A Composer's Diary: 2015

Sunday, 16 August 2015

TampeRinging 2015 - The Programme

The Programme of the contemporary music festival TampeRinging 2015 organised by the composer association Tampering ry.

Thursday 20.8.

19:00

Opening concert of the festival: Secrets & Scandals

Tampering Ensemble conducted by Okko Kivikataja

Pyynikkisali, F.E Sillanpään katu 9

Matilda Seppälä: and the vines with theirtender grape (2014)

Ilkka Hammo: Seeking flow (world premiere)

Jouni Kaipainen: Gena (1988)

Tero Lanu: Birds Are Great Escape Artists (world premiere)

Jami Kianto: Absentiikka (world premiere)

Arnold Schönberg: Kamarisinfonia nro. 1 E-duuri, Op. 9 (1906-7)

21:00

Etkot (The Pre-Party)

Telakka, Tullikamariaukio 3

Philippe Geiss: Sax hero - Suvi Linnovaara, saxophone

Cecilia Damström: Groove op. 38 - JanneValkeajoki, accordion; Jacintha Damström, flute

Sauli Zinovjev: Arco - Elisar Riddelin, violin

Timo Kittilä: Harmonikkasonatiini - Pasi Raukola, accordion

Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for two violins - Amelie Wünsche, violin; Veera Hölsö, violin

Sampo Haapamäki: Power - Janne Valkeajoki, accordion

Magnus Lindberg: Jeux d'anches - JanneValkeajoki, accordion

Friday 21.8.

13:00

Improvisation workshop with Oxke Fixu

Keltainen talo, Vellamonkatu 1

19:00

Suvi Linnovaaran Saxophone Recital: Créations

Ylioppilasteatteri, Itsenäisyydenkatu 12

Cecilia Damström: Dorfman trio op.33 (2014): I Lost II Lonely III Forward (Finnish premiere)

Matti Carter: Waves (world premiere)

Annika Granlund: Viikon lopusta (world premiere): I Sunnuntai II Lauantai III Perjantai

Paolo Griffin: Deflection (world premiere)

Jacob TV: Grab it! (1999)

21:00

Tampering-klubi:

Oxke Fixu (FR)

Mikkoman

Telakka, Tullikamariaukio 3

Saturday 22.8.

12:00

Chamber Music Concert: L'après-midi d'un tétras

Pietiläsali, Main Library Metso

Cecilia Damström: Expressionen, op. 27 - Lukas Stasevskij, cello Janne Valkeajoki, accordion Helmi Malmgren, clarinet

Sauli Zinovjev: Arco - Elisar Riddelin, violin

Elisar Riddelin: Minne on mennyt - Hanna Kronqvist, soprano Tuomas Honkkila, piano

Cecilia Damström: Characters, op. 37 - CeciliaDamström, piano

Jami Kianto: Kolme laulua - Maija Halme, soprano Tuomas Salokangas, piano

Roope Mäenpää: String Quartet Nr 2 - TEMA-kvartetti: Lotta Laaksonen, violin Emma Kuosmanen, violin Marjukka Manner, viola Aino Palosaari, cello

14:00

Lauluyhtye Fiori

Pietiläsali, Main Library Metso

Tero Lanu: Herbaario: 1. Leskenlehti 2. Punakoiso 3. Sinikello 4. Harmaaröyhelö 5. Valkolehdokki (world premiere)

Cecilia Damström: Estampas del mar: 1. Nocturno 2. El mar 3. Dos estrellas del mar (world premiere)

Makedonian folk song, arranged by Michael Parsons: Nani Mi Mariče

Romanian folk song, arranged by Michael Parsons: Auzi, Mîndro

Pekka Kostiainen: Merkillinen mies

Cecilia Damström: El jardín de las morenas: 1. Pórtico 2. Acacia 3. Encuentro 4. Limonar

Pekka Kostiainen: Peipposen pesä: 1. Pitkittyi moni yö 2. Peipposen pesä 3. Kesä irtoaa

Janne Salmenkangas: Kuningattaren ääni: 1. Tämä on lauma 2. Kuningattaren selkä 3. Yksi pieni valkoinen lehmä 4. Elisabet, Emilia (world premiere)

19:00

Caprico Orchestra conducted by Elisar Riddelin

Alexander Church

Matilda Seppälä: Aaltoja joista kirkkaus sarastaa (world premiere)

Ilkka Hammo: Fall Folliage (world premiere)

Timo Kittilä: Towards the Delta - Maija Anttila, bass clarinet (world premiere)

Paavo Korpijaakko: Nebula - Concerto for guitar, Lotta Kosola, guitar

Cecilia Damström: Infirmus (world premiere)

Elisar Riddelin: Ja kun muinaiset katosivat -Concerto for cello and strings, Sirja Nironen, cello (world premiere)

Henri Sokka: Silence Fiction (world premiere)

Sunday 23.8.

19:00

Esa Toivolan Organ Recital

Tampere Cathedral

Torsten Stenius (1918–1964): Partita över en finländsk andlig koral

Timo Kittilä: Preludi Meditaatio Musica dopo il Credo

Pauli Marttinen: Briaɥsklárs (world premiere)

Edgar Arro (1911–1978): Kolme virolaista kansansävelmää

Lasse Kallioniemi: Organic Metal (world premiere)

Naji Hakim (s. 1955): Mariales (1993)1. Incantation (Mater admirabilis) 2. Pastorale (Regina cœli) 3. Antienne (Salve regina) 4. Hymne (Virgo Dei genitrix) 5. Danse (Ave maris stella)

Timo Kittilä: Toccata (world premiere)

Friday, 17 July 2015

Summer 2015

”So what are you doing this summer?” I get this question quite frequently, so I decided to write about what’s happening this summer in my life!

May
2-9.5 visiting Würzburg
Visited my friend Janne Valkeajoki in Würzburg for discussing and working on his commissioned piece Groove, which will be premiered in Sysmän Suvisoitto 2015.

10.5 Concert in Lund with Ton Generation. Composition class of Malmö made a concert, and I gave my piano solo piece Piano Delirium it’s Swedish premiere. (More about the concert: click here)

20.5 Concert in Malmö Academy of Music, and the pianist Linn Bertland gave my piano solo suite Characters its world premiere.

21.5-26.5 in Finland:

21.5 arrived at 14:45 in Finland, got picked up so I managed to go home and in the evening I went to the Finish Cultural Foundation Annual Celebration in Siuntio

22.5 piano lesson in Helsinki with Risto-Matti Marin

25.5 Played the Finnish premiere of my piano piece "Characters" at 6 PM. in the Korvat Auki concert at the Aino Ackté Hall

26.5 Flight to Stockholm at 16 o'clock.

26-30.5 Stockholm

27-28.5 Rehearsals with the Swedish Wind Ensemble

29.5 Concert with Swedish Wind Ensemble, premiere of my wind orchestra piece Paradiso, conducted by Michael Bartosch. (More about the concert: click here)

30.5 Travelling by train back to Malmö

June

31.5-17.6 in Malmö

4.6 Playing the second movement of Hummel’s Piano concerto and my piece Characters at the Horn class concert in Malmö Academy of Music
5.6 The Spring Party of Malmö Academy of Music
7.6 To hospital due to acute infection, I however felt fine after I got antibiotics
8.6 deadline for first songs of the opera “Schnitzler’s Dreams” (composing all night and morning)

9-12.6 Cleaning out the flat and moving most of my stuff (to a friend’s attick) although I took six bags with me.

12.6. Moving out
12-15.6 composing Sirens for brass ensemble, premiere at Blekinge International Brass Academy

17.6 By train to Stockholm, and by ferry back to Finland, with 6 bags and a total of 91 kg!

17-21.6 in Helsinki

Composing night and day my part of the collaborative opera Schnitzler’s Dreams for Fredrikstad, Norway.

21.6 flight to Copenhagen, stayed the night at a friend in Malmö
22-28.6 Karlskrona, BlekingeInternational Brass Academy

Composer in residence the whole week, rehearsals 24-26.6

26.6 Premiere of my new piece Sirens for brass ensemble

28-30.6 Staying at my friends place in Malmö while composing the opera
29.6 meeting with composer JonatanSersam and Martin Dahlin-Volsing and planning the contemporary music festival Conncet 2015 taking place 13-22.11.2015 in Malmö.
30.6 Flight back to Helsinki

July
30.6-23.7 Finland
Composing opera, deadline 3.7

2.7-8.7 Sysmän Suvisoitto
3.7 Sent off 70% of my part of the opera, the other 30% must still wait…

4.7 Premiere of my flute & accordion piece by Janne Valkeajoki and Jacintha Damström

8-13.7 composing my string orchestra piece (premiere 22.8) at my parents summer house.
13-20.7 I will then compose the last 30% (15min) of my part for the opera Schnitzler’sDreams

23.7 Flight to Stuttgart, Germany
24.7-7.8 International SummerAcademy of Music, Ochsenhausen
24-31.7 composing a piano trio

August
1-7.8 composing a commissioned melodrama (composition to be continued later) at Ochsenhausen

8-13.8 small vacation in Germany
14.8 travelling to Fredriksstad, Norway

14-21.8 Fredrikstad, Norway

Rehearsals for the installation opera Schnitzler’s Dreams
17.8-19.8 quick stop in Helsinki for a conference 18.8 for a theatre project I am involved in, back to Norway on the morning of 19.8.

20.8 premiere of the installation opera Schnitzler’s Dreams in Fredrikstad. (More performances 21-23.8, but no time to stay…)

21.8 Flight to Finland

21.8 more or less permanently in Finland

21-23.8 in Tampere at the TampeRinging festival, many premieres of my pieces, please feel welcome to listen!
20.8 at 21 o’clock Groove at the restaurant bar Telakka, Tampere
21.8 at 19 o’clock The Dorfman Trio at Ylioppilas teatteri, Tampere
22.8 at 12 o’clock Expressionen at Pietiläsali, Metso Library, Tampere
19 o’clock the premiere of my string orchestra piece Infirmus!
23.8 at 19 o’clock Under Stjärnhimmelen, premiere of the organ version

But if everything goes according to plan then I will be quite happy with the outcome: composed Sirens (7 min.), a string orchestra piece Infirmus (7 min.), a piano trio, part of a melodrama and a 45 min. part of a chamber opera Schnitzler’s Dreams. All of the previously named pieces (minus the melodrama), Groove, Characters and the organ version of Under Stjärnhimmelen have their premiere this summer and also older pieces like The Dorfman Trio, Sydänlaulu and Expressionen will be played again in concerts! So quite a summer!

Sunday, 12 July 2015

Music for String Orchestra

Saturday 11th of July. Sitting at my parents summer cottage and composing my new piece for string orchestra. It will be premiered by the Caprico Orchestra, conducted by Elisar Riddelin, on the 22nd of August at the contemporary music festival TampeRinging 2015. I have written about 5:30 minutes so far, and now trying to come up with something nice to end the whole piece, which I plan to be about 7 minutes. The whole piece is very much inspired by the Polish composers Witold Lutowslawski and Krzysztof Penderecki, so I will share below some of the music I have been listening to lately.

Lutoslawski’s String Quartet

Lutoslawski’s Third Symphony (one of my all time favorites, also used in the film Shutter Island)

All time classic (in contemporary music): Penderecki Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima

And today’s new discovery (suggested by YouTube! Actually I must say I'm quite impressed by YouTube for finding this for me):

The Finnish composer Sampo Haapamäki’s accordion concerto Velinikka

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

Swedish Wind Ensemble and Stockholm

This week (26-30th of May) I have spent in Stockholm rehearsing with Swedish Wind Ensemble, who premiered my piece ”Paradiso” on Friday 29th of May! It has been an absolutely fantastic week!

I stayed the week in the house of my friend, and it was really nice! Here is a pic of me from outside here house.

At my friends place in Stockholm. Photo © Damström

I flew in on Tuesday 26th of May, rehearsals were on Wednesday and Thursday 10-14:50 o’clock, on Friday we had a dress rehearsal 15-17 o’clock and on Friday evening we had the concert at 19 o’clock at Musikaliska on Nybrokajen 11 in Stockholm.

Having lunch with our orchestration teacher Bjön-Tryggve Johansson
and my class mate Alfred Jimenez from Malmö Academy of Music.
Photo © Cecilia Damström

Having lunch day 2 with composers Olle Sundström
from Gothenburg Academy of Music and Alfred Jimenez
from Malmö Academy of music. Photo © Cecilia Damström

Swedish Wind Ensemble is a wind orchestra with both woodwinds and brass instruments as well as three percussionists. All of us students that were elected for this project were asked to write a 4 minute piece using the whole orchestra (and no particular solo instrument). It was very interesting how different all the pieces were in the concert! It was there fore also interesting to listen to the rehearsals of the pieces by the other composers.

My piece “Paradiso” is a palindrome, so from the middle everything comes again back to front (and kind of “up side down”, so that what was played in the beginning by the highest instrument the piccolo, is played at the end by the lowest instrument the tuba). But after the middle (when the pieces gets mirrored) I had at the beginning some problems with the volume balance, so I had to make some small change in dynamics for the woodwinds and generally ask the brass to play quieter. With this small adjustment the piece worked really well!

Swedish Wind Ensemble rehearsing under the lead of Michael Bartosch.
Photo © Cecilia Damström

The programme of the concert on the 29th of May was:

Jacob Mühlrad | Tekiah

Cecilia Damström | Paradiso op.36

Alfred Jimenez | Two Small but Serious Satires (2015)

There were so many nice pieces, but among my favourites I must mention Mühlrad’s Tekiah, Wedlund’s andas, upphör and Howard’s Movement.

Presenting my piece Paradiso for the audience at Musikaliska,
Stockholm, 29th of May 2015.
Photo by Joseph Howard

Unfortunately there wasn’t very much audience in the concert, about 50 people, which sadly is quite usual at contemporary music concerts. But my former colleague from work (at sea) and his girlfriend came to the concert, which made me very happy!

After the concert we all went to the spring party of the Stockholm Royal Academy of Music. They had a live band called Funk Attack playing funk and soul, and they were absolutely extraordinary! The lead singer Christopher Lennerbrant had a great voice, sang in perfect pitch and had a great stage charisma and the backup singer/second lead singer Maja Keuc , who sung one solo song, sounded like Beyoncé and was also wonderful on stage! It was incredible! And the band played really well together, so it was wonderful to listen to!

The band Funk Attack with Christopher Lennerbrant and Maja Keuc
playing a gig 29th of May 2015 at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Music.
Photo © Cecilia Damström

The band Funck Attack playing a gig 29th of May 2015
at the Stockholm Royal Academy of Music.
Photo © Cecilia Damström

On Saturday 30th of May I had lunch buffet with my new English friend and composer Joseph Howard and then took a afternoon train back to Malmö. The train ride was once again a perfect place to finish of some adjustments to ready pieces before sending them off to some application deadlines.

Stockholm was wonderful, but now I have to re-focus on composition, because only one week of this term left and there's still lot’s of work to get done!

Me on a sunny day in Stockholm after rehearsals with Swedish Wind Ensemble.
Photo © Damström

Sunday, 31 May 2015

Photos from Ystad

Sunday the 17th of May I decided to visit Ystad, a small little town in Southern Sweden where people usually go for vacation. It's an old town and a very beautiful place, but because pictures tell more than words, here are 25 pictures I took in Ystad. (I recommend that you click on one of the pictures for seeing them on the whole screen instead of these small versions beneath.)

Streets of Ystad. Photo © Cecilia Damström

Detail on a house. Photo © Cecilia Damström

A front door. Photo © Cecilia Damström

Cherry blossom. Photo © Cecilia Damström

A street in Ystad. Photo © Cecilia Damström

A selfie on the main shopping street.

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Tongeneration Concert in Lund

Last week’s Sunday, on the 10th of May, we from Tongeneration, the composers of Malmö Academy of Music, had a concert at Lund’s Museum of Public Art. The concert was part of the Lund Biennale, a two day event of music in Lund, organized by Odeum.

The programme was:

1. Francesco Del Nero - Sc'ri (world premiere)

2. Jonatan Sersam - Medusa (world premiere)

3. David Riebe - Escaliers Mécaniques

4. Cecilia Damström - Piano Delirium Op.9 (Swedish premiere)

5. Jonatan Sersam - Röster (world premiere)

6. Ismael Palacio - Open space

7. Alfred Jimenez - Two excerpt teasers from his opera Clownen Jac (world premiere)

Musicians:

Albert Van Pham - Piano (2)

Niklas Sjölund - Piano (1)

Jonas Helander - Tenor (7)

Elisabeth Ekberg - soprano (7)

Jonatan Sersam - Piano (1, 7)

Cecilia Damström - Piano (4)
Ismael Palacio, Francesco Del Nero and Jonatan Sersam are the "Non-Existing Trio" (Prepared piano and amplified harmonica) (7)

Cecilia Damström playing the Swedish premiere
of her own piece Piano Delirium. Photo by Niklas Sjölund

Tongeneration at the Lund Biennale, on Sunday the 10th of May
in the Museum of Public Art and Sketches.
Photo © Cecilia Damström

I had planned that my song cycle would have had its Swedish premiere, but all my singer friends were too busy and my sister had a slight flu and couldn’t either sing, so I decided instead to give my solo piano piece Piano Delirium (from 2010) a Swedish premiere, and played it my self in the concert. I was very happy with how it went; I think I have maybe never played it so well in a concert before!

The concert had two more piano pieces, two pieces for tape, a trio (Open space) and two arias from Alfred Jimenez opera. There were about 30 people at the concert, which is about an average for a contemporary music concert. Everyone was happy with the concert, both we composers and musicians as well as organizers, and even the sun was shining in Lund!

All composers and performers on stage!
Tongeneration at the Lund Biennale, on Sunday the 10th of May
in the Museum of Public Art and Sketches.