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ALEA Ensemble

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ALEA Ensemble
Chamber ensemble for contemporary music
Founded1988 (1988)
LocationGraz
Music directorGerhard Präsent

The ALEA Ensemble is a chamber music ensemble founded in 1988 in Graz for contemporary music, playing in variable formation including the ALEA Quartet.

History

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The ensemble was founded in 1988 by composer and conductor Gerhard Präsent and his wife, violinist Sigrid Präsent.[1] The name is derived from the aleatoric composition style, but can also be applied for variable combination of instruments for different works, such as the ALEA Quartet. The ensemble performs contemporary music, frequently in combination with traditional repertory. They played and recorded the second and third string quartet by Iván Erőd,[2] string quartets by Gerhard Präsent, and the second to fourth string quartet by Herbert Blendinger.[3]

The ALEA ensemble has performed at festivals in Austria, such as "Österreich heute" (Austria today) and "Hörgänge" (Paths of listening/hearing ducts) in the Wiener Konzerthaus, "Judenburger Musiksommer" in Judenburg, Carinthischer Sommer in Ossiach and styriarte.[1] They have performed internationally at the festival "Nuovi Spazi Musicali" at the Forum Austriaco (Austrian Cultural Forum) in Rome,[4] "Musik-Forum München" in Munich,[5] the "Lutoslawski Festival" in Lublin, at the "Oaarwurm"-Festival in Berlin[6] and at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City[1] as well as London[7] and Washington, D.C.[8]

Their 2007 CD "Klassik meets Jazz"[9] was reviewed in 2008 by Tim Homfray in "The Strad": "Berndt Luefs At Nightfall and La Carretera are attractive and elegantly played; his Sonntag in der Kleinstadt for violin and vibraphone has Sigrid Präsent enjoying herself. [...] Iván Eröd's solo-violin GeburtstagsPRÄSENT [(a birthday present to Gerhard Präsent)], played with assured simplicity by Sigrid is followed by his Third String Quartet of 2003. This is a powerful and concentrated work, which the ALEA plays with tonal intensity and rhythmic vitality. ... Gerhard Präsent's own Canzona op.50 for violin and cello has a similar expressive economy. Here cellist Christian Peyr joins Sigrid Präsent for a performance particularly notable for the plaintive dialogue of the beautiful third movement Aria."[10]

Their performances have been broadcast by the ORF and by the Bayerischer Rundfunk. A concert at the Musik-Forum München, Studio für neue Musik (studio for new music) was played by Sigrid Präsent (violin), Tobias Stosiek (cello) and Rita Melem (piano), and moderated by Gerhard Präsent.[5] The program included piano trios of Gerhard Präsent (Trio intricato), Herbert Blendinger (Fantasie in G), Graham Waterhouse (Bei Nacht) and Iván Erőd (Trio).[5] It was broadcast on 19 August 2011 in the series "Concerto bavarese" (Bavarian concert).[11][12]

From 1993 to 2009 the ensemble performed preferentially as string quartet (also with additional piano), from 2010 to today mostly as string trio (two violins, cello), also with possible piano. The present line-up consists of Sigrid Präsent and Igmar Jenner (violin) with Tobias Stosiek (cello), facultatively with Wolfgang Stangl (viola) and Rita Melem (piano).[13]

Recordings

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Alea Quartett Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine music information center austria
  2. ^ Iván Eröd / Werke bei / Music published by Doblinger Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine Doblinger
  3. ^ Alea Quartett Discography Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine music information center austria
  4. ^ Festival 2006 Nuovi Spazi Musicali, 2011 (in Italian)
  5. ^ a b c Programm Musik-Forum München Studio für neue Musik, Tonkünstlerverband München, 2 May 2011 (in German)
  6. ^ OaarWurm – das etwas andere Festival für zeitgenössische Berliner Tonkunst (FR 5.6.2015 bis SO 7.6.2015) Archived July 8, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "ALEA Ensemble / London Debut Concert". Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  8. ^ "String Action / with traditional and contemporary Austrian music". Archived from the original on 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  9. ^ aleaquartett CD-507:NOACK-NELSON-LUEF-ERÖD-KUEGERL-PRÄSENT-ARÀNYI-ASCHNER Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Österreichische Zeitgenössische Musik, Austrian Contemporary Music
  10. ^ Alea Quartett Presse music information center austria
  11. ^ "Concerto bavarese". Graham Waterhouse. 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  12. ^ "Concerto bavarese" (in German). Bayerischer Rundfunk. 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  13. ^ [1] STB-News 1/2013
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