Darmstadt On Air Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD) & the episode authors

In episode #26 Peter Meanwell (tutor of the seminar “Words On Music” this summer) interviewed Xwélmexw (Stó:lō/Skwah) artist, curator and writer Dylan Robinson about his book “Hungry Listening: Resonant Theory for Indigenous Sound Studies”. Published by University of Minnesota Press in 2020 “Hungry Listening“ presents an excoriating critique of colonial assimilation practices in the classical art music world, whilst simultaneously celebrating indigenous methodologies and art works, and proposing through "doing" a new way of writing sound and listening. The work has been a key text for Meanwell as he collaborates with Sámi artist Elina Waage Mikalsen exploring indigenous Sámi experimental sound and music through Borealis – a festival for experimental music in Bergen, Norway.

In the Darmstadt On Air podcast tutors of the Darmstadt Summer Course talk to a person of their choice and this time they start their conversation from a particular piece of music, a book, a piece of art, a performance, recording etc. In episode #25 Danish accordionist Andreas Borregaard talks with his compatriot composer Niels Rønsholdt about "Until Nothing Left", a solo piece for a performing accordionist that was created for him in 2017.

We are beginning a new season of the Darmstadt On Air podcast: Darmstadt Summer Course tutors talk to a person of their choice and this time they start their conversation from a particular piece of music, a book, a piece of art, a performance, recording etc.
In episode #24 Kate Molleson (tutor of the seminar "Words On Music" this summer) interviewed composer Cassandra Miller about her viola concerto "I cannot love without trembling", which you can listen to on Wednesday evening, 10 May 2023, 7:30pm on BBC radio 3 and online for 30 days afterwards.

Kate Molleson in conversation with Rebecca Saunders

Episode number 22 of Darmstadt On Air presents a conversation between choreographer and director Vera Tussing and composer Michael Picknett. They talk about the intersection between composing and choreographing using devising techniques. They specifically refer to one of their latest collaborations – Tactile Quartet(s) –, a dance performance that was realized in collaboration with four dancers and the string quartet Quatuor MP4. The question how creation and curation can be developed in the fluid processes between choreography and music was also part of their conversation.

One of the central themes of this year’s Darmstadt festival is artistic collaboration and collective creativity. We are interested in how collaborative processes work, especially in the field of musical creation, where we still have a strong concept of authorship, division of labour between composers and performers, but on the other hand collaboration is fundamental for big parts of music making.

In this context we’ve invited Ensemble Pamplemousse to create a concert project for Darmstadt with new compositions. Based in the US, the ensemble consists of five different composer-performer personalities. Over the last two years we’ve discussed several possible formats with the ensemble – and had to realize in the end that, due to the pandemic, the group would not be able to come to Darmstadt personally. So they’ve created a filmed version of their project Shadows that will be shown on August 4, 2021 as a stream.

For the 21st episode of our Darmstadt On Air audio podcast, the music journalist and curator Peter Meanwell interviewed Ensemble Pamplemousse in June 2021 when they were together in Philadelphia, preparing their Darmstadt project.

Ensemble Pamplemousse is: Natacha Diels, Bryan Jacobs, Andrew Greenwald, David Broome and Weston Olencki.