It’s summer! Check out our list of ten premieres taking place at festivals across the world this season
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Hooray! Summer festival season (apologies to those in the southern hemisphere) has well and truly started! Whether you’re surrounded by the Swiss Alps at the Verbier Festival or on a packed London double decker bound for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, you’re sure to see the world’s very best musicians in action this summer.
This past weekend,The Strad attended the opening of the Chigiana International Festival in Siena, Italy (see our Instagram reel here). Within just two days of its opening I had already heard two world premieres. It made me think, how many more premieres are going on this summer? While not all summer festivals concentrate on contemporary music, it is an increasingly important part of many festivals’ ethos and plans for the future. Premieres allow us to be not only exposed to the best musicians, but also the best composers of our time. So in that spirit, here are ten string premieres coming up this summer, hopefully somewhere near you!
20 July: PUBLIQuartet and Renée Rapier (mezzo-soprano) at Newport Classical (Rhode Island, US)
The New York-based PUBLIQuartet is returning to Newport Classical with the world premiere of Brazilian-US composer Clarice Assad’s new work for string quartet and mezzo-soprano: Chronicles of Ghosts | Chapter III: Whispers from the Pirate Queen. The work is based on two trailblazing women: Grace O’Malley, a 16th-century Irish pirate queen, and Anne Hutchinson, a 17th-century Puritan spiritual leader. Through text and music, the two women share their struggles and triumphs, spotlighing the power of sisterhood.
Concert information here
21 July: Takács Quartet at the Colorado Music Festival (Colorado, US)
The Takács Quartet will perform the world premiere of US composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s new Concerto Grosso, Kachkaniraqmi (’I still exist’ in the indegenious Peruvian language of Quechua) on 21 July. The quartet will be joined by Colorado Festival musicians. The work takes inspiration from indigenous Peruvian folk tunes as well as showcasing a speculative style based on the meeting of Peruvian and Western classical music. Read more about the piece in our July issue interview with Frank here.
Concert information here
22 July: Michael Barenboim (vln), Bryan Cheng (vc) and Tsotne Zedginidze (pf) at the Verbier Festival (Switzerland)
By far the youngest composer in this list is Georgian composer Tsotne Zedginidze. He was born in only 2009! His compositional style is influenced by Georgian folkloric music, and his new Piano Trio is no exception. Its world premiere will be performed at none other than the Verbier Festival by a stellar cast of Michael Barenboim on violin, Bryan Cheng on cello, and the composer himself on piano.
Concert information here
24 July: Minna Pensola and Antti Tikkanen (vlns) at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland)
Co-artistic directors of the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, violinists Minna Pensola and Antti Tikkanen, will perform the world premiere of Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski’s new work for two violins at their festival this summer. The work, called Sic (‘to sic’ in Latin means ‘to incite’ in English) is written with the idea of gestures and reactions between the two violinists in mind.
Concert information here
27 July: Omega Ensemble at ACO Pier 2/3 (Australia)
Ok, I lied, one of these isn’t strictly at a festival, nor is it during summer, but it is during this season. As an Aussie, I feel an obligation to include at least one Australian concert, even if only out of resentment for our seasons always being described as ‘backwards’. (But also, there are fantastic premieres going on in Australia this season that shouldn’t be ignored!). One of these will be the world premiere of US composer Samuel Adams’s Lighthouse for string quintet, clarinet and piano in Sydney, performed by the Omega Ensemble.
Concert information here
2 August: Dover Quartet at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival (Rhode Island, US)
The world premiere of Woodland Songs for string quartet by American Indian composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate will be performed by the Dover Quartet this August. In the work, five woodland animals – Squirrel, Bird, Deer, Fish and Raccoon – are brought to life through the use of traditional Chickasaw melodies mixed with classical techniques. In the work, the composer was ‘going for character’, he told The Strad. ’I’m allowing myself to be impulsive and just imagine what a quartet can do.’ Watch out for our interview with Tate about the work in our upcoming August issue!
Concert information here
10 August: Lawrence Power at the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado, US)
Written in 2021, Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s Viola Concerto was the second concerto in British violist Lawrence Power’s V10LA project, which aims to commission ten viola concertos by 2030. Hillborg’s work will now receive its US premiere at the Aspen Music Festival this August alongside the Aspen Festival Orchestra and conductor Piotr Waclawik. The 20-minute work comprises seven unbroken parts, contrasting from rage-filled sections to lush musical landscapes.
Concert information here
16 August: Takács Quartet at the Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland)
Seems like the Takács is busy this season! They’re back with the European premiere of Flow by US violist and composer of Zimbabwean-Japanese descent, Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama. The work is based on the natural world, and its four movements cover scientific topics from the Big Bang Theory to Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.
Concert information here
18 August: Sol Gabetta at the BBC Proms (UK)
After premiering the work in November 2022, Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta will perform the UK premiere of Spanish composer Francisco Coll’s Cello Concerto at the 2024 BBC Proms, joined by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Tianyi Liu. In the four-movement, 20-minute work, you’ll hear tinges of the tango and waltz, and much more. If that weren’t dance-y enough, the progamme is completed by Stravinsky’s Firebird!
Concert information here
10 September: Adelphi Quartet at the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland)
And finally, the Adelphi Quartet will perform the world premiere of British composer Tom Coult’s String Quartet no.2 at the Lucerne Festival this September. The four-movement work takes influence from the composer’s interest in jazz and Vaudeville music, among other styles, and includes jazzy sarabandes and chaotic dances, the composer tells The Strad. What a way to end this of exciting list of new music!
Concert information here
Here’s to a wild and wonderful summer festival season!
Read: Session Report: the Takács Quartet on re-recording Schubert
Watch: PUBLIQuartet performs ‘What is American’
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