In recent years female composers have established a lively scene in Vienna, which has also been noticed internationally. e_may – Festival of Contemporary and Electronic Music, starting from the 28th of May 2010 in the Viennese KosmosTheater, honors this new generation in a two-day festival and lets the music stand for itself with some very exciting performances.
The festival was founded in 2007 by the two composers Gina Mattiello and Pia Palme, with the aim to share the quality and diversity of the Viennese female composers and make them visible for the general public. Young artists are invited to use this platform as an opportunity to mobilize dialogues with each other in innovative and interdisciplinary work processes. Here traditionally established boundaries between genres, new musical forms and expressions are explored by the involvement of other art forms such as video art, performance, visuals and literature. This approach has received quite a great deal of public interest, as the last three highly successful editions of the festival have shown.
This year, visitors can once again look forward to very innovative and interesting musical performances: six world premieres, thereof five commissioned works by the composers Katharina Klement, Pia Palme, Sophie Reyer, Marianna Tscharkwiani, Judith Unterpertinger and Joanna Wozny. The pieces will be performed by the renowned ensemble PHACE | CONTEMPORARY MUSIC and Platypus and by the composers themselves. The festival also congratulates Olga Neuwirth with the performance of the composition “Settori”, who was the first female composer to receive the Grand Austrian State Prize in 2010.
For those who are passionate about challenging compositions and modern music in the interdisciplinary field of tension, the visit to the e_may Festival is really a must.