PHACE

Ivana Pristasova Zaugg, violin
Petra Ackermann, viola
Roland Schueler, cello

On the Couch Studiokonzert #99 with the PHACE – string trio

Alexander J. Eberhard (*1970)
Azul für Streichtrio und Zuspielung (UA)
Moonwalk für Viola und Zuspielung (2019)

Fausto Romitelli (1963–2004)
Cadenz für Cello solo von Professor Bad Trip: Lesson II (1998-99)

Germán Toro-Perez (*1964)
Rulfo / Stimmen I für Violine, Viola, Violoncello und Elektronik (2004)
Rulfo/ecos II für Streichtrio und Elektronik (2006)

PHACE
Doris Nicoletti, flute
Michael Krenn, saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Roland Schueler, cello
Alexandra Dienz, double bass

Seven years after our last performance there, PHACE is back in beautiful Olomouc this autumn, at this year’s MUSICOLOMOUC16. The program once again includes a wide range of contemporary chamber music, where fascinating sound ideas branch out in all directions. Chamber Nôise by Ondřej Adámek plays with the gestures of Japanese Noh theater and constructs a captivating sound world of slow motion movements and precision. In Cendres by Kaija Saariaho, the instruments drift between extreme closeness – in pitch, rhythm, articulation or timbre – and the greatest possible distance and individuality. In Sighs, Allesandro Milia concentrates on breathing and the changed emotional states that accompany it. The piece is less a musical breathing exercise, but rather transfers the cyclical nature and temporal flexibility of breathing into musical forms. A physical phenomenon serves as inspiration for Otto Wanke in streams…contacs. As with the diffraction or bending of light, the sounds break at corners and edges, interfere with each other and thereby change their energy. Sarah Nemtsov’s Sechs Zeichen on the other hand, deals with polar musical phenomena that interlock, cancel each other out or change their states of aggregation. This is accompanied by a new work by Slavomir Hořínka for tenor saxophone, cello, double bass and piano, whose premiere we are eagerly awaiting.

PROGRAM

Ondřej Adámek
Chamber Nôise für Cello und Kontrabass, 2010

Sarah Nemtsov
Sechs Zeichen für Cello und (präpariertes) Klavier, 2010

Slavomír Hořínka
Neues Werk für Tenorsaxophon, Cello, Kontrabass und Klavier, UA, 2024

Alessandro Milia
Sighs für Altflöte, Sopransaxophon und Klavier, 2016

Otto Wanke
streams-contacts für Bassflöte und Klavier, 2020

Kaija Saariaho
Cendres für Altflöte, Cello und Klavier, 1998

Tratado de lo inasible

Ungreifbares als Metamodell

25.Apr.2024 // 20:00
Wien, Suena Festival, Studio Moliere

PHACE
Elena Gabbrielli, flute
Reinhold Brunner, clarinet
Michael Krenn, saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Maria Mogas Gensana, accordion
Victor Lowrie Tafoya, viola
Roland Schueler, cello
Alexandra Dienz, double bass

Programm

Michelle Agnes Magalhães 
Mobile für präpariertes Klavier, 2013 (8’)

Pedro Berardinelli
urbe – em si fechada für Saxophon, Akkordeon, Viola, Kontrabass, 2021 (10’)

Erika Vega
Refractions für Flöte, Cello und Klavier,  2014 (11’)

Arturo Fuentes
Zeitlos für Bassklarinette, Viola und Klavier, 2014 (11’)

Alberto Posadas
Tratado de lo inasible für Kontrabassklarinette, Saxophon, Akkordeon, Cello und Kontrabass, 2013 (19’)

The heart of the program, Tratado de lo inasible by Alberto Posadas, is characterized by the choice of a special sound nature as a compositional starting point. At the center is an intangible and unstable sound that constantly seeks to escape certainty. The primitive, hardly resistant sound element, which can only exist under very special conditions, can only tolerate very slow changes. Five instruments play, often exploring the dark and intangible of the deep sound spectrum. In a similar way, Pedro Berardinelli explores low frequencies in his work urbe – em si fechada, which are often confronted by overlaying other sound materials, such as the continuous motifs of the strings. Unlike before, for her piece Refractions, Erika Vega uses the line-up of “flute, cello and piano”, which is often found in classical music and which characterized several trios by J. Haydn. In contrast to him, the Mexican-born composer deals intensively with the technical playing possibilities of the instruments, with the help of which she pushes the sound into an intangible distance. The use of the prepared piano, which in turn forms the basis of Michelle Agnes‘ work, also contributes to this. The material she uses gives the impression that it was created using electronic means. Mobile conjures up a metal sculpture that produces incredible sounds as it rotates and moves. In addition to sound, time is also an intangible element, which Arturo Fuentes addresses in his work Timeless and contributes to a blurred perception of time.

chamber music – electronics

PHACE | LIGHTNESS

PHACE Series 2024/25 – N°3
11.Mar.2025 // 19:30
Wiener Konzerthaus, Berio-Saal

Programm

Juliana Hodkinson
Lightness sound and light theatre for three musicians, 2015 (14‘)

Huihui Cheng
Sonic leak for saxophone, electric guitar, piano and percussion, 2020 (17’) (ÖEA)

Oliver Weber
INSCHRIFT II revised version for trombone, cello, keyboard and electronics, 2024 (20‘) (UA)

Franck Bedrossian
We met as Sparks for bass flute, contrabass clarinet, viola and cello, 2015 (12’)

Alexander Schubert
Superimpose I + II for piano, double bass, saxophone, percussion and elektronics, 2009 (13’) (ÖEA)

Musikforum Viktring

11.Jul.2024 // 19:30
Musikforum Viktring-Klagenfurt 2024
Stift Viktring, Arkadenhof

PHACE
Doris Nicoletti, flute
Walter Seebacher, clarinet
Michael Krenn, saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Samuel Toro Pérez, e-guitar
Roland Schueler, cello

Duo So:und
Julia Schneckenleitner, saxophone
Katharina Wegscheider, voice

Duo Lufttore
Yingshuo Ma, saxophone
Piotr Motyka, akkordeon

Musikforum Masterclass Saxofon
class of Prof. Michael Krenn

Duo Krenn/Lavuri
Michael Krenn, saxofone
Luca Lavuri, piano

Rupert Struber, percussion

PROGRAMM

Mikel Urquiza
Opus Latericium for flute, saxophone, clarinet and piano, 2018

Mirela Ivičević
Lil for electric guitar, saxophone, cello and electronics, 2022

Jagoda Szmytka
F* for Music for electric guitar and amplified cello, 2012

sounds.archeologies

Nov. 24, 2023 – 19:30
Wien Modern 2023
reaktor, Geblergasse 40, 1170 Wien
Tickets: Wien Modern

ARTISTS

Cordula Bürgi  conductor

Cantando Admont  vocal ensemble

PHACE
Reinhold Brunner  basset horn
Mathilde Hoursiangou  piano
Barbara Riccabona  violoncello

Programm

Isabel Mundry: Sounds, Archeologies (2017–2018) – 25′
—
Isabel Mundry: Moro (1997–1998 ap) – 2′
Rebecca Saunders: Soliloquy (2007) – 18′
Orlando di Lasso: Lagrime di San Pietro , part 1 (1585)) – 47′
Gerald Resch: OS MO SE for six voices after a text by Ferdinand Schmatz (2023 wp)

For their evening with works from the Renaissance to Isabel Mundry, Rebecca Saunders and a world premiere by Gerald Resch, the vocal ensemble Cantando Admont brings reinforcements from PHACE to the reactor for the first time.

The Spider as an Artist

23. Oct. 2023 // 19:30
Großer Ehrbar Saal
Palais Ehrbar, Mühlgasse 28, 1040 Wien

Entrance: free

PHACE
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Berndt Thurner, percussion
Maria Chlebus, percussion
Roland Schueler, cello
Alexandra Dienz, double bass
Samuel Toro-Pérez, e-guitar

The spider is an aesthetically inclined creature. He constructs his nets from the finest threads and with extremely elaborate, careful detail to fit every corner precisely. As a solo artist, he sometimes takes idiosyncratic paths, deviates from the given pattern, extends a corner here or leaves out a thread there. But the result speaks for itself: a web that is not round, but nonetheless attractive from all perspectives.

It is precisely these complementary opposites of given structure and enriching deviations that come together in the concert evening The Spider as an Artist (mind you: not the other way around). In five solo pieces, the musicians weave webs only to tear them apart again, test the tonal tensile strength of their instrument, and exploit the possibilities down to the last corner. In the evening’s title work, Franck Bedrossian writes an invisible poem by Emily Dickinson, as transparent as a spider’s web, with the bow on the body of the cello, while Sarah Nemtsov is inspired by a poem by Anne Sexton for Seven Thoughts – Her Kind. In Christof Dienz’s Bass Surface, two players intervene in the solo performance of the double bass and enrich the performance with percussive elements, while in Alexander Kaiser’s piece the guitarist’s fingers scurry spider-like over the fingerboard and through shattered outer-space soundscapes.

The Spider as an Artist
Has never been employed —
Though his surpassing Merit
Is freely certified

By every Broom and Bridget
Throughout a Christian Land —
Neglected Son of Genius
I take thee by the Hand —

Emily Dickinson (1275)

PROGRAMM

Franck Bedrossian
The Spider as an Artist for amplified cello solo.

Christof Dienz
Bass surface for double bass solo with 2 players, 2014.

Pierre Jodlowski
Serie C for piano and tape, 2011.

Alexander Kaiser
WhIch is NoT for e-guitar and electronics 2022/23.

Sarah Nemtsov
Seven Thoughts – Her Kind for sample keyboard with voice, 2018

Focus on Sarah Nemtsov

31. Mai. 2024 // 20.00
Graz, Kunstuniversität Graz,
MUMUTH Probebraum

PHACE
Ivana Pristašová Zaugg, violin
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano/keyboard
Roland Schueler, cello
Maximilian Ölz, electric bass
Igor Gross, percussion

SOUND DESIGN
Alfred Reiter

eine Produktion von open music in Kooperation mit der KUG. Zentrum für Genderforschung und Diversität (ZfGD)und PHACE 

Sarah Nemtsov’s music doesn’t fit into one or even all drawers. Finely branching sound structures, peppered with countless signs, metaphors, phrases, symbols and influences from all imaginable directions can be found and yet the deep roots in the tonality of European musical tradition can also be heard. Not afraid of breaks and profound interventions in the sound, Nemtsov likes to use electronic means of alienation and artificiality, but also manages to breathe an organic liveliness into the music that can hardly be imitated. For example, when the fingers on the drum dance in a duet with a robot beetle in Bugs. And the composer does not shy away from something else: the big, the difficult and the unpleasant themes. Be it dealing with death, loss and memories in Seven Colours or looking at the contrasts in the reality of life between rich and poor, between the first and third worlds in Mountain & Maiden, where the piano, almost like a 21st-century silent film pianist, plays over beautiful images of huge mountains of garbage in the film by Shmuel Hoffman and Anton von Heiseler. Nemtsov doesn’t hide anything in her music, doesn’t sugarcoat it, she uses tones and sounds to focus on the core. Reason enough for a closer look at the outstanding work of one of the most exciting composers of our time and a focus on Sarah Nemtsov.

PROGRAMM 

Sechs Zeichen for cello und (prepared) piano, 2010. 8′

Seven Colours for amplified cello, electric bass, prepared piano and sampler, drum set und electronics, 2018 D: 15‘

Bugs – study for snare, mini robot, hands and amplification, as well as live video ad libitum, 2021. 5′

Kadosh  for (amplified) violin solo (with effect pedals), 2021 14′

Mountain & Maiden
a Film by Shmuel Hoffman & Anton von Heiseler
with a composition by Sarah Nemtsov for keyboard solo (with amplified piano and voice), 2019 d: 24′

Im Bett des Imaginariums

26.Mar.2024 // 20:00
Osterfestival Tirol
Hall i.Tt, Salzlager

26.Jun.2023, REAKTOR, Wien

büro lunaire
Gina Mattiello, text, voice
Reinhold Schinwald, sound design, live electronics
Florian Kindlinger, Sound

PHACE
Ivana Pristašová Zaugg, violin
Petra Ackermann, viola
Roland Schueler, cello

Eine Produktion von büro lunaire in Kooperation mit PHACE und Osterfestival Tirol .

The text of the live radio play is an attempt of poetic intensification in the form of footnotes. The author moves in space around a Kunstkopf-microphone while speaking the text. The recordings are played to the audience in real time via wireless headphones. Consequently, the audience not only perceive the text from the narrator’s perspective, but also immerse into an interplay between closeness and distance, interior and exterior perception, as well as real and artificial spaces. Remains of landscapes emerge, memory particles, day or night dreams: fragments rushing away in different directions. The language oscillates between what the author perceives, as well as objets trouvés from thevisual arts, literature and philosophy. The compositions for string instruments and live electronics woven into the text allow the literary fragments to grow into the imaginary.

​

Program

Christoph Herndler
Abschreiben (2005) Streichtrio

Clara Iannotta
dead wasps in the jam jar (2014-2015) Violine

Reinhold Schinwald
empreintes III (UA, 2023) Streichtrio und Live-Elektronik

Franck Bedrossian
The Spider as an Artist (2014) Violoncello und Verstärkung

Klaus Lang
die ränder der welt (2005) Violine

Enno Poppe
Fingernagel (2009) Violine und Viola

Rebecca Saunders
hauch (2018) Violine

Gérman Toro Pérez
Rulfo / ecos II (2006) Streichtrio und Live-Elektronik

PHACE | ANIMAL SMILEYS

7.May.2024 // 19:30
Wiener Konzerthaus, Berio-Saal

PHACE Series 23/24 – N°3

PROGRAMM

Sarah Nemtsov
Sechs Zeichen for cello und (prepared) piano, 2010

Mikel Urquiza
Opus Latericium for flute, saxophone, clarinet and piano, 2018

Katharina Rosenberger
wälzen, schieben, frachten for string trio and Turntables (wp), 2023/24
Comissioned by PHACE, with support of the Swiss art council Pro Helvetia

Victor Ibarra
B-side for saxophone, percussion and piano (wp), 2023/24
Comissioned by  PHACE, funded by Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (FONCA) Mexico

Jorge Sanchez-Chiong
Animal Smileys for string trio, electric organ, mid-0 equipment & psychedelic electronics, 2022/24
wp of the new version

Opus Latericium is inspired by a Roman adobe construction of the imperial period. Triangular bricks, united to a dotted, polished, hard and refractory surface: from the outside, the repetitive music of Mikel Urquiza destructively hammers in time-lapse the hard shell, exposes the ruin. What remains of the wall shows little resemblance to the beginning. Fractured and weathered, a scattered remnant. Sechs Zeichen by Sarah Nemtsov is also built on a deceptive foundation of instability. What seems static begins to take on a life of its own and change shape. Fragile sounds of longing, wrapped in a mysterious veil of sound, enter into an interplay with the insistent throbbing of sharp-edged sounds, rocking up to opposing poles that ultimately cancel each other out. In Animal Smileys, Jorge Sanchez-Chiong uses completely different tools to create music that is no less intense. Strange string sounds, dragged through the experimental laboratory of electronic effects, deformed, denatured, saturated. A rich sound experience that makes the ears gyrate on the experimental trance floor. Victor Ibarra’s compositions are usually characterized by a very precise handling of harmonies and tone structures and attention to rhythmic accents. In contrast, Katharina Rosenberger’s works question both musical production and reception habits from several angles. Both of them will probably contribute very different new works to the concert.