Schallfeld Ensemble: opening concert impuls Festival

A festival is by definition a time of celebration, and there are many things we want to celebrate in the program of the Opening Concert of the 8th Edition of the impuls Festival: on the occasion of his 80th birthday, we pay homage to Brian Ferneyhough, and welcome Francesco Filidei and Francesca Verunelli, who are tutoring at the impuls Academy for the first time.

Certainly there is, of course, the new works: the Austrian premiere of an Ulysses Network commission to Elena Rykova and a new composition by Dmitri Kourliandksi, created especially for Ensemble Schallfeld to be premiered at impuls 2023; and finally, we also celebrate Schallfeld’s fifth participation in impuls during the tenth anniversary year of the ensemble.

The common thread of this program is the inspiration from extra-musical elements: Whether it is a historical painting (as in “La Chute d’Icare”), or the illusion of movement created by static images (as in “Cinemaolio”), a poem by Eduardo Sanguineti (in the case of “Finito Ogni Gesto”), or places, lonely inner places in the case of Rykova, or quite real and quite crowded ones in the case of Kourliandski. Through ekphrasis or synesthesia, the music always seems to act as a metaphorical space. Therefore, the score itself lends itself to becoming an abstract place that can be (re)written, measured, or “inhabited”.

Schallfeld is an international ensemble for contemporary music based in Graz. The group sparks the interest of its audience by its vivid virtuosity and refined chamber music sound, paired with interpretations that pay special attention to concert format, creating events that adapt to the specific venue while aiming for a new dimension of listening. The ensemble was founded in 2013 by alumni of Klangforum Wien and composition students of Kunstuniversität Graz. It currently consists of musicians from 8 nationalities and reflects the diversity and different interests of its members in its artistic direction. In the last few years, Schallfeld has been able to establish itself on international stages through exciting programming with a focus on young composers, innovative concert-stagings as well as through the quality of its collective improvisations and innovative use of live-electronics. Schallfeld sees its mission in bringing music of international young composers to Austria and acting as an ambassador for new music production abroad.

Besides its own concert cycle in Graz, Schallfeld is regularly guest in festivals in Austria and abroad. In 2016 and 2017 Schallfeld has been selected by the Ministry of Foreign/Cultural Affairs as representative of NASOM (New Austrian Sound of Music), a program designed to promote young Austrian artists internationally and, since 2015, is Ulysses Network Ensemble in Residence. 2022 Schallfeld Ensemble was awarded the Grand Interpretation Prize of Land Steiermark.