Svoboda plays Nyman "Trombone Concerto" in Linz
10/13/2011 12:17
The "Trombone Concerto" from English composer Michael Nyman is a rarely performed work from 1995 and a tour-de-force for both the trombonist and composer. Mike Svoboda is jumping in at short notice for the ailing Heinz Holliger (we wish him a speedy recovery!) and he is looking forward to finally working as a soloist with the conductor Dennis Russel Davis, who conducted Svoboda's composition Reflective Stuctures back in 2005. It is also Svoboda's debut with the Bruckner Orchester Linz and the first time he has played this concerto since 2001, when he performed the German premiere with Bochumer Symphoniker.
Music for Trombone and Orchestra premiered in Stuttgart
08/31/2011 20:59
Mike Svoboda's "Music for Trombone and Orchestra" was premiered at the ECLAT Festival in Stuttgart, Germany last February. The works commissioned by the Southwest Germany Radio was performed by the Radio Orchestra Stuttgart of the SWR under the direction of Peter Rundel, Mike Svoboda as the soloist. An excerpt of the work can be heard here.
New Trio Weiss - Henneberger - Svoboda
08/31/2011 08:38
On May 25th in Basel Switzerland the "Trio Weiss - Henneberger - Svoboda" played a concert with new works for saxophone, trombone and piano - all world premieres. The composers, all connected with the University of Music Basel included two former professors of composition Balz Trümpy and Jürg Wyttenbach, two present professors for composition Georg Friedrich Haas and Michel Roth, and two present composition students Matthias S. Krüger and Demetre Gamsachurdia. The performers directthe masters program in contemporary music at the University of Music Basel, Marcus Weiss (saxophone), Mike Svoboda (trombone), Jürg Henneberger (piano).
Pression by Helmut Lachenmann in a version for solo trombone
07/23/2011 01:00
Mike Svoboda premiered a version of Helmut Lachenmann's groundbreaking work for solo cello (1969) at the Witten Festival for new chamber music in May, 2011. The work is the result of a collaboration starting in December 2009 seen first as an experiment: Can a composition still function when the form remains the same but the original sounds are substituted by similar sounds produced on a different instrument?
New work for voice and harp
07/23/2011 01:00
Anne-May Krüger (mezzo-soprano) and Beate Anton (harp) premiered Mike Svoboda's recent composition "Da steht geschrieben "(2011) on March 19th in Nürtingen, Germany. The 12-minute work is based on a text fragment taken from Friedrich Hölderlin's poem "Die Bücher der Zeiten", a text Svoboda previously set to music in his composition for three female voices, trombone, and percussion of the same name.
Music for Trombone, Piano, and Percussion be premiered in Ravensburg
07/22/2011 22:20
The 14 minute work commission by and written for the Trio Belli-Fischer-Rimmer was performed by Frederic Belli, trombone; Johannes Fischer, percussion; Nicholas Rimmer, piano in Ravensburg, Germany in June.
First generation "zone expérimentale" at the University of Music Basel graduated
07/22/2011 21:15
The official title of the masters program for contemporary music at the University of Music Basel is "Masters of Arts in specialized performance of contemporary music". The 13 students currently studying in the two-year program perform under the name "zone experimental" and the 7 of these students have now completed their studies with a "mini-festival" of seven concerts in two days: Ellen Fallowfield (cello), Johanna Greulich (soprano), Paul Hübner (trumpet), Clemens Hund-Göschel (piano), Louisa Marxen (percussion), Ulrike Mayer-Spohn (recorder/composition), Stephen Menotti (trombone) played 31 works from 29 composers.
New Production of Erwin, das Naturtalent in Augsburg
07/22/2011 20:59
The opera in Augsburg, Germany has staged a new production of Mike Svoboda's "Erwin, das Naturtalent", now the 6th since the premiere of the work in Stuttgart in 2005. The young cast including a children's choir was directed by Christine Lutz, with costumes and staging by Nina Ball under the musical direction of Eberhard Fritsche.
sex, drugs and new music on youtube
07/19/2011 15:39
Phil Minton, vocals
Harald Kimmig, violine
Sue Schlotte, violoncello
Stefan Hussong, accordion
Mike Svoboda, trombone
Wolfgang Fernow, contrabass
Michael Kiedaisch, drums
Thomas Neuhaus, electronics
Philipp Stangl, electronics
Dietrich Hahne, video
New solo for trombone by Heinz Holliger
06/21/2011 17:23
New solo for trombone by Heinz Holliger
premiere of Music for Open Spaces
06/22/2010 15:50
Mike Svoboda was commissioned to write a large 45 minute work to open this year's festival in Lower Saxony Germany called "Niedersächsische Musiktage". The composition entitled "Music for Open Spaces" and scored for soprano, 8 trombone, and large wind band will be premiered on September 4th in Braunschweig, Germany. The performers will be Ania Vegry, soprano, the trombone class of Prof. Jonas Bylund from the Musikhochschule Hanover and about 150 amateur wind players from the area around the city of Braunschweig. Mike Svoboda will conduct the performance assisted by Florian Wessel.
spotz on youtube
05/09/2010 17:11
The 2008 Stuttgart production of Mike Svoboda chamber opera for kids "Der unglaubliche Spotz" can now be seen on YouTube - in six parts of course.
The performers are:
director - Mira Ebert
musical director -Mike Svoboda
costumes and scenery - Isabelle Kittnar
dramatugy - Manfred Weiß
Prinzessin Asta Basta - Sandra Hartmann
Albert Einstein - Anne-May Krüger
Bartolomäus Brummbold - Steffen Fichtner
König Astus Bastus - Frank Wörner
Violine - Ulrike Stortz
Violoncello - Scott Roller
Schlagzeug - Michael Kiedaisch
next composition
05/04/2010 17:21
Mike Svoboda has been commissioned by the South Germany Radio. His "Music for Trombone and Orchestra", written for the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart will be premiered at the ECLAT Festival on February 13th 2011 under the direction of Peter Rundel with Mike Svoboda as soloist.
TIERKREIS from Stockhausen for trombone and string quartet
05/04/2010 17:18
Mike Svoboda has created a new version for trombone and string quartet of Karlheinz Stockhausen's master piece "Tierkreis - 12 melodies of the star signs". This realisation is based on the one for trombone and piano that Svoboda wrote under Stockhausen's supervision back in 1988 and the WERGO Cd Svoboda recorded in 2003. It will be performed for the first time on May 2nd in Herrenhausen Germany with the NOMOS String Quartet. Also in the program is John Cages "Music for Five" for trombone and string quartett.
three new productions of "The Incredible Spotz"
05/04/2010 17:12
Mike Svoboda's chamber opera for every one 6 and up "The Incredible Spotz (libretto Manfred Weiss)" can be seen in three new productions during this opera season: at the Mainfrankentheater Würzburg, in Düsseldorf at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (premiere will be May 6th) and in Saarbrücken at the Saarländische State Theater (premiere May 9th).
new staging on two opera houses: Erwin, das Naturtalent
05/04/2010 17:10
Mike Svoboda's opera "Erwin, das Naturtalent" (libretto Manfred Weiss) can be seen presently in two new productions: at the State Opera Hanover and Theater Chemnitz, where Svoboda is presently "composer-in-residence" and his opera will also be performed in the next opera season.
new work opened the Schumann Celebration in Chemnitz, Germany
05/04/2010 17:05
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The world premiere of Mike Svoboda's most recent orchestral composition "Inner Antiphony - fanfare for orchestra and two percussionists" received an tremendously enthusiastic response from audience and musicians alike: the percussionists Frank Lange and André Schieferdecker with the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonic Chemnitz under the direction of their main conductor Frank Beermann. The composer's own comment on his work commissioned by the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonic: "… The back-and-forth connecting rhythms of the percussionist could be seen as a metaphor for the possible conflict in Schumann's psyche, one of a person grappling with his own artistic understanding. What was going on in his head?"
Erwin on stage
06/17/2009 17:20
Mike Svoboda's children´s opera "Erwin, the Natural Talent" (Libretto from Manfred Weiss based on Volker Kriegel's book "Erwin mit der Tröte") will be seen in two new productions in the coming opera season. Following the premiere in Stuttgart in 2005 and the new extended version for Bielefeld in 2008, now the Chemnitz Opera and the State Opera in Hannover will both stage new productions of "Erwin".
Spotz thrice discoverd
06/17/2009 17:10
Also Mike Svoboda's "The Incredible Spotz - not a fairy tale", a chamber opera for everyone aged 6 and up, is enjoying continued presence. After the series of performances in Stuttgart and Augsburg, three new stagings of "Spotz" - another collaboration with Manfred Weiss (libretto) - will be seen at the opera houses in Saarbrücken, Würzburg, and Düsseldorf in the coming 2009/2010 season.
Composer-in-residence
06/17/2009 16:55
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The Chemnitz Opera has invited Mike Svoboda to be "composer-in-residence" in the 2009/2010 season. Besides the staging of his opera "Erwin, the natural talent" and a performance of his "14 attempts to love Richard Wagner" on the opera stage, Svoboda has also been commissioned to write an orchestral work for the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie, directed by their chief-conductor Frank Beermann.