Darmstadt Ferienkurse: A Retrospective

It’s been a little over a week since the Darmstadt Festival ended, and I’m still finding myself processing everything. A musical environment so intense and packed full of concerts, talks, and playing - I don’t think I’ve been in such an environment since my undergraduate before COVID. I feel woken up, somehow. I wonder if others feel the same.

It was such a privilege to work and play with a fantastic variety of fellow contemporary musicians from all over the globe - and to listen to so many world-class musicians perform amazing repertoire. From late greats - Cage; Tudor; Stockhausen - to living wonders - Cassandra Miller; Rebecca Saunders; Jürg Frey, Georges Aperghis - and so much music from composers previously unknown to me that I have been and will continue to explore. A special thing this festival has ignited curiosity - an endlessly fun thing to live with. Long may it last!

My positive memories of this festival aren’t music-exclusive. Some of my most precious memories are the dialogues I shared in with the other attendees - international and intergenerational. My mind is rich with differing opinions and perspectives, and amazing guidance, as well.

So obviously, many thanks are in order: to Johannes Schwarz and the bassoon studio (Aaro Lehtovaara, Kara LaMoure, Sebastian Tarbuk) - thank you for the many (many) hours of bassoon-filled intensity, the industrial knowledge, the extended-technique-exchange, and the improvisation session we ended with. So much fun! Thank you to Juliet Fraser - personally, for the 30 minute dialogue which I was so inspired by - and to her and the fellow Part Songs participants: what a joy it was to sing, amongst others, John Cage, Catherine Lamb, Jürg Frey, and your own compositions written for us! Living Room Music: Story has been endlessly going around-and-around-and-around (haha…) my head. Thank you to all those that held Open Spaces! Some highlights included: taking part in Pauline Oliveros pieces; learning overtone singing; playing transcribed whale song(!); improvising with instruments, movement, and both; drawing and painting to Morton Feldman; crafting our own Darmstadt; and crafting our own sea organ. And thank you again, to all the composers, performers, festival attendees - every single one of you made the festival what it was.

So, what’s next? Various projects and ideas are rumbling around in my brain. Some more concrete plans are on the way: namely a solo album, and a collaboratively formed London salon series (more on that to come!), as well as ideas for solo performances and new compositions. All to happen over the next two years, until the next festival happens. 2027 can’t come soon enough!