64 applications from all over the world were submitted for this project: scores, videos and letters of motivation were intended to give an insight into the career and plans of the applicants. Four musicians were selected by the jury: Joseph Bozich (USA), Roman Czura (Germany/Poland), Ricardo Ferro (Venezuela/Canada), Otto Wanke (Czech Republic) and Tina Geroldinger (Austria).
Ink Still Wet writes the future of music
What is the Ink Still Wet project regarding? One tries to find answers to questions regarding when a work is finished, which technical rules one has to follow, how one can pour the hitherto unheard into music – and above all how one performs works that just ” in fresh ink”, i.e. “ink still wet”, were noted and revised. For this practical implementation, the musicians of the Tonkunstler Orchestra of Lower Austria work closely with Philippe Manoury, the Composer in Residence of the year 2023, and the Ink Still Wet participants.
“Ink Still Wet is writing the future of music. The intensive exchange between musicians at the beginning of their careers and established composers opens up space for innovation and for questioning habits,” explains Philipp Stein, Managing Director of Grafenegg Kulturbetriebsgesellschaft. “If we show that music doesn’t just fall from the sky, but is made by young people in a cooperative manner, we can also appeal to an audience that has had little to do with classical concerts up to now.”
Music that should touch you and make you think
Three of the four selected participants were now in Grafenegg at the first workshop. “My intention as a composer is not only to create skilful pieces with beautiful melodies, but also to paint entire expressive pictures, to experiment with atmospheres and sounds, to include new elements such as performance and spatial aspects,” says Tina Geroldinger, who was born in Upper Austria Studied composition at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz since 2020.
According to the 23-year-old, it is a big dream to work with musicians and artists of all kinds and to touch the audience with their music, to make them think or simply laugh.
“Traditional composition competitions too often bog down in the no man’s land of anonymity – an entry by mail, or formerly by post, and at best a dual message: yes or no. Hardly any real feedback. At best, a prize, sometimes a world premiere,” says Roman Czura, born in 1989.
The Final concert of Ink Still Wet will take place on August 26, 2023 at 3.30 p.m. in the Grafenegg Auditorium. Admission is free.
“But much more important – downright enriching – is the meeting with the other composers, the performing musicians, the conductor, the jurors. Here you make acquaintances, make friends, learn from each other,” says Czura, who teaches at the University of Katowice (Poland).
Traditional structures are to be overcome
As Composer in Residence 2023, one of the most influential composers in Europe has taken over the direction of the workshops, according to Grafenegg: Philippe Manoury, born in 1952, was involved in the development of electronic serious music at an early stage, repeatedly pushing boundaries and genres and “combining computer-generated Sounds with the classical orchestra. His music is never an end in itself, but takes part in the debates of our time.”
Overcoming traditional structures in the orchestra business and the interest in exchange with young colleagues make him the ideal director of Ink Still Wet. His counterpart as conducting coach is the American composer and conductor Brad Lubman, who not only regularly conducts the major orchestras, but also promotes the performance of contemporary music with great commitment.