Check out www.hcmf.co.uk hcmf// is an annual, international festival of contemporary and new music, over 10 days consisting of approximately 50 events, including concerts, music-theatre, dance, multi-media, talks and film, with a related Learning and Participation programme devised and implemented to reflect the artistic programme and respond to regional need.
Operating as usual
We're under two weeks away from our hcmf// shorts deadline...
If you're interested in performing as part of our yearly all-dayer of short concerts, get your proposal in!
More details:
https://hcmf.co.uk/open-call-hcmf-shorts-2022/
Join us for a FREE hcmf// concert next week!
World renowned experimental ensemble Australian Art Orchestra will cap off their three-day residency in Huddersfield with a huge performance - featuring all six of the artists we've selected to collaborate with them.
This concert is open to all for free. We’ll be kicking things off on Thursday 16 June at 7pm. Join us then to find out what three days burrowed away with the AAO sounds like.
Featuring David and Daniel Wilfred, songmen from Ngukurr in Arnhem Land, Australia who created the record 'Hand to Earth' with the AAO, the ensemble will present their new music with Cath Roberts, Seth Bennett, Mandhira de Saram, Megan Steinberg, Alex Ives and Bell Lungs.
Read more:
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OPEN CALL: hcmf// shorts 2022
If you're interested in bringing your project or performance to the festival, our open call for applications is live now!
A staple of the festival, hcmf// shorts is a performance and mentoring opportunity for emerging artists working across the UK.
Every year, hcmf// shorts takes place on the Monday of the festival and brings in some of our largest audiences, providing performers with an amazing opportunity to play to packed venues.
Find out more about how you can apply below:
Our full day of concerts from emerging artists returns this year - find out how you can apply to perform at the festival.
We're super excited to announce the four artists joining us in Huddersfield for the Creative Music Intensive, our collaborative residency with Australian Art Orchestra, taking place this June.
In this new, bitesize format, members of the ensemble will spend three days working with our artists in Huddersfield, workshopping new music pieces collaboratively. On the final day of the residency, the artists will perform these new works in an hcmf// concert.
Congratulations to our residents!
🟦 Seth Bennett
🟦 Alex Ives
🟦 Bell Lungs
🟦 Megan Steinberg
Selected from an open call, our final four artists will be collaborating on music with the AAO over three full days this June.
Watching Cath Roberts perform 'and then the next thing you know', her immense improv piece for hcmf// 2021, was an absolute delight: fragments of her destroyed graphic score hanging from the ceiling, and her newly assembled cr-ow-tr-io getting tangled up in it, trying to make sense of her directions on the ground.
The saxophonist is bringing the piece out of the woodworks this next Thursday for its second ever performance at City, University of London. Make sure you get down there and this one!
Book a free ticket: https://www.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2022/may/cath-roberts
Watch now - our new Artist to Artist talk with Rani Jambak and Supriya Nagarajan.
Our Artist to Artist series invites musicians to take part in free, unmoderated discussions, discovering along the way the things that draw them together.
In their conversation, Rani and Supriya discuss exploring ecology through music – and their experiences of recording water sounds.
Check out the full discussion below.
In our newest Artist to Artist talk, Rani Jambak and Supriya Nagarajan discuss ecological projects and their experiences of Huddersfield.
Claudia Molitor has a new record coming out, and it looks wonderful.
Fourteen gloriously weird, fragmented songs combining 'untrained voice, delicate instrumentals, field recordings and experimental electronics'.
It's a chance to hear the composer writing in the first person, refocusing her music and presenting it on a more personal scale.
Can't wait to hear this. Check out the Nonclassical description below:
13 track album
New Artist to Artist talk coming your way soon!
We're really excited to be forging forward with these discussions in the coming months. We'll be inviting more musicians to take part in our unmoderated discussions, discovering along the way the things that draw them together.
We've got one coming up very soon - between Musician In Residence Rani Jambak and Supriya Nagarajan - and in the mean time, you can check out the archive:
https://hcmf.co.uk/artist-to-artist-talks/
Explore Ensemble have recorded a new version of Joanna Bailie's revelatory 2020 piece DISSOLVE - with video and all!
We were overjoyed to premiere DISSOLVE at our stay-at-home edition of hcmf// in 2020, presenting it as part of our broadcast programme on BBC Radio 3. But as a result, we had to ditch the stunning visual element of the piece, which draws parallels between film edits and our self-deleting memories.
Check out Explore Ensemble's new recording of Bailie's piece, in all its audio-visual glory, below.
Dissolve (2020)for sextet, video, and tapeby Joanna Bailiejoannabailie.com00:00 Part 106:17 Part 211:45 Part 313:53 Part 4Performed by Explore Ensembleexplor...
Two days left to apply!
Come collaborate with some of Australia's most renowned performers.
UK-based music makers, get in touch! All you need to send us is a biography and sound clips of your work. No experience working with ensembles or reading music required.
Australian Art Orchestra will collaborate with our selected musicians on 'satellite residencies' in Huddersfield.
There are still two weeks left to apply for our callout. Come work with Australian Art Orchestra this June!
Collaborate with some of Australia's most renowned composers and improvisers, and take part in an hcmf// performance of your work.
We're looking for any UK-based artists who make their own music. No experience of working with ensembles or reading music is required.
https://hcmf.co.uk/call-for-music-creators-for-our-australian-art-orchestra-residency/
Australian Art Orchestra will collaborate with our selected musicians on 'satellite residencies' in Huddersfield.
Our Musician in Residence Rani Jambak is prepping a new installation - and journaling about her experiences. ✍️
Inspired by traditional water wheels, she's learning how to build her own - and has been on site getting design ideas.
You can read about her adventures finding materials for the project, and her attempts to find a local natural site to present the installation at, in her new blog.
Read more:
https://hcmf.co.uk/ranis-residency-journal-working-with-water-wheels/
Our Musician in Residence talks us through designing and building a fully-functioning water wheel for her upcoming installation.
Happy tenth birthday to our friends in Explore Ensemble!
It's been wonderful going on this journey with you - every one of your hcmf// appearances has been a little bit mind blowing.
https://www.facebook.com/ExploreEnsemble/videos/947490115907105/
Alex Ives has announced a new Specimens album, coming our way this May via First Terrace Records!
The follow-up to In the Dust of Idols and Cafe Songs is a massively collaborative affair - Ives worked across these compositions with some of his favourite artists, including Peter Broderick, Midori Hirano, Benoît Pioulard and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch.
We've been excited for this since Alex mentioned it was in the works in his hcmf// feature last year.
https://specimensmusic.bandcamp.com/album/intersections
"I love to develop musical ideas, and also love presenting them in different ways. I want to make a connection between Minangkabau and Huddersfield through soundscapes of nature."
This month, we’re delighted to be hosting Rani Jambak as part of the British Council’s Musicians in Residence programme. Rani is exploring the local environment of Huddersfield through her ecological sound campaign, #FORMYNATURE.
Check out our interview with Rani, where we discuss the project, and her experience getting a digital tour of Huddersfield and its artists.
https://hcmf.co.uk/an-interview-with-rani-jambak-our-musician-in-residence/
We talk to Rani Jambak about #FORMYNATURE, her ecological sound campaign, and discuss her early experiences of Huddersfield
An all-dayer from Riot Ensemble!
Our friends are curating a huge day of music this April 30th, presenting Kings Place with one of their signature smorgasbords.
'Things to do in the Belly of a Whale' is a full festival of new works considering how the last two years have 'impacted, expanded and collapsed relationships between human beings.'
Find out more below!
https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/things-to-do-in-the-belly-of-a-whale/
As part of their ReNEW residency at Kings Place, Riot Ensemble curates a day-long festival which asks questions about how the past two years have impacted, expanded and collapsed relationships between human beings. Stretching from Riot’s 2020 Call for Scores winner Alec Hall’s deep-dive in...
Calling music makers!
We're looking for four UK-based artists to join Australian Art Orchestra as they bring their collaborative residency project to Huddersfield for the very first time.
This June, the group will work closely with our selected musicians in a three-day intensive residency focused on new, collectively created works, with an hcmf// performance on the final day.
Find out how you can get involved:
https://hcmf.co.uk/call-for-music-creators-for-our-australian-art-orchestra-residency
Australian Art Orchestra will collaborate with our selected musicians on 'satellite residencies' in Huddersfield.
'Listen to my World is another step forward in Molitor’s expansive, outward-looking approach to creating.'
Claudia Molitor's collaborative new installation travels to SPOR festival later this month!
In an audio-visual installation, Molitor maps out the experiences of six participants, emphasising the importance of collective, inclusive storytelling.
Immerse yourself in the project via its new website:
https://listentomyworld.co.uk/
Listen to my World is born out of an interest in listening to stories less often told, and the belief that these stories matter.
A little reminder that our Artist to Artist archive is up to date and available to explore!
Six unmoderated discussions between composers working across disciplines.
No hosts, no questions and no themes – instead, we’ve asked our artists to improvise a little, to discuss the similarities and differences found in their music, and to learn about each other as we do.
We started recording these in 2020 and will have more to share very soon...
https://hcmf.co.uk/artist-to-artist-talks/
10 seconds of clarinet and electronics from our Current Climate launch event last week!
Thanks so much to Hayley Suviste for a phenomenal performance, to Kwas / Wine Shop & Bar for having us and to all of our panellists for your insights on tackling climate action through the music world.
Stay tuned for more Current Climate events this year!
🌳🌳🌳
We're launching the Current Climate tomorrow!
Join us for for our free panel discussion and performance at Kwas / Wine Shop & Bar at 6.30pm.
We'll be hosting a discussion about climate action in the music industry, thinking about the positive influence culture can have on our approaches to sustainability.
The talk will be followed by a performance from sound artist Hayley Suviste.
Find out more:
https://hcmf.co.uk/the-current-climate-culture-and-its-potential-to-inspire-positive-climate-action/
Join us for the first discussion in our new series of events focused on climate change and sustainability.
We're delighted to be working alongside our friends at Opera North to bring Julia Holter's 'The Passion of Joan of Arc' to hcmf// this year!
Holter will be joined by the chorus of Opera North for this massively anticipated performance - we're thrilled to be presenting it as part of the festival.
We'll have more to share about booking tickets down the line, but for now you can read about the project from Opera North's website:
https://www.operanorth.co.uk/news/rescheduled-dates-for-julia-holters-passion-of-joan-of-arc/
Julia and her band will be joined by the 36-strong Chorus of Opera North for the premiere of her live soundtrack at Huddersfield Town Hall for hcmf//, with a further date at the Barbican. There will be a further date for the ensemble at London's Barbican on 25 November.
Room CAM1/10, University Of Huddersfield
Huddersfield
HD1 3DH
| Monday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Tuesday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Wednesday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Thursday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Friday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
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hcmf// programme covers 1978 - 2016
With this year's hcmf// being the Festival's 40th edition, Artistic Director Graham McKenzie reflects on his personal highlights from previous yeas. What stands out for you from the previous 39 editions? Please share your hcmf// memories - we'd love to hear them.
And here's another bicycle orchestra instrument, a frame harp! Book your place fast! Free workshops will take place at The Packhorse Gallery on Friday 20 June, 1-4pm or Saturday 21 June, 10am-1pm. Email Sarah at [email protected] to book your place.
Filmed during Philip Thomas' 12 hour performance of John Cage's Electronic Music for Piano, Saturday 20 November, Huddersfield Art Gallery as part of hcmf// 2010. Video by Sam Belinfante
Edges Ensemble performing John Cage's Variations II at Huddersfield Art Gallery as part of Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, 19 November 2010. This performance was part of the launch event for Every Day is a Good Day: The Visual Art of John Cage. Video by Sam Belinfante hcmf.co.uk
Alvin Curran and musicians from Apartment House and Edges Ensemble take the Cage train from Huddersfield to Stalybridge and back
In the first of three video interviews, hcmf// Artistic Director Graham McKenzie looks forward to welcoming Rebecca Saunders as Composer in Residence at this year’s festival and talks about how the programme explores the shared experience of live music in subtle and surprising ways.
Ritchie Penrose - Celebration of The Soul & M
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