NEWS

Tectonics Glasgow 2016 breaks the boundaries of new music

Having just celebrated his 80^th birthday, renowned pianist John Tilbury comes to Glasgow for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s annual Tectonics festival at City Halls and Old Fruitmarket, from 7-8 May. The orchestra launched the 2016 programme today (2 February) which sees musical disciplines from Scotland and across the globe, collide and collaborate.

John Tilbury will play the World Premiere of a BBC commissioned Piano Concerto by Howard Skempton and a World Premiere by Michael Pisaro. There are also BBC commissions for the BBC SSO from Laurence Crane, Richard Emsley and Alwynne Pritchard while Wolf Eyes-founder Nate Young collaborates on his first work for orchestra.

Finding inspiration from the environment is a theme running through this year’s festival. Annea Lockwood, whose connection with the natural world has been ingrained in her installations and compositions for decades, brings her installation, Sound Map of the Housatonic River to the festival. The piece has seen Lockwood travel this vast stretch of water, recording sounds at various points along the 150 mile river as it flows to Long Island Sound and into the Atlantic. Her other featured work, Jitterbug sees John Tilbury and a group of musicians interpret rock patterns as musical scores.

Catherine Kontz’s new work written especially for the Old Fruitmarket is inspired by the sounds and calls of market traders from around the world. Kontz’s piece complements the original use of the building, naming it Fruitmarket.

Now in its fourth year, the festival sees its first appearance of opera, with Jane Dickson’s work Labyrinthine, an exploration of female identity. Spoken word, poetry and vocal expression are also represented. Ánde Somby, in a solo performance, yoiks – an ancient form of pre-Christian Sami expression which sees a person transform into an animal through song. There is also a new work for orchestra by Eyvind Kang, plus the poetry and viola playing of Ivor Kallin.

A late night gig features Andy Moor of the The Ex teaming up with regular contributors and local Glasgow guitarists, as well as performances from Oliver and Laurie Pitt and the homemade electronic instruments of Phantom Chips. 

Tectonics is curated by the BBC SSO’s Principal Guest Conductor Ilan Volkov and by Alasdair Campbell.

Ilan Volkov, the BBC SSO’s Principal Guest Conductor, said, “From orchestral composition to improvisation, from the most delicate of acoustic whispers to the wilder shores of amplified discord: Tectonics Glasgow continues to bring together local artists and those from around the globe to explore how sound, in all its guises, has the power to move us.”

Gavin Reid, Director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra said: “It’s a real testament to the orchestra that artists from all over the world descend on Glasgow for what has become such an intriguing exploration of new music.”

The internationally renowned Tectonics festival has taken place around the world, including in New York, Adelaide, Iceland and Tel-Aviv.

The majority of performances will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.