PORTRAIT of HANNAH KENDALL
The first of four fascinating portraits this season, continuing this series, and cooperation with the Ensemble Modern (EM) and HfMDK, its title coined by John Cage wishing his audiences Happy New Ears, is dedicated to Helmut Lachenmann, one of the most influential German composers of our time, who celebrates his 90th birthday on November 27. A new production of his Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern / Little Matchgirl was performed at Oper Frankfurt ten years ago. Next comes the Czech composer Miroslav Srnka, who has composed several works for music theatre, including South Pole (2016) and Voice Killer, which will be performed for the first time at the Theater an der Wien this June. Then Iris ter Schiphorst who, like Lachenmann and Srnka enjoys a close relationship with the EM,and has performed with various rock bands on keyboard, drums and bass. A student of Luigi Nono and Dieter Schnebel, she was Professor of Media Composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna until 2022. Last, but not least, the British composer Hannah Kendall, who has roots in South American Guyana, represents the younger generation. She was awarded the 2022 Hindemith Prize.
