburg in 1996/1997:

After the Munich premiere, euphoric reviews appeared. Finally again a viable modern chamber opera was born. The reactions of the Hamburg audience confirmed the unique position of Kulenty’s opera.  [Hamburger Anzeigen und Nachrichten, 1997]

Sold out! And immediately four times. What the big Hamburg State Opera doesn't achieve anymore, is done at the small Opera Stabile auditorium. And then to think it is for a comtemporary opera. Hanna Kulenty’s chamber opera is on its way to become a cultpiece.  [MorgenPost Hamburg, 8-1-1997]

Now in 2010 the Polish title of the opera is Matka czarnoskrzydłych snów. It was directed by Ewelina Pietrowiak and performed by members of Opera Wrocławska, conducted by Wojciech Michniewski and Bassem Akiki.

“Hanna Kulenty's masterpiece explores the difficult subject of the multiple personality syndrome. Don't miss the chance to see one of the most acclaimed works in recent years”.  [Opera Wrocławska]

Posted 27 September 2009

Violin Concerto No. 2

Hanna Kulenty, Jacek Kaspszyk and Rafał Zambrzycki-Payne

Directly after Hanna Kulenty had finished her first opera ‘The Mother of Black-Winged Dreams’ in 1995, she started composing her Violin Concerto No. 2. She had it in mind for a long time already, but the opera had to be finished first to be in time for the performances during the Munich Biennale. Four years later, in June 2000 she was Composer-in-Residence with the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra of Gelderland Province (Het Gelders Orkest), and for this occasion Violin Concerto No. 2 had its WORLD PREMIÈRE with the Dutch violist Isabelle van Keulen on violin.

The POLISH PREMIÈRE was on 25 September 2009 during the Warsaw Autumn Festival at the National Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw. The young violist Rafał Zambrzycki-Payne – winner of the first prize at the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition – gave a stunning performance. He was accompanied by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.

Posted 31 August 2009

The 10 best compositions of 2008

Hanna Kulenty’s String Quartet No. 3 - Tell me about was nominated among the 10 best  compositions of 2008 during the Dutch composition contest Toonzetters 2009. For this occasion the work was performed on 29 August 2009 by the Dutch string quartet Rubens Kwartet during a concert at the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam.

The WORLD PREMIÈRE of String Quartet No. 3 - Tell me about it had taken place on 7 November 2008 in Montréal by Canadian string quartet Quatuor Bozzini.

Posted 7 June 2009

Kronos Quartet plays ‘String Quartet No.4’

Right: Hanna Kulenty with three members of Kronos Quartet after the Berlin concert.

In 2007 Kronos Quartet commissioned Hanna Kulenty to write a string quartet. The WORLD PREMIÈRE of this String Quartet No. 4 (A Cradle Song), took place on 3 September 2008 during the Ravinia Festival 2008 in Martin Theatre, Highland Park, Illinois (USA). Since its première String Quartet No. 4 has been performed more than 20 times throughout the world, including at the Sydney Opera House (5 june 2009) and at New York’s Carnegie Hall (5 December 2008, picture left).

[…] But the most powerful work was Hanna Kulenty’s gripping String Quartet No. 4 (A Cradle Song) in which a poignant melody serves as the heart of a funereal threnody in memory of Ms. Kulenty’s daughter, who died in childhood.  [Steve Smith, New York Times, 7 December 2008]

Listening, though, to String Quartet No. 4, was a stunning experience. The song itself was a few simple measures, but as it gradually increased in complexity, we had to feel drawn into the strings themselves, the emotions, the stellar joy within the universe of its notes.  [Harry Rolnick, concerto.net, 5 December 2008]

Posted 8 April 2009

Filmscore for Polish television play

On 6 April 2009 the première of the television film ‘Kwatera bożych pomyleńców’ (‘Headquarters of the believing fools’) of Polish director Jerzy Zalewski was broadcasted on Polish television  (TVP 1). The filmscore of this film has been composed by Hanna Kulenty.

“The television play, with the beautiful music of Hanna Kulenty, is like an opera about a generation whose world has vanished forever.” [TVP, Daga, 16 March 2009]

A recording of Kulenty’s composition Trumpet Concerto (for trumpet and symphony orchestra) dominates the filmscore. It had been performed by Marco Blaauw on trumpet and Sinfonia Varsovia, conducted by Renato Rivolta. Read more...

Posted 8 December 2008

CD ‘Hanna Kulenty meets milf’

On 6 December 2008 the CD Hanna Kulenty meets milf was released. It is the soundtrack of the film Nieruchomy Poruszyciel (Unmoved Mover), a feature film of Polish film director Łukasz Barczyk. The soundtrack has been compiled by Hanna Kulenty, and some tracks have been reworked by Polish nu-metal/punk-rock/hip-hop band ‘milf’. It includes a specially composed electronic tape ‘Fabryka-tapes’, as well as parts of the compositions Preludium, Postludium and Psalm, Flute Concerto No. 1, A Third Circle, Still life with a cello, Violin Concerto No. 2, and parts of the ‘Hoffmanniana tapes’. The FILM PREMIERE was on 3 November 2008 at Cinema City in Warsaw, Poland. Read more...

Posted 9 November 2008

Music for the dance-theatre production ‘Lost & Found’

Lost & Found twenty-five is composed especially for the remarkable dance-theatre production ‘Lost & Found’. The 90-minute stage work for six dancers/actors, ensemble and tape brings an ode to the imagination and the absurd. It was produced by dance and music theatre company ‘Bollwerk’, under the artistic direction of Andrea Boll. The new composition by Hanna Kulenty is played live by ensemble ‘de ereprijs’ during all 15 performances.

The WORLD PREMIÈRE of Lost & Found took place on 7 November 2008 during the Cadance Festival at the Spui Theater in the Hague (NL).

Posted 2 September 2008

The 10 best compositions of 2007

Hanna Kulenty’s Preludium, Postludium and Psalm (for accordion and cello) was nominated among the 10 best  compositions of 2007 during the Dutch composition contest Toonzetters 2008. For this occasion the work was performed on 31 August 2008 by the Polish duo Eneasz Kubit and Jan Skopowski during a concert at the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam.
The WORLD PREMIÈRE of Preludium, Postludium and Psalm had been performed by the same Eneasz Kubit (accordeon) and Jan Skopowski (cello) on 9 October 2007 at the International Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog 2007.

Posted 24 January 2008

‘Portret Hanna Kulenty’

In January 2008, there were two concerts in the Netherlands devoted to the music of Hanna Kulenty. It included the World Premiere of Kisses & Crosses, written in 2007 for piano and percussion. These concerts featured the Ensemble de Ereprijs, conducted by Wim Boerman, with soloists Frank Peters (piano), Marco Blaauw (trumpet) and Arnold Marinissen (percussion).  The performance dates and venues were: 18 January 2008 at the Korzo Theater, The Hague and 22 January 2008 at Musis Sacrum, Arnhem.

The concert program looked as follows:
A Sixth Circle – Marco Blaauw and Frank Peters
Piano Concerto No. 1 –  Frank Peters and Ensemble de Ereprijs
Brass No. 1 – Marco Blauw, trumpet solo
A Third Circle – Frank Peters, piano solo
Island – Marco Blaauw and Ensemble de Ereprijs
Kisses & Crosses – World Premiere - Frank Peters and Arnold Marinissen (Jan. 18 only)
Sesto – Frank Peters, piano solo (Jan. 22 only)

Posted 11 October 2007

International Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog 2007

On 9 October 2007 the WORLD PREMIÈRE of Preludium, Postludium and Psalm was performed by Eneasz Kubit (accordion) and Jan Skopowski (cello) at the International Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog 2007.

Update 2-11-2008: Preludium, Postludium and Psalm was nominated among the 10 best  compositions of 2007 during the Dutch composition contest Toonzetters 2008. For this occasion the work was again performed on 31 August 2008 by the Polish duo Eneasz Kubit and Jan Skopowski during a concert at the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam (see pictures above).

Posted 1 October 2007

Trumpet Concerto (german première), 2006

In 2006 Trumpet Concerto had its german première in Münster. It was performed three times on 17, 18 and 22 January at the Großes Haus der Städtischen Bühnen with Marco Blaauw on trumpet and the Sinfonieorchester Münster, conducted by Johannes Willig.


A week later, on 29 January, Marco Blaauw again performed Trumpet Concerto, this time in Berlin during the closing concert of Festival UltraSchall 2006 - Polska Avantgarde 5 at the Konzertsaal der Universität der Künste Berlin. Martyn Brabbins conducted the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester.
 

Posted 1 October 2007

Soundstreams Canada 2005

On April 14th 2005, Soundstreams Canada presented Sonic Intuition: the music of André Ristic (Canada), and Hanna Kulenty (Poland/Netherlands). It was an extraordinary evening of music featuring,among others, the world premiere of Hanna Kulenty’s Brass No. 4, performed by Marco Blaauw on a double-belled trumpet.

André Ristic was not only featured as composer, he is also a great pianist. He performed Hanna Kulenty’s Drive Blues and together with Marco Blaauw he played A Sixth Circle. The concert took place at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto (see picture above).

Posted 1 October 2007

Other Minds Festival 10, 2004

In 2004, Hanna Kulenty was invited for a week to be a part of the 10th Other Minds International Music Festival in San Francisco. This Composer-to-Composer Festival was divided into two parts: first the major participants (prominent 20th century composers and scholars chosen from diverse stylistic and cultural backgrounds) met privately for four days at the Djerassi Resident, outside of the city. Then they returned to San Francisco for public performances and concerts.

On March 4, 2004 Flute Concerto No. 1 (for Microtonal Flute, Winds and Percussion) had its American debut on March 4, 2004 at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. It was performed by Anne LaBerge on quarter-tone flute, and Parallèle Ensemble, conducted by Nicole Paiement.

Posted 1 October 2007

UNESCO’s 50th International Rostrum of Composers, 2003

Trumpet Concerto (2002) by Hanna Kulenty was awarded the first prize by radio music producers participating in the prestigous UNESCO 50th International Rostrum of Composers,
held at the ORF in Vienna, June 2 - 6 2003. For this achievement Hanna Kulenty received the UNESCO Mozart Medal from the International Music Council.


Trumpet Concerto had been produced by Polish Radio at 3.3.2003 in Katowice, during a live concert (see poster above). It was performed by Marco Blaauw on trumpet, and by The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ronald Zollman.

On 22 September 2003 Trumpet Concerto was again performed, this time at the Warsaw Autumn Festival with Sinfonia Varsovia conducted by Renato Rivolta, and again Marco Blaauw on his red quarter-tone trumpet (see picture above).

Posted 1 October 2007

Potrait concert  + Arcs & Circles (2000)

On November 2000 a portrait concert was organized by DeutschlandRadio in Cologne. The concert was recorded for the CD ‘Arcs & Circles’. The below review was written by Maika Trochimczyk in 2001.

Kulenty’s chamber music

Hanna Kulenty's chamber and solo compositions based on the themes of “arches and circles” may be found on a new CD issued in Cologne, Germany by the Frau Musica Nova Foundation (Frau Musica 003).

The CD which brings together performances heard during Kulenty’s compositional concert held in Cologne in 2000 and broadcast by the German Radio (DeutschlandRadio), includes a set of works based on the idea of the “circle” – A Third Circle for solo piano (1996), A Fourth Circle for violin and piano (1994), A Fifth Circle for alto flute and electronics (1995), A Sixth Circle for trumpet and piano (1995). The movements flow smoothly from one into another – perhaps because all these works were composed roughly in the same period and feature similar compositional techniques applied to different instrumental textures.

In addition, the CD includes a solo percussion piece, Arci (1986), and ends with a chamber composition, Stretto (1998). Kulenty's music of great emotional intensity and virtuosity is played with mastery and ease by an international array of performers. It is one of the best CDs of Polish new music currently available and a fascinating portrait of an original composer. The program notes by the composer and German musicologist, Cordula Jaspers (in German and English), are presented in an elegant booklet. You can order the CD online here: http://www.jazzhausmusik.de