The Spider as an Artist

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

Entrance: pay as you wish

PHACE
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Berndt Thurner, 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. Timpani Trek by Horacio Vaggione creates a network of phase de-correlations and expands the sound space of the timpani with strange materials and spatial electronics. 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.

Horacio Vaggione
Timpani Trek for percussion and electronics, 2018.

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
Berndt Thurner, 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.Jun.2023, 19:30
REAKTOR
Geblergasse 40, 1170 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 REAKTOR.

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
New piece(wp), 2023/24
Comissioned by PHACE

Victor Ibarra
New piece (wp), 2023/24
Commissioned by PHACE, funded by Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (FONCA) Mexico

Jorge Sanchez-Chiong
Animal Smileys for string trio and electronics, 2022

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.

ins Innere

31.Mrz.2023 / 20:00
Osterfestival Tirol,
Hall i.T.,  Salzlager

PHACE
Doris Nicoletti, flute
Walter Seebacher, clarinet
Michael Krenn, saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Berndt Thurner, percussion
Ivana Pristašová Zaugg, violin
Petra Ackermann, viola
Stefanie Prenn, cello
Maximilian Ölz, e-bass
Alexandra Dienz, double bass
Samuel Toro Pérez, e-guitar

SOUND DESIGN
Christina Bauer

At this year’s Osterfestival Tirol, PHACE plays with the most diverse forms of artistic expression, lets them seamlessly merge. In the spatial expanse of the Salzlager, sound, image, tone, reverberation and reflection concentrate, condense, lead to the inside. Beginning with Seven Colours by Sarah Nemtsov, which pays homage to her deceased mother – the painter Elisabeth Naomi Reuter – by letting colours be experienced through sounds and auditory perception. These acoustic images merge into Lorenzo Troiani’s La voce delle conchiglie. Troiani allows the inside of the shells to radiate outward. Raquel García-Tomás takes a fresh approach to image and sound in Estudio Sonomecánico no. 1 – Tiempo Suspendido, questioning the rigidity of mechanical time. Opposing this is Ondrej Adamek’s Chamber Nôise, a bow to Japanese Nô theater. Katharina Rosenberger’s blur abandons clear forms, works with washed out contours, blurring edges and outlines. Clara Iannotta’s setting of Peter Tscherkassy’s Outer Space forms a counterpoint: not only the music, but also the live musicians become part of the film. The final and resting point is Sarah Nemtsov’s Schwelle. Nemtsov reworks and fragments the Bach chorale Komm o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder, thus closing the circle.

Program

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

Lorenzo Troiani
La voce delle conchiglie for amplified bass flute and electronics, 2022  

Raquel García-Tomás
Estudio Sonomecánico no. 1 – Tiempo Suspendido for ensemble, elektronics and video, 2018

Ondřej Adámek
Chamber Noise for cello and double bass, 2010

Katharina Rosenberger
blur for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello, 2019
WIth support by Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council

Raquel García-Tomás
Excerpt from logolepsy / lethologica for  electronics, 2016 

Clara Iannotta
Outer Space for baryton sax, percussion, electric guitar, one object performer, film and electronics, 2018
Film by Peter Tscherkassky

Sarah Nemtsov
Schwelle for  electric guitar und cello, 2019/20

301.6 / 301.8

eine Produktion von PHACE

in Kooperation mit der
Internationalen Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM)

 & in Kooperation mit REAKTOR

3.3.2023 // 19:30
REAKTOR, Geblergasse 40, 1170 Wien

PHACE
Doris Nicoletti, flute
Reinhold Brunner, clarinet
Michael Krenn, saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Berndt Thurner, percussion
Ivana Pristasova Zaugg, violin
Petra Ackermann, viola
Roland Schueler, cello
Alexandra Dienz, double bass

TICKETS
WWW.REAKTOR.ART

Programm

Elisabeth Harnik
someone will remember us for small ensemble, 2020
(Titel nach Sappho)
ein Auftragswerk von PHACE, mit Unterstützung durch das Wiener Konzerthaus und gefördert durch den SKE-Fonds

Dylan Lardelli
Leaving in Focus for recorder, viola, double base and piano/keyboard, 2018/19

Martin Jaggi
Strata for soprano saxophone, viola, drumset and piano, 2010/11

P A U S E

Lorenzo Troiani
La vita delle conchiglie for2 performers and ensemble, 2020
ein Auftragswerk von PHACE, mit Unterstützung durch das Wiener Konzerthaus und gefördert durch den SKE-Fonds

Monika Szpyrka
301.6 / 301.8 for bass flute and bass clarinet, 2016

Januibe Tejera
Hors Cadre for saxophone, violin, cello and piano, 2013/2022

Somewhere in between, between the tempered tones, the regular rhythms, between the decimal places, a picture of unexpected variety opens up. With closeness comes friction and interaction, from minimal differences a wondrous attraction can arise. In someone will remember us, Elisabeth Harnik follows in the footsteps of the ancient poetess Sappho, very carefully transfering millennia-old fragments and yet not quite faded verses into her music and using them to build a bridge to the present. In Leaving in Focus by Dylan Lardelli, the instruments get in each other’s way much more powerfully, to the point where perception no longer necessarily reflects reality. Layer by layer, Martin Jaggi uncovers sound material in Strata with archaeological sensitivity, works his way into the depths of music history and uses the fragments found to trace a development from its present end. 301.6/301.8 by Monika Szpyrka sounds out like a breath, a whisper, focusing on subtle differences in intonation. Lorenzo Troiani goes into the inner world, plays with the returning resonances and feedbacks in the body of instruments in La Vita delle Conchiglie, creates a hidden and mysterious world of sound, like inside a mussel shell. Januibe Tejera, on the other hand, leaves the frame and, in a new version Hors Cadre, looks at what seems to be outside.

chamber music & electronics

Brücken 22

12.Oct.2022 // 19:30
kunsthaus muerz, Webernsaal

PHACE
Michael Krenn, saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, piano
Berndt Thurner, percussion

SOUND DESIGN
Alfred Reiter

PROGRAMM

Toshio Hosokawa
Für Walter – Arc-Song II
für Saxophon, Klavier und Schlagwerk, 2010

Pierre Jodlowski
Serie C
für Klavier und Zuspielung, 2011

Fuminori Tanada
Mysterious morning III (1996)
für Saxophon solo

Horacio Vaggione
Timpani Trek
für Schlagzeug und Elektronik, 2018

Stefan Prins
Mirror Box (Flesh+Prosthesis #3)
für Saxophon, Klavier, Schlagwerk und Elektronik

chamber music & electronics

taming and framing

Oct.2, 2022 – 12:00
(11:00 guided exhibition tour)
mumok
MQ, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Wien

PHACE

Ivana Pristasova Zaugg, violin
Petra Ackermann, viola
Roland Schueler, cello
Samuel Toro Perez, guitar
Jorge Sanchez-Chiong, electronics

Being imprisoned in one’s own body; Singles who are turned into animals if they don’t fall in love within a certain period of time, The signs of the zodiac – with a variety of influences, PHACE stakes out the territory of this matinee and musically deals with the animalistic, with movement, physicality and the relationship between art and nature. With works by Helmut Oehring, Clara Iannotta, Samuel Toro Pérez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Roland Schueler and a premiere by Jorge Sánchez-Chiong.

PROGRAM

Helmut Oehring
Locked – In – for guitar, violin, viola and cello, 1992 d:13′

Karlheinz Stockhausen
Aquarius (from „Tierkreis“, 1974-75) d:3′

Clara Iannotta
Limun for violin, viola and 2 page turners, 2011 D:9’

Karlheinz Stockhausen
Libra (from „Tierkreis“, 1974-75) d:4′

Samuel Toro Perez
Lobster Studies #2 Beige for electric guitar solo, 2022 d: 7′

Roland Schueler
Staub for cello and viola, 2020

Karlheinz Stockhausen
Virgo (from „Tierkreis“, 1974-75) d:4′

Jorge Sanchez-Chiong
Animal Smileys for string trio and electronics, 2022 d:20′
(Commissioned by PHACE, with the support of the SKE fund)

music / performance

Stand-Alones

PHACE / LIQUID LOFT

Bozen, Transart Festival
Sept. 16, 2022 – 17:00
Sept. 17, 2022 – 20:30

Ort:
Dr.Schär
Winkelau 9
39014 Burgstall

Diese Produktion im Rahmen des TransArt Festivals ist eine Kooperation von Liquid Loft und PHACE
Liquid Loft wird gefördert von der Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien und vom Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport.
PHACE wird gefördert vom SKE-Fonds (Austro Mechana), vom Bundesministerium für Kunst & Kultur (BMKÖS) und der Stadt Wien Kultur.

LIQUID LOFT
Tanz, Choreografie: Luke Baio, Stephanie Cumming, Dong Uk Kim, Katharina Meves, Dante Murillo, Hannah Timbrell
Künstlerische Leitung, Choreografie: Chris Haring
Komposition, Sound: Andreas Berger
Lichtdesign, Szenografie: Thomas Jelinek
Stage Management: Roman Harrer
Company Management, Produktion: Marlies Pucher

PHACE
Doris Nicoletti, Flöte
Reinhold Brunner, Kontrabassklarinette
Michael Krenn, Saxophone
Mathilde Hoursiangou, Keyboard
Berndt Thurner, Percussion
Petra Ackermann, Viola
Roland Schueler, Cello
Alexandra Dienz, Kontrabass
Samuel Toro Perez, E-Gitarre
Produktion: Markus Bruckner
Künstlerische Leitung: Reinhard Fuchs