Premiere of 'Contemplations', a new piano work
I’m really excited to learn that my work ‘Contemplations’ for piano and vocalising pianist will be premiered by Fidan Aghayeva-Edler at ‘Piano Marathon vol. 2: a room full of voices’ in Berlin, Germany, next month.
‘Contemplations’ is a collection of three pieces which explore the idea of solitude: whether that’s the pain of feeling lonely and isolated, or the pleasure of taking a quiet moment for yourself. In this work, the pianist is required to do a little humming. The human voice (the pianists voice) represents our truest feelings, those which are often suppressed by the noise of daily life.
Fidan premiered two of these piece last year at her inaugural Piano Marathon. At this time, the collection was a work in progress and hadn’t yet been completed, so I am delighted that she will be performing the collection in its entirety this year.
This year I will be able to attend the concert, so I am really looking forward to being immersed in the work of so many talented female artists.
What is the Piano Marathon?
The Piano Marathon is a long-duration performance consisting of music, art and literature solely by women. They will perform 300 pieces, by 100 composer in 24 hours. The performance asks the questions: What discourses do their [women’s] works touch on, both in musical aesthetic and sociopolitical terms? How could the history of 20th and 21st-century music be told differently through the works of female composers?
Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s demand that female writers be provided with their own room for undisturbed artistic work, along with a moderate but regular income so that they can successfully turn their talent into art, pianist Fidan Aghayeva-Edler, singer Nina Guo, and performer Mareike Hein will create a space for the composers and for themselves.
The performance will see literary texts, and quotations from manifestos and correspondences alongside performance art inspired by the likes of Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, and Meredith Monk. Equipped with voice, pen, paint, and their own bodies, the artists will enter into a dialogue with the composers, their own works, and the audience.
Concert information
Date: 17th-18th May
Time: 11:00-11:00 (non-stop)
Location: St Elisabeth Kirche, Berlin, Germany