The annual IMAGO DEI festival for contemporary music has been postponed from its traditional time around Easter to June 2021. The edition which had been planned for 2020, now adapted for 2021, is dedicated to the ambivalence of light and darkness under the title “Backlight”. This year, composers and musicians like Wolfgang Mitterer or Ensemble Phace, among many others, will make the festival a highlight in contemporary music once again.
The IMAGO DEI festival in the KLANGRAUM KREMS MINORITE CHURCH unites music and philosophical approaches from different times and cultures around an annual theme. The edition which had been planned for Easter 2020, now adapted for 2021, is dedicated to the ambivalence of light and darkness under the title “Backlight”. Another postponement of the program was necessary. Fortunately, however, almost all events could be rescheduled for June.
In the weeks before Easter the Klangraum Krems showcases an extraordinary spring festival in the medieval Minorite Church, which captivates all the senses. Each year a diverse programme focuses on a theme dedicated to this special time of year. With music from different eras, cultures and religions, with literature, film and related discourse, the Imago Dei Easter Festival invites us to pause for a moment and become inspired in various ways. In 2021 the guiding theme “Backlight” is dedicated to the dialectics of light and darkness. “It’s the contrasts that teach us to understand the world. Who has not seen darkness is not able to perceive light.” (Japanese folk wisdom)
It is the last edition curated by festival founder JO AICHINGER. After his retirement, NADJA KAYALI will take over the artistic direction of the festival in 2022.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW: FESTIVAL IMAGO DEI – BACKLIGHT:
Friday, June 4, 18:00
VISIONS OF ETERNAL LIFE
Cantando Admont & Wolfgang Mitterer
Songs from a thousand years. By Hildegard von Bingen, Sofia Gubaidulina, Claudio Monteverdi, Beat Furrer, Wolfgang Mitterer (composition commissioned by the Province of Lower Austria)
Sunday, June 6, 18:00
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN
Hannes Löschel Stadtkapelle feat. Klemens Lendl a.o.
Introduction: Franz Kerschbaum (University of Vienna, Institute for Astrophysics)
Songs without stylistic borders. New interpretations of Franz Schubert, Franz Lehar and others.
Saturday, June 12, 18:00
LIGHTBOW
PHACE
Attunement: Peter Sloterdijk
The 14-member soloist ensemble presents works by Juliana Hodkinson, Alexandra Karastoyanova-Hermentin, Kaija Saariaho, and Zesses Seglias (world premiere).
Friday, June 18, 18:00
NORTHERN LIGHTS
Nordic Affect
New compositions from Iceland played on old string instruments and harpsichord lead into sound terrains between baroque, rock, electronic and minimal music.
Saturday, June 19, 18:00
LUX AETERNA
Jauna Muzika
Györgi Ligeti’s “Lux aeterna” for 16 voices and ten light visions for choir by Arvo Pärt and other Baltic composers.
Friday, June 25, 18:00
PLEJADES
Slagwerk The Hague
Iannis Xenakis’ cult piece “Pleiades” and other compositions for percussion by Mátyás Wettl, James Tenney and others.
Saturday, June 26, 18:00
ILLUMINATIONS
Paul Gulda, Johannes Wohlgenannt Zincke and others
Works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Friedrich Gulda, Alexander Scriabin, and Johannes Wohlgenannt Zincke “Maeriel” m22 for piano, electric piano, and soloist ensemble.
Sunday, June 27, 16:00
THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIREFLIES
Federspiel & The Mountain Fairies
Musical fairy tale for children (3 – 10 years) with the mountain fairies and soloists of the formation “Federspiel”. In cooperation with Musikfabrik NÖ.
All program details for IMAGO DEI 2021 can be found here.
For a comprehensive list of contemporary music festivals in Austria, go here.