Compositions in which the ink is still wet

64 applications were submitted from all over the world for this project: the results, videos and letters of motivation were intended to give insight into the applicants’ career and plans. Four musicians were selected by the jury: Josef Bozic (USA), Roman Czora (Germany/Poland), Riccardo Ferro (Venezuela/Canada), Otto Wanke (Czech Republic) and Tina Geroldinger (Austria).

Ink Still Wet writes the future of music

What is the Ink Still Wet project? One tries to find answers to questions about when a work is finished, what artistic rules one must follow, how one might pour into music the hitherto unheard of—and above all how one performs works in “new ink,” that is, ” The ink is still wet”, noted and reviewed. For this practical application, the musicians of the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Lower Austria work closely with Philipp Manory, 2023 composer-in-residence, and the Ink Still Wet participants.

“Ink Still Wet writes the future of music. The intense exchange between early-career musicians and well-known composers opens the door to innovation and questioning habits,” explains Philip Stein, managing director of Grafenegg Kulturbetriebsgesellschaft. “If we show that music doesn’t just fall from the sky, it’s made by young people. In a collaborative way, we can also attract an audience that has had little to do with classical concerts until now.”

Music that should touch you and make you think

Three of the four selected participants were in Grafenegg for the first workshop. says Tina Geroldinger, who was a native of Upper Austria. He has taught composition at the Private Anton Bruckner-University Linz since 2020.

According to the 23-year-old, it is a big dream to work with musicians and artists of all kinds and touch the audience with their music, to make them think or simply laugh.

Traditional composition contests often stumble across the no-man’s-land of anonymity—entry by mail, previously mailed, and at best a double message: yes or no. Hardly any real feedback. At best, an award, and sometimes a world premiere, ”says Roman Czora, born in 1989.

But much more important – complete enrichment – is meeting with other composers, stage musicians, conductor, jury. Czora, who teaches at the University of Katowice (Poland), says:

Traditional structures must be overcome

As a composer at Residence 2023, one of Europe’s most influential composers has run the workshops, according to Gravenig: Philippe Manoury, born in 1952, was involved in the development of serious electronic music at an early stage, repeatedly pushing boundaries and genres and “combining computer-generated sounds”. with classical orchestra. His music is not an end in itself, but it participates in the discussions of our time.”

Overcoming traditional structures in orchestral work and an interest in sharing with his young colleagues makes him the ideal director for Ink Still Wet. His counterpart as a conducting coach is American composer and conductor Brad Laubman, who not only conducts major bands regularly but also promotes contemporary music performance with great commitment.