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Norwegian composers Stine Sørlie and Kristin Bolstad have been members of the nu:nord community since its beginning. This season, along with five of their colleagues from Ny Musikks Komponistgruppe, they composed music for string quartet. The pieces were premiered by Quatuor Bozzini in Norway, and after some revisions, were presented last month in Montreal at the annual Bozzini extravaganza, Salon qb.

In their work with the quartet, Kristin and Stine both chose to work with physicality as well as sound, and to notate their concepts using visual and/or graphic notation. Two vastly different pieces were achieved. As a performer, I gain added insight into the scores by noticing notational quirks and mannerisms that reflect the personalities of the authors. As a listener, seeing these scores can certainly enrich the listening experience.

Stine and Kristin have kindly agreed to share some images of their scores, available below, along with documentation of realizations by Quatuor Bozzini.

Comments are welcome – Enjoy!

Kristin Bolstad: And Nobody Gets Everything Right (2012)

Program note: And Nobody Gets Everything Right is an intense and frustrated piece, as suggested by the initial letters of the title. It is about the frustration of not managing everything as you would wish. (–Kristin Bolstad)

Live Performance by Quatuor Bozzini – 17 April 2013 in Montréal, Canada

Stine Sørlie: Alcoves (2012-2013)

Excerpt 1

Excerpt 2

Excerpt 3

Program note: Alcoves can be heard and seen as a sound choreography, where the sounds are placed in different spots in the room corresponding to the musical dramaturgy within the piece. The music should give the audience the feeling that the cello “gives birth” to the other instruments. The individual instruments grow out of the cello body, and gradually separate themselves from each other, becoming four individual instruments, before eventually finding their way back to each other in the end. The piece also plays with the four different roles in a quartet, and questions the traditional roles of both the musician and the composer. The piece is neither poetry nor theatre nor dance, but still the music is leaning toward these traditions, stretching its boundaries and aiming for giving birth to a sound universe that embraces it all: mind, body and soul. This piece was originally written for Quatuor Bozzini, who premiered the piece at the Ultima festival in Oslo September 12th 2012. (–Stine Sørlie)

Live Performance by Quatuor Bozzini – 17 April 2013 in Montréal, Canada

Tip: this video is best heard with headphones or good quality speakers.

** Many thanks to Quatuor Bozzini for allowing us to share this performance footage!

(la version française se trouve ci-dessous)

Following their successful participation in nu:nord 2012, composers from Norway’s Ny Musikks Komponistgruppe (NMK) have been working over the past ten months on new pieces with the renowned Quatuor Bozzini. Now, they’re coming back to Montreal!

17, 18 & 19 April 2013: Quatuor Bozzini performs works by 7 Norwegian composers over 3 evenings of their annual mini-festival “Salon qb”

Quatuor Bozzini presents Salon qb – an annual mini-festival of contemporary chamber music featuring invited artists from near and far. This year the event features the work of seven extraordinary young composers from NMK – a Norwegian organisation for composers in the beginning of their careers. Five of these up-and-coming artists will travel to Montreal to participate in a week of collaboration and networking, and attend the Canadian premieres of their music over three evenings of concerts.

Composers Stine Sørlie (Oslo), Rebecka Ahvenniemi (Bergen), Kristin Bolstad (Oslo), Hugo Harmens (Trondheim) and Tyler Futrell (Oslo) will arrive in Montreal mid-April, along with guests artists from Canada and the UK. Featured artists of Salon qb will include composers Michael Oesterle (Canada) and Laurence Crane (UK), and British experimental pianist Philip Thomas, whose solo recital will be presented by Innovations en concert. The work of Norwegian composers Sigurd Fischer Olsen (Bergen) and Martin Rane Bauck (Oslo), both unable to attend, will also be presented.

This collaboration, which began nearly ten months ago, has already seen Quatuor Bozzini perform twice in Norway last fall 2012 – in September at Oslo’s Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, and in November at Bergen’s AVGARDE series.

Composers & quartet after their performance at Bergen’s AVGARDE series

“The longterm, ongoing relationship between performers and composers in Canada and Norway offers everyone involved a unique opportunity to get to know each other really well, and to communicate deeper both on the artistic and on the personal level,” says composer and NMK leader, Stine Sørlie. “Often with contemporary music, new works are written for one specific occasion and performed just once, so it has been wonderful to be involved with the Bozzini Quartet in this collaborative project, which has included workshops, discussions, and the opportunity to revise the music as we went along. It’s very rewarding to hear how the music evolves from performance to performance.”

Hailed as “one of the world’s great new-music quartets” (the Telegraph, UK), Quatuor Bozzini is dedicated to promoting the work of emerging composers, and looks forward to introducing the imaginative work of these young Norwegian composers to their Montreal audience.

Concerts are 17, 18 & 19 April 2013 at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, Montreal, 8pm. A reception will be offered by the Norwegian Embassy following the concert on April 17th.

Tickets are available at the door, $20/$15/10

For more information please visit www.quatuorbozzini.ca

Quatuor Bozzini in workshop with NMK – September 2012, Oslo

// NMK se réunit le Quatuor Bozzini

Le 17, 18 & 19 avril prochain, le renommé Quatuor Bozzini de Montréal présentera l’événement annuel Salon qb - un mini-festival de musique de chambre contemporain mettant en vedette plusieurs artistes invités d’à travers le monde. Cette année, le salon présentera des oeuvres de sept jeunes compositeurs membres du Ny Musikks Komponistgruppe  (NMK)  de la Norvège. Cinq de ces jeunes artistes seront à Montréal pour participer à une semaine de collaboration et de réseautage, et seront présents lors des premières canadiennes de leur musique, étalées sur trois soirées de concerts.

Les compositeurs de la relève Stine Sørlie (Oslo), Rebecka Ahvenniemi (Bergen), Kristin Bolstad (Oslo), Hugo Harmens (Trondheim) et Tyler Futtrell (Oslo) arriveront à Montréal à la mi-avril pour participer à une semaine de collaborations artistiques, performances et évènements professionnels. Le travail des compositeurs norvégiens Sigurd Fischer Olsen (Bergen) et Martin Rane Bauck (Oslo), qui seront absents lors de l’évènement, sera également présenté. Artistes invités au Salon qb seront les suivantes: compositeur Michael Oesterle (Canada), compositeur Laurence Crane (UK) et pianiste Philip Thomas (UK).

Les membres du NMK ont été invités à travailler avec le Quatuor Bozzini suivant leur participation à la conférence annuelle nu:nord, tenue à Montréal l’été dernier. Le succès de cet évènement à poussé le quatuor à collaborer avec le NMK lors de plusieurs performances en Norvège à l’automne dernier – en septembre au festival de musique contemporaine Ultima à Oslo, et en novembre lors de la série AVGARDE à Bergen.

«La relation à long terme entre les compositeurs du Canada et de la Norvège offre à tous une chance unique de mieux se connaître ainsi que de communiquer plus profondément sur un niveau autant artistique que personnel», nous informe la compositrice et directrice du NMK, Stine Sørlie. «Souvent, dans le milieu de la musique contemporaine, les oeuvres nouvelles sont composées pour une occasion spécifique et sont interprétées qu’une seule fois, alors c’est magnifique d’avoir le chance de participer à ce projet collaboratif qui inclut des ateliers, des discussions ainsi que l’opportunité de réviser nos compositions pendant tout le processus. C’est très gratifiant d’entendre comment la musique évolue de performance en performance».

Acclamé comme étant «un des grands quatuors de musique nouvelle dans le monde» (Telegraph, R.-U.), le Quatuor Bozzini se dédie à la promotion des oeuvres de compositeurs émergents. «Nous espérons que cette collaboration avec le NMK mènera à plusieurs futurs échanges entre nos communautés musicales respectives, et nous avons hâte d’introduire la musique de ces jeunes compositeurs de talent à notre auditoire Montréalais», dit le Quatuor.

Concerts: 17, 18 & 19 avril 2013 au Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur à Montréal; 20h. Une réception sera présenté par l’ambassade de Norvège, après le concert du 17 avril.

Billets: 20$/15$/10$

Plus d’infos: www.quatuorbozzini.ca

Going out with a “Bang” – Mira Benjamin smashes her bow as directed in Kristin Bolstad’s theatrical graphic score And Nobody Gets Everything Right

Here you can read about our latest news, get to know our members, listen to recordings, watch videos, and browse photos of our previous editions.

Our community is getting all revved up for our 2013–14 edition. If you’re interested to find out more about what we do, click on our About page to read about our Northern New Music Encounter and community-building projects. Be sure to come back and visit us again soon for updates and information about events in Canada, Norway and the UK.

Here’s to our 3rd edition!

Mira Benjamin and Stine Sørlie
co-directors in Canada and Norway

I. (FR) nom, adjectif

1. [pièce, arbre, fil électrique]  bare; unadorned
2. [personne, vice]  to be exposed

mettre à ~ to expose
mettre son coeur à ~ to open one’s heart

II. (NOR) adverb

1. (EN) now, at present
2. (FR) maintenant, à présent

III. (EN) homophone {new}

1. (FR) nouveau
2. (NOR) ny

 
 
nord /nɔʀ/

I. (NOR) adjective

 1. (EN) north
 2. (FR) nord