Da capo, composed by Péter Eötvös in 2014 is based on Mozart’stunes and was written for cimbalom or marimba and chamber ensemble.

Bechara El-Khoury was inspired by a meeting he had ten years ago with Emmanuel Pahud to write a flute concerto. Pahud was recently named « Artist in Residence » with the Orchestre Philarmonique de Strasbourg, and he will now premiere El-Khoury’s flute concerto with the ensemble. In this video, the composer introduces the work and talks about the influence that the oriental music of his childhood has on his work.

Oscar Bianchi continues his collaboration with David Gloger, the countertenor from Ensemble Recherche, with a new piece for voice and an ensemble of nine musicians.

While in residence with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Philippe Manoury was commissioned to write a concerto for cellist Gautier Capuçon. Stemming from his work Chaconne, for cello solo - which premiered a few months ago by the cellist Marc Coppey as part of the 90th birthday celebrations for Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris - Manoury chose to develop a fractal style in this new concerto through a mise en abîme of sounds that allowed him to achieve a structure that tends towards the infinite.

On October 2, the WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne will perform the world premiere of Luca Francesconi’s MACCHINE IN ECHO at the Philharmonie in Cologne under the direction of Peter Rundel in collaboration with the piano duo GrauSchumacher. The piece was commissioned by the WDR, the Strasbourg MUSICA festival, and Wiener Konzerthaus. (The Strasbourg MUSICA festival will present the French premiere on 3 October at the closing concert of the festival’s 33rd edition.)

Fabio Vacchi’s new composition Sull'acqua (Sotto di noi il diluvio): l'acqua che illumina Milano for speaker and orchestra will be performed in Milan on 3 October by the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Claire Gibault. Lella Costa will recite the text written by Michele Serra.

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Biennale di Venezia will be awarded to French-Greek composer Georges Aperghis. The award ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 10 at the Teatro alle Tese, and will feature a performance of Aperghis’ composition Machinations for 4 female voices, electronics and video.

On October 23, Wild Romance for soprano and ensemble will be premiered in Leuven at the TRANSIT Festival by the Talea Ensemble conducted by Alex Lipowski. View the score and find out more in our article.

Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000) was one of the most productive and widely cultivated Hungarian composers of the 20th century. His oeuvre is large and varied. His music, although not avant garde, is Innovative and experimental. He was a friend of painters, writers, and composers, and was an enthusiast of Italian culture. On 10 September, a conference was held at National Széchenyi Library to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Farkas's birth and the recent addition of his legacy to the library.

On 26 September, as part of the Italian contemporary music concert series Play It! at the Teatro Verdi in Florence from 23 to 26 September, the Orchestra della Toscana, conducted by Marco Angius, will perform the world premiere of Claudio Ambrosini’s Morte di Caravaggio, a still-life for bassoon and orchestra (soloist: Paolo Carlini).

To celebrate his 60th birthday this year, Pascal Dusapin gave us a triumphant opera Penthesilea, premiered in March 2015 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, under the baton of Franck Ollu, with staging by Pierre Audi. This fall the co-commissioner, Opéra national du Rhin will present the French premiere in Strasbourg on September 26, 2015.