Concert "Pictures from the Past"

Solyanka Gallery together with the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music (IASM) and Moskino presents the Russian-Swiss multimedia concert “Pictures from the Past”, which will take place as part of the cycle “Beyond the Boundaries of Sound”.

Swiss teacher Pierre Gilliard taught French at the court of Nicholas II. As an amateur photographer, he documented the privacy of the royal family until their assassination in 1918. Currently, hundreds of photographs of that time are stored in the university library in Lausanne (Switzerland).

Swiss composer Thomas Meyer chose about a dozen of these photographs, making them the basis for the musical series - a kind of foreigner look at the bygone past of Russian life. This new play is specially written for the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music and the double bass saxophone, played by the composer himself.

In addition to the photographs of Pierre Gilliard, the project uses the work of the artist and set designer Victor Hartmann. Having become the basis of the world-famous cycle of piano plays "Pictures from the Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky, these sketches and sketches brought by the artist from his travels became a kind of Russian look at European life. Modified and arranged for IAMM, Mussorgsky’s musical themes invade the original music of Thomas Meyer, closely intertwining with it.

Finally, the third component of the project is the four miniature Bagatelles by contemporary Moscow composer Dmitry Kurlyandsky, painted based on paintings by Russian artists Konstantin Yuon, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Valentin Serov and Yuri Pimenov specifically for the opening of the Museum of Russian Impressionism in Moscow.

“Beyond the Boundaries of Sound” is a joint musical-lecture and exhibition project of the Solyanka Gallery, IAMM and Moskino. It includes musical, lecture and exhibition parts and represents the work of relevant authors working at the junction of various art forms, practices and mediums and exploring their interpenetration and mutual influence.

Concert Program:

Modest Mussorgsky "Pictures from the Exhibition"

Thomas Meyer "Pictures of Pierre Gilliard"

Dmitry Kurlandsky “Bagatelles”

Performers:

Thomas Meyer, double bass saxophone (Switzerland)

Monica Muller, visualization and design (Switzerland)

IASM:

Ivan Bushuev, flute

Oleg Tantsov, clarinet

Mikhail Dubov, piano

Evgeny Subbotin, violin

Ilya Rubinstein, cello

Age 6+

REFERENCE

Thomas Meyer

Composer, saxophonist, improviser. Thomas Meyer studied saxophone at the Jazz School and Conservatory in Lucerne and the College of the Arts in Dartington (UK). He received composer’s education from famous masters (Vinko Globokar, Per Norgard, Michael Finissi) at the University of Sussex. His works were performed by such ensembles as Allegri Quartett, BBC Singers, Ny Dansk Saxofon Kvartett, Cambridge New Music Players, Vision Saxophon-Quartett, Basel Symphonietta and IAMM. As a performer, Thomas Mayer mainly plays a rare form of saxophone - double bass saxophone. He is a regular member of ensembles such as KONTRA-Trio, Chicago Basses, TwoTubax, Nashi Dela and others. Thomas Meyer is also passionate about improvisational music, collaborating with many jazz musicians in the world. As part of KONTRA-Trio, he toured in England, Russia, the countries of Scandinavia, Indonesia and Ukraine. Meyer is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including special prizes from the cities of Lucerne, Chicago, Budapest and others. Thomas Meyer teaches at the Higher School of Music in Lucerne. His works are published by Schweizerischen Musikedition. A number of CDs have been released on renowned labels, including Leo Records, Mode Records and Tzadik.

Monica Muller

Swiss visual artist. She studied at the University of Utah at the Faculty of Art and Architecture (USA) and at the School of Design and Art in Lucerne (Switzerland). Co-founder of the gallery of modern art Alpineum Produzentengalerie (Lucerne). She acted as a jury member of the Prize in the field of art and culture of the city of Lucerne. Since 2002, thirteen solo exhibitions of Monica Muller took place in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the USA. Participant in more than twenty group exhibitions.

IASM

The Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, uniting the leading virtuoso soloists, was created in 1990 by the composer Yuri Kasparov with the direct participation of the leader of the national avant-garde Edison Denisov. IASM became the first Russian ensemble aimed at the performance and promotion of music of the XX and XXI centuries.

The main task of the collective is to present the actual work of Russian and foreign composers, including young authors - on its account more than 1000 Russian and world premieres. The team toured in 80 Russian cities and 28 countries of the world, performed at the best concert stages, took part in major international festivals such as Diaghilev Festival (Perm), Other Space (Moscow), Le Festival Présences (France), “ Warsaw Autumn ”(Poland), Gaudeamus Music Week (Netherlands), MaerzMusik-Berliner Festspiele (Germany), Klangspuren (Austria), Transart (Italy), Beijing Modern Music Festival (China). IAMM discography contains more than 50 CDs on the world’s leading labels in Russia, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Japan.

One of the main activities of the team is enlightenment projects, which take place in the Russian regions as part of the annual program “All-Russian Subscription“ Contemporary Music ”, including concerts, master classes and seminars. An unprecedented event for Russia is the annual two-week International Academy of Young Composers in the city Tchaikovsky (Perm Territory), founded by the ensemble in 2011.

In 2009, the team became a laureate of an action to support Russian theater initiatives, 2013 - a laureate of the Golden Mask award in the Experiment nomination. In 2015, the Musical Review newspaper called IAMM the best ensemble of the year.

ABOUT THE PROJECT “BEYOND THE SOUND”

“Beyond the Boundaries of Sound” is a joint musical-lecture and exhibition project of the Solyanka Gallery, the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music and Moskino. Including musical, lecture and exhibition parts, the project introduces the public to multidisciplinary authors working at the intersection of genres and art forms.

The musical and lecture part of the project is a cycle of free meetings and performances by composers, performers, instrumentalists, sound designers, whose work goes beyond the scope of “pure” academic music and, in addition to musical means, includes a modern arsenal of multimedia technologies: electronics, video, improvisation, elements of theatrical and visual arts.

As part of the exhibition, the Solyanka Gallery shows the work of foreign video artists. The project opened with an exhibition of Russian-American artist Veronika Georgieva, followed by an exhibition of Stefan Shanabruk (USA) and Rosa Poe (Czech Republic).

The project “Beyond the Sounds” is part of the program “Solyanka is losing its temper” of the Solyanka Gallery, the essence of which is interaction with various institutions within walking distance from the gallery.

All project events take place in the Zvezda movie theater (Zemlyanoy Val St., 18/22, p. 2).