HAPPY NEW EARS

In 1993 the EM started its new project "Happy New Ears", a number of workshop concerts, as a subscription series at the Oper Frankfurt, which since then takes place 4-6 times a year and is much appreciated by the audience. Founder of this project was Prof. Hans Zender, who also conducted several concerts of this series.

"Happy New Ears", that is what John Cage whished his listeners. The concept has the ambition to offer a deaper insight into contemporary music to the audience by means of explanations, comments and background information.. Happy-New-Ears-events usually consist of two to three parts. Most times the evening begins with a public rehearsal of a contemporary composition. Depending on the topic then follows a film projection with background information or a talk in which conducturs, musicians and composers participate. Sometimes experts are invited to these talks to provide even further information. E.g. a ornithologist or a tabla-player (expert for Indian rhythms) at the Happy-New-Ears-event featuring Olivier Messiaen's "Oiseaux Exotiques", or an architect (specialist for the Shaker-culture) at the Happy-New-Ears-evening for John Adam's "Shaker Loops". In tha last part the audience gets to experience a complete performance of the composition.

The project had its premiere on October 19, 1993 with Arnold Schönberg's Chamber Symphony op. 9., the conductor was Hans Zender, the talk was moderated by Hans Zender and Nuria Nono-Schoenberg. Since then works by many important composers of contemporary music have been presented and been brought closer to the audience. Among them are compositions by Igor Strawinsky, Anton Webern, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Alban Berg, Steve Reich, György Ligeti, Heiner Goebbels and others.

During the first years the Happy-New-Ears-concerts were conducted by Hans Zender, Peter Eötvös and Sylvain Cambreling, who at that time was the director of the Oper Frankfurt. Since 1996 a large number of renowned conductors took the baton, such as Friedrich Cerha, Heinz Holliger, Mauricio Kagel, Peter Rundel, Sian Edwards, Dominique My and others.

HAPPY NEW EARS

1993-10-19
ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG: Chamber symphony op. 9 (Schott)
Conductor: Hans Zender
Guest: Nuria Schoenberg Nono

1993-12-07
IGOR STRAWINSKIJ: Dumbarton Oaks
Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling

1994-02-01
OLIVIER MESSIAEN: Oiseaux Exotiques
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Guests: Christian Marti, ornithologist
Helmut Lang, tabla-player & expert for Indian rhythms
Soloist: Ueli Wiget, piano

1994-03-22
ANTON WEBERN: Concert for Nine Instruments, op. 24; Four Songs, op. 13
Conductor: Hans Zender
Soloist: Pia-Marie Nielsson, soprano

1994-04-12
EDGARD VARÈSE: Octandre; Ionisation
Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling

1994-05-10
JOHN CAGE: Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra
Preperation of piano by Peter Eötvös and Hermann Kretzschmar
Projection of the videofilm Nam June Paik: A Tribute to John Cage
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Soloist: Hermann Kretzschmar, piano

1994-11-01
HELMUT LACHENMANN: Mouvement ( - vor der Erstarrung)
Conductor: Hans Zender
Guest: Helmut Lachenmann

1994-11-22
GYÖRGY KURTÁG: ...quasi una fantasia ... op. 27,1; Examples from: Hommage à Mihály András, 12 Mikroludien for string quartet, string quartet op. 1
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Soloists: Hermann Kretzschmar, piano; Márta Fábián, cymbalon

1994-12-13
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN: Kontra-Punkte
Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling
Guest: Markus Hinterhäuser

1995-01-17
PIERRE BOULEZ: Le Marteau sans Maître
ARNOLD SCHÖNBERGS Pierrot Lunaire: 'Der kranke Mond' for voice and flute
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Soloist: Luisa Castellani, mezzosopranoo
Guest: Dr. Wolfgang Fink (introduction)

1995-02-21
GIACINTO SCELSI: Anahit, for violin and Ensemble
Conductor: Hans Zender
Soloist: Peter Rundel, violin
Guest: Klaus Huber

1995-04-18
IANNIS XENAKIS: Jalons
Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling
Guest: Iannis Xenakis

1995-10-10
ALBAN BERG: Chamber concert for violin, piano and 13 wind instruments
Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling
Soloists: Freya Kirby, violin; Ueli Wiget, piano
Guest: Peter Mussbach

12.12.1995
STEVE REICH: It's gonna rain (tape); Drumming-Part One; Piano Phase (excerpt)
Guest and participator: Steve Reich (presentation of the evening and 4th drummer on in "Drumming", talk in English)

1996-01-30
GYÖRGY LIGETI: Concert for piano and orchestra
Also excerpts from G. Ligeti's video-portrait and examples from: Trio for violin, Horn und piano, 4th set (1982); Etudes for piano, 6th etude (1985)
Conductor: Peter Eötvös
Soloist: Ueli Wiget, piano

1996-03-19
FRIEDRICH CERHA: I. Kantate - for middle voice (chansonnier) and instruments after poems and sentences by Ernst Kein and with color slides by Franz Hubmann (1982)
Also excerpt from:
FRIEDRICH CERHA: In Memoriam Ernst Kein - for middle voice (chansonnier) and instruments (I-IV / 1985)
Conductor: Friedrich Cerha
Soloist and guest: HK Gruber, chansonnier
Color slide projections: Gertraud Cerha

1996-04-02
BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN: Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu; Ballet noir en sept parties et une entrée
Conductor: Hans Zender
Guest and talkmaster: Robert Gernhardt

1996-05-14
BRUNO MADERNA: Concert for Oboe and Chamber Ensemble No. 1 (1962)
Also excerpt from:
"Zurück zu Maderna" - a film by Hans Heg and René van Gijn
Conductor and soloist: Heinz Holliger, oboe

1997-01-27
EARLE BROWN: Available Forms I for 18 players (1961)
Conductor: Earle Brown
Guest: Emmett Williams

1997-03-26
HANS ZENDER: Furin No Kyo
Also:
Radio play by HANS ZENDER: Nanzen und die Katze
Conductor: Hans Zender
Soloists: Ksenija Lukic, soprano; Roland Diry, clarinet
Guest: Edgar Reitz

1997-05-03
HEINZ HOLLIGER: Turmmusik for flute solo, small orchestra and tape (1984)
Conductor: Heinz Holliger
Soloist: Dietmar Wiesner, flute

1997-07-02
MAURICIO KAGEL: Orchestrion-Straat, for chamber ensemble (1995/96)
Afterwards the film:
MAURICIO KAGEL: Antithese (NDR 1965)
Conductor: Mauricio Kagel

1998-03-01
HANS WERNER HENZE: Chamber music 1958 about the hymn "In lieblicher Bläue" by Friedrich Hölderlin
Conductor: Oswald Sallaberger
Soloists: Neil Jenkins, tenor; Jürgen Ruck, guitar
Guest: Siegfried Mauser

1998-04-18
PIERRE BOULEZ: ...Explosante - fixe... (1991-93)
Conductor: David Robertson
Soloists: Dietmar Wiesner, midi-flute; Christiane Albert, solo-flute (I + II); Rüdiger Jacobsen, solo-flute (I + II)

1998-05-21
HEINER GOEBBELS: La Jalousie; Eislermaterial (in progress/excerpte)
with the Ensemble Modern and the actor Josef Bierbichler
Soloists: Josef Bierbichler, actor (EISLERMATERIAL); Franck Ollu, voice (La Jalousie)
Conductor: Peter Rundel
Guests: Heiner Goebbels and Max Nyffeler

1998-06-23
LUIGI NONO: Guai ai gelidi mostri (1983)
Conductor: Hans Zender
Electronic realization: Experimentalstudio der Heinrich-Strobel-Stiftung des Südwestfunks E.V., Freiburg (Breisgau), André Richard (sound director), Rudolf Strauß (sound engineer), Bernd Noll (technics)
Soloists: Ananda Goud, alto; Susanne Otto, alto
Talk guests: André Richard, Jürg Stenzl, Hans Zender

1999-02-02
BILL VIOLA: Inner Sound - The Secret Life of Objects; Lecture and sound examples (drums, baking tray, human body, medical instruments...); 'Anthem' (video projection, 1983); excerpts from 'Déserts' (video, 1994, music by E. Varèse, Ensemble Modern, Peter Eötvös)
Parallel to the Bill Viola exhibition in the Museum for Modern Art, Frankfurt
EDGAR VARÈSE: Octandre (1923)

1999-04-20
MORTON FELDMAN: The Viola in My Life II; excerpte aus: For Christian Wolff (1986)
Conductor: Hans Zender
Soloist: Geneviève Strosser, viola
Guest: Harry Halbreich

1999-07-06
IANNIS XENAKIS: Khal Perr (1983)
Guest: Peter Hoffmann

1999-11-16
WOLFGANG RIHM: Parts from 'Trigon' and 'Jagden und Formen'
Conductorin: Dominique My
Guest: Wolfgang Rihm

1999-12-14
JOHN ADAMS: Shaker Loops, version for 7 strings (1978-82)
Conductor: Sian Edwards
Guest: Architect Prof. Karl Mang (spezcalist for the shaker-culture)

2000-02-22
GEORGE BENJAMIN: Viola - Viola (1997) also sound examples
Guest 1: George Benjamin
Guest 2: Dr. Wolfgang Fink (moderation and translation)
Players: Susan Knight and Geneviève Strosser, viola

2000-03-14
GUO WENJING: Drama, Trio op. 26 (1995)
BEAT FURRER: Aria
Conductor: Beat Furrer (Furrer)
Guests: Guo Wenjing and Beat Furrer
Moderation: Wolfgang Hofer
Soloist: Petra Hoffmann, soprano (Furrer)

2000-09-12
CHARLES IVES: Tone Roads No. 1; The See'r for Stimme und piano; The See'r (aus. "Set No. 1", Bearb.: G. Schuller); Like a Sick Eagle, for Stimme und piano; Like a Sick Eagle (aus "Set No. 1"); At Sea, for Stimme und piano; At Sea (Adagio sostenuto); Hallowe'en; Remembrance, for Stimme und piano; The Pond (Largo Sostenuto); The Bells of Yale; Aeschylus and Sophocles; All the Way Around and Back (Scherzo); The Cage, for Stimme und piano; In the Cage, aus: A Set of 3 Pieces for Theatre or Chamber Orchestra; Tone Roads No. 3
Conductor: Kasper de Roo
Soloist: Omar Ebrahim, baritone
Talk guests: Dr. Rainer Peters, Hermann Kretzschmar

2000-11-28
Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern
Projection of the videofilm "The present day composer refuses to die"
(A Frank Zappa film portrait by Frank Scheffer)
FRANK ZAPPA: A Pig with Wings (version for synclavier)
Soloist: Hermann Kretzschmar, piano
FRANK ZAPPA: Greggery Peccary, excerpts from the version for piano-particell and voices
Soloists: Hermann Kretzschmar, piano; Omar Ebrahim, David Moss, voices
FRANK ZAPPA: A Pig with Wings (ensemble-version)
Soloists: Hermann Kretzschmar, piano; Ellen Wegner, harp; Marts Bergström, Jürgen Ruck, guitars
Guests: Peter Eötvös, conductor
Arrangements: Ali N. Askin
Moderation: Thomas Fichter, Hermann Kretzschmar

2001-01-23
WOLFGANG RIHM: Parts from "Séraphin"
Conductor: Frank Ollu
Guests: Ruthard Stäblein, Ernstalbrecht Stiebler, Stefan Rehm
Moderation: Wolfgang Hofer
Soloists: Johannes Kösters, baritone; Matthias Horn, baritone

2001-03-27
ELLIOTT CARTER: Clarinet concert (1996/97)
Conductor: Johannes Debus
Guest: Hartmut Möller
Film excerpts by Frank Scheffer
Soloist: Roland Diry, clarinet

2001-11-27
MATTHIAS PINTSCHER: tenebrae
Conductor: Matthias Pintscher
Soloist: Susan Knight, viola

2002-01-15
OLIVER KNUSSEN: Ophelia Dances op. 13, Book 1 (1975)
ELLIOTT CARTER: Asko Concerto (1999/2000)
Conductor: Oliver Knussen

2002-03-19
LUCIANO BERIO: Sequenza III (1966), V (1966), VII b (1993) & VIII (1976)
Soloists: Gabriele Hierdeis (voc), Uwe Dierksen (trb), Wolfgang Stryi (ssax), Freya Ritts-Kirby (v)
Guest/moderation: Jürg Stenzl

2003-01-28
IGOR STRAWINSKY: The Soldier's Tale

2003-05-20
CONLON NANCARROW: Works
Conductor: Stefan Asbury
Guest: Jürgen Hocker (Pianola)
Moderation: Hermann Kretzschmar

2003-06-26
SALVATORE SCIARRINO: Quattro intermezzi, Suite per ensemble da 'Luci mie traditrici'
Guest: Salvatore Sciarrino
Conductor: Johannes Debus

2003-11-04
UDAY BHAWALKAR: Nada Ranga ANEESH PRADHAN/SHUBHA MUDGAL: Samagam SHUBHA MUDGAL: Celebrating Anguish GANESH ANANDAN: Autorikshaw Ride
Conductor: Kasper de Roo

2003-12-16
GEORGE ANTHEIL: A Jazz Symphony (1955 version); Violin Sonata No. 1 (1923) for violin and piano
Conductor/moderation: HK Gruber
Piano/moderation: Hermann Kretzschmar
Violin: Jagdish Mistry

2004-03-16
LUIGI DALLAPICCOLA: Piccola musica nottirna (1961); Liriche Greche II. Due liriche di Anacreonte (1944-45); Liriche greche III. Sex Carmina Alcaei (1943); Due Studi pour violon et piano (1946-47)
Conductor/moderation: Heinz Holliger

2004-06-08
DIETER SCHNEBEL: Glossolalie 61 (Projekte IV) (1960-61)
Conductor: Manfred Schreier
Ensemble 'Die Maulwerker'
Moderation: Dieter Schnebel and Enrstalbrecht Stiebler

2004-11-09
NICOLAUS A. HUBER: An Hölderlins Umnachtung für Kammerensemble (1993)
HUBER / FREYER: Visuelles Rezitativ (Film) (1993)
Conductor: Johannes Kalitzke
Moderation: Bernd Leukert
Guest: Nicolaus A. Huber

Happy New Ears 2005

Happy New Ears 2006

Happy New Ears 2007