The leitmotif of this Neue Vocalsolisten concert can be described as a delicate and fragile woman's voice giving form to the idea of a person under totalitarian conditions who finds strength and dignity through their own voice. The memories of the Belarussian women and LGBTQ+ people, recorded by the artist Olga Bubich, served as the material for this new piece by Sergej Newski. The silent but distinct voices of women protesting in Istanbul's Taksim Square are expressed in Turkish composer Zeynep Gedizlioglu's “Kelimeler.” Alexandra Filonenko, who was born in Ukraine and lives in Berlin, transforms a monologue from Heiner Müller's “Hamletmachine” into a metaphor for the genesis of language from breath and sound. Finally, the world premieres of works by the outstanding composers Maksym Kolomiiets and Vladimir Rannev, form a poetic but clear response to the challenges of our times. In his “Ereignisse” cycle, based on Thomas Bernhard's short stories, Rannev describes a world in which every element attempts to suppress the protagonist's freedom. Thus, the dialectic of freedom and suppression becomes a field of artistic statement, and connects the otherwise very different composers of this evening's program.

NEUE VOCALSOLISTEN
vocal ensemble

The singers of the Neue Vocalsolisten see themselves as explorers and discoverers: in exchange with composers, they are constantly searching for new forms of vocal expression. One focus is on collaboration with artists who virtuously exploit the possibilities of digital media, with an interest in networking, in playing with genres, in dissolving space, perspectives and functions. Thus, idiosyncratic interdisciplinary formats between music theater, performance, installation and concert staging characterize the projects of the ensemble, whose work, with more than 30 premieres annually, is considered worldwide to be leading and unique in the field of contemporary vocal.

SERGEJ NEWSKI
сomposer

Born in Moscow, Newski completed his music theory studies at the Moscow Conservatory's school. In the 1990s, Sergej emigrated to Germany, where he continued his education at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden and the University of the Arts in Berlin. Since 1994, his music has been performed at leading international New Music festivals, including the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Wien Modern, Musica Viva, Milano Musica, Biennale Musica (La Biennale di Venezia), Warschauer Herbst, ECLAT, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, MaerzMusik, Ultraschall, and Klangspuren Schwaz. Newski has received commissions from the Berlin State Opera, Konzerthaus Berlin, Ruhrtriennale, Klangforum Wien, Scharoun Ensemble, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, SWR, Deutschlandradio, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, conductor Teodor Currentzis, director Kirill Serebrennikov, and others. He currently lives and works in Berlin.

OLGA BUBICH
art critic, photographer, writer

Born in Minsk, Olga is the author of three photobooks and more than 300 essays, reviews and interviews. Since 2014 she has been a team member of "The Month of Photography in Minsk'' — the only independent photography festival in the country. As an art critic, Olga addresses a wide range of topics, including the art and culture sphere in Belarus, the role of photography and art in preserving memories, freedom of expression, and LGBTQ+ visibility. The project "The Art of (Not) Forgetting", conceived in February 2021, reflects a desire to capture the memories of people who are currently surviving a harsh and traumatic historical period. Now Olga is based in Berlin as an ICORN Fellow.

VLADIMIR RANNEV
composer

Graduated from the composition department of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 2003, Rannev composes both acoustic and electroacoustic music, which has been performed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, Finland, Japan, and the USA by various ensembles, including the Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Conservatory Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, eNsemble, Studio of New Music, Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Neue Vocalsolisten, and Ensemble Mosaik, among others. Rannev also works in theater, where he took part in numerous staging projects in several theaters, such as Alexandrinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg) and the Theatre Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin). His opera Two Acts, with a libretto by Dmitri A. Prigov, premiered at the Hermitage Museum (with Ensemble Mosaik and conductor Enno Poppe) and won the Grand Prix of the Sergey Kuryokhin Prize in 2013. The opera Drillalians was nominated for the National Theatre Golden Mask Prize in 2016, and the opera Prose was awarded the National Theatre Golden Mask Prize in 2019.

ALEXANDRA FILONENKO
composer

Alexandra is a freelance composer based in Berlin. She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in composition at the Moscow State Conservatory. She was a fellow at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, Schloss Solitude, Casa Baldi (Italy), Künstlerhaus Schreyahn, and the Music Academy Rheinsberg. She has received awards at various composition competitions, including the Handel Festival, "Working with Arditti," Deutsche Oper Berlin, Contemporary Opera Berlin, Young Euro Classic, and the Berlin Composition Prize Rheinsberg (2018). Her works have been performed by Ensemble Ascolta, Ensemble Aleph, Kairos Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Neue Voсalsolisten, soloists from the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Studio Neue Musik (Moscow), Maulwerker, KNM (Berlin), soloists from the Musica Aeterna Choir, and Musikkollegium Winterthur under the direction of Thomas Zehetmair, Daniel Gloger, Natalia Pschenitchnikova, Konstantin Manaev, Viktoria Vitrenko, among others. In 2016, her first CD "Nackt" was released, followed by the opera "NOUMEN" in 2018. In 2019/20, Alexandra Filonenko received her composer residency at the German Study Center in Venice. In 2020 her musical theater piece "Ein Geschäft mit Träumen" was performed at Tischlerei/Deutsche Oper Berlin.

MAXIM KOLOMIIETS
сomposer, oboist

Maxim was born in Kiev, he graduated from the National Music Academy of Ukraine as an oboist (2005) and composer (2009), and from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln as a composer (2016). He is the winner of national competitions Gradus ad Parnassum (Kyiv, 2000), Step to the Left (St. Petersburg, 2012), Skoryk Competition (Lviv, 2021). In 2023, the Metropolitan Opera commissioned an opera from Maxim about the abducted Ukrainian children. His music has been performed at international festivals such as the MATA Festival (New York), Summer New Music Courses in Darmstadt (Darmstadt), Sommer in Stuttgart (Stuttgart), New Talents (Cologne), Donaueschinger Musiktage, Warsaw Autumn (Warsaw), World Music Days (Leuven), Other Space (Moscow), Gogolfest (Kyiv), Contrasts (Lviv), Randfestspiele (Zepernick), Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival (New York), etc. Interpreters of his music include the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble MusikFabrik (Cologne), Haydn Orchestra (Bolzano), Arditti Quartet, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Amaryllis Quartet (Hamburg), Ascolta (Stuttgart), KlangForum Heidelberg, notabu.ensemble, Latenze Ensemble (Basel), Lions Gate Trio (U.S. and Europe), Neo Quartet (Gdansk), Ukho Ensemble (Kyiv), National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Kyiv), Kyiv Chamber Orchestra (Kyiv), Ensemble Nostri Temporis (Kyiv), Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (Moscow), Ian Pace (London), Helen Beldsoe (Cologne), Hayk Melikyan (Yerevan), Enno Poppe (Germany). Maxim Kolomiiets is a co-founder of the Ensemble for Contemporary Music Ensemble Nostri Temporis (2007), founder of the Baroque music ensemble Luna Ensemble (2014), and music curator at Gogolfest Kyiv (2017).

ZEYNEP GEDIZLIOĞLU
сomposer

Born in Izmir, Turkey, Zeynep Gedizlioðlu currently lives and works as a freelance composer in Berlin. She studied composition with Cengiz Tanç in Istanbul, Theo Brandmüller in Saarbrücken, Ivan Fedele in Strasbourg, and Wolfgang Rihm in Karlsruhe, in addition to music theory with Michael Reudenbach. Zeynep Gedizlioðlu received the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Composers’ Prize in 2012, the Composer of the Year Prize of the 5th Donizetti Music Awards Istanbul in 2014 and was nominated for the Deutsche Musikautoren Preis in 2016 in the category Music for Ensemble. In 2018, she received the Heidelberg Female Artist Prize for her entire compositional work. Her compositions were performed at international festivals such as Istanbul Music Festival, Musica Strasbourg, ISCM World New Music Days, Maerz Musik, Ultraschall Berlin, Beethovenfest Bonn, Eclat Stuttgart, Wien Modern, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Salzburger Festspiele, Musikprotokoll Steirischer Herbst Graz, cresc Biennale in Frankfurt and G((o))ng Tomorrow in Copenhagen, and Festival SoundState in London. She works with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, hr-sinfonieorchester, Ensemble Modern, ensemble recherche, Accroche Note, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Aleph Gitarrenquartett, Ensemble 2e2m, Oenm, Klangforum Wien and the Arditti Quartet; with conductors Emilio Pomarico, Johannes Kalitzke, Oswald Sallaberger, Gürer Aykal, Titus Engel, Ilan Volkov, and Jonathan Stockhammer, who have premiered many of her works.