Contrasts 31. Marathon | Playroom

Performers:

Ensemble 24

• Akim Zvarych, violin (UA)
• Khrystyna Merchuk, cello (UA)
• Nataliia Kozhushko-Maksymiv, flute (UA)
• Maksym Ivanov, flute (UA)
• Stanislav Nidzelskyi, saxophone (UA)
• Tymish Melnyk, piano (UA)
• Oleksandr Chornyi, piano (UA)
• Nazar Yarmoliuk, clarinet / bass clarinet (UA)
• Anastasiia Sabadash, percussion (UA)
• Olha Atamanchuk, bandura (UA)
• Ostap Manuliak, electronics (UA)
• Soloists of the Lviv Children’s Orchestra (UA)
• Nataliia Kirychuk, conductor (UA)

Programme:

• Kelly Sheehan (*1989, US). Et Error No.2 for piccolo and sound objects
• Katherine Balch (*1991, US). Musica Spolia for flute, violin, percussion, and piano
• Klaus Lang (*1971, AT). sternenmäuser for young violinist and violist
• Ben Nobuto (*1996, UK). Joy Replica for saxophone, clarinet, and piano
• Jérôme Combier (*1971, FR). when pigs begin to fly for young flutist and clarinetist
• Anna Hurina (*2003, UA). Saltatio Distorta (Crooked Dance) for ensemble
• Yana Shliabanska (*1994, UA). New work for young musician
• Andrii Barsov (*1988, UA). Charly for ensemble with electonics

Children’s play arises from an excess of care, calm, and comfort in a child’s life. It is in a safe and nurturing environment that a child begins to invent ways to amuse themselves. And through play, to discover new worlds.

Ensemble 24 seeks to recreate a state of focused yet carefree play, of exploring the possibilities of music and instruments. The Playroom programme brings together works by composers from the USA, the UK, and Ukraine, each reflecting in their own way on the theme of play and amusement.

Kelly Sheehan incorporates spinning tops into the sonic space of her piece, exploring the interaction between the piccolo’s sound, the musician’s breath, and the winding and unwinding of the toys. Katherine Balch created her work while in Rome — a city that reminded her of her hometown, where she ran around imagining herself a hunter and collecting plants. This state of playful lightheartedness is at the core of her composition. Ben Nobuto, meanwhile, sought to recreate in music something “bright, mechanical, and monotonous, like tiny toys on a conveyor belt.”

Alongside the “grown-up” music, works written for children will be performed by young musicians from the Lviv Children’s Orchestra. In addition to Western music, three premieres by Ukrainian composers will be heard, written especially for this programme.

Maryna Hordiienko