68th International Rostrum of Composers: Selection Announced!

Palermo (Italy), June 3, 2022 – Between Trees (2021) for orchestra by Norwegian composer Kristine Tjøgersen (born 1982) and Part among Parts (2021) for solo accordion and orchestra by young Polish composer Monika Szpyrka (born 1993), are the works selected by radio music producers participating in the 68th International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) held in Palermo (Italy), from May 31 to June 3, 2022.

A flagship programme of the International Music Council, the IRC took place for the second time in its history in Italy at the invitation of Conservatorio di Musica Alessandro Scarlatti.

Pursuing its mission to promote contemporary music creation through broadcasting for over sixty years, the annual Rostrum has this year again strengthened its role as one of the most important “rendez-vous” for professional exchange between radio producers. Its overall objective remains fostering the exchange of performances of contemporary music between broadcasting organisations. Works chosen at the preceding Rostrum (2021) were given some 600 broadcasts by participating networks as well as affiliates of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The 2022 Rostrum gathered representatives from 23 national radio networks from four continents, which presented 41 works composed within the five years preceding the Rostrum. Evert van Berkel, recording producer and coordinator for P2 live at the Swedish Radio, chaired the sessions. After the listening sessions, the assembly of delegates selected and recommended the most distinctive works in two categories: general and “young composers under 30”.

In the general category,  Between Trees (2021) by Norwegian composer Kristine Tjøgersen (b. 1982) was selected by the delegates as most outstanding. The work was presented by NRK Norwegian Radio.

“The piece begins with the sound of a squirrel eating (with special effects from the tuba). Soon we go underground. The roots of the trees are connected with mycelia, in a complex network of fungal threads. These ghostlike wires connect trees and plants so that they can communicate, like the forest’s own Internet. The pulses, and thus the rhythms and energy intensify into a lively, subterranean party. After a while we move above ground, where we hear fluttering wings and various birds such as woodpeckers, blackbirds, cuckoos, owls, and magpies.” (from the programme notes)

In the “young composers” category, the work selected as most worthy for worldwide broadcasting was Part among Parts for solo accordion and orchestra (2021) by young Polish composer Monika Szpyrka (b. 1993). The composition was presented by Polish Radio.

The composer writes about her work: “Entry into the inside, listening to the middle, sharpening one’s ear with the inner silence. The body becomes a shell; we surround ourselves with it, its sounds; it changes into a secluded space, masking the world.
Anna Świrszczyńska wrote: ‘…I stretch / in my own body / like in a broad, wonderful sleeping bag. / And then I fall, fall / fall to the bottom of happiness’; ‘When I am alone / I have more space within me. / I sit down comfortably within myself, legs crossed, / and I embark on thinking …’. 
Skin becomes the frontier; we relinquish it as a separating layer, absorbing the world: ‘…I drip, / I spin off, I space out, / skin disappears, / I mix with what is not me anymore, / I melt into everything …’  
Eventually, we gain more space, and give up on closure: ‘Inside, I am / very, very wide. / As I have no skin / to close me, / to separate me / from what is around’.”

In addition to the selected works, 13 other works (see list further) were recommended for broadcasting and concert presentation after the Rostrum by the participating and other interested radio stations.

The delegates of the 68th IRC strongly recommended the broadcasting of the recording submitted by the Ukrainian Radio – Sviatyi Bozhe (Holy God) by Vsevolod Sirenko – by all EBU member radio stations as a solidarity gesture.

The results of this year’s Rostrum were announced at a press conference held at Conservatorio di Musica Alessandro Scarlatti on 3 June 2022.

Kristine Tjøgersen will benefit from a special commission and residence programme in Sweden offered by IMC and Norrbottensmusikens.

Thanks to the cooperation between IMC and Radio Television Portugal – Radio Antena 2, Monika Szpyrkawill receive a commission for a chamber music work which will be premiered and recorded in Portugal.

During their stay in Palermo, Rostrum delegates had the possibility to experience the broad spectrum of the local contemporary music scene including a rich discussion with composer Marco Betta and an outstanding performance of works by Italian composers by the Ensemble of Contemporary Music of the Conservatorio di Musica Alessandro Scarlatti.

GENERAL CATEGORY – SELECTED WORK

Kristine Tjøgersen (Norway)    Between trees

RECOMMENDED WORKS

France                  Samir Amarouch      Ensauvagement

Poland                  Aleksandra Gryka     emptyloop

Germany             Mirela Ivičević           Heart Core

Switzerland        Sarah Nemtsov       Tikkun

France                  Diana Soh              Tu es magique

Norway                Øyvind Torvund     A Walk Into the Future

Austria                 Lorenzo Troiani      La vita delle conchiglie

Sweden               Djuro Živković         Citadel of Love

Slovenia                Vito Žuraj              UNVEILED

 

COMPOSERS UNDER 30 CATEGORY

SELECTED WORK

Monika Szpyrka (Poland)                Parts among Parts

 

RECOMMENDED WORKS

Estonia                          Madli Marje Gildemann     Transpiration
Austria                           Tanja Elisa Glinsner           Läuft mein Hirn so viele leere Kreise…
Portugal                         Carlos Lopes                         Artefacst

China – Hong-Kong       Yeung Hoi-ching Alice       Alice in the Wonder(ish)land