In October 2024, the Donaueschinger Musiktage present two eagerly awaited premieres: The world premiere of Enno Poppe's Streik for 10 drumsets with the Percussion Orchestra Cologne and the German premiere of Hannah Kendall's Tuxedo: Between Carnival and Lent for violin, viola, voice and objects with the lovemusic collective and vocalist Rosie Middleton.

Both concerts will be broadcasted by SWR Kultur.

Enno Poppe – Streik

Enno Poppe's Streik deals with compositional questions and challenges relating to space, form, communication and the nature of a work for drumsets. The composer asks himself: “How can you give listeners the feeling that they are sitting in the middle of a single huge drum set operated by a single person with twenty hands? How do you create an hour-long form from the playing gestures and physical energy of the drum set? How does a melody for snare drums sound? What is the relationship between ‘leading and being led’ in a group of 'alpha-instruments'?” The work was commissioned by the SWR, MaerzMusik, the NOW! Festival in Essen (performance on 2 November), November Music (performance on 12 November), the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (17 November) and wien modern (30 November).

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Hannah Kendall – Tuxedo: Between Carnival and Lent

Hannah Kendall's Tuxedo: Between Carnival and Lent, premiered at Wigmore Hall in London in 2022, is the tenth in a series of works inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat's iconic artwork ‘Tuxedo’. Like Basquiat's work, which explores themes of heritage and social critique, Kendall's works are also interrelated: two violins, for example, are connected with dreadlock cuffs, traditional objects for Afro hair, “transforming the sound of this Western instrument into something new and variable by merging Afro and European influences, creating places of connection where transformation can take place” (Hannah Kendall). Another work of the cycle, Tuxedo: Dust Bowl, has just been nominated for 'Best Community and Participation Composition' at the Ivors Classical Awards 2024 and will celebrate its Swiss premiere on the 17th of November in Lucerne. Earlier in November, Hannah will be present at the “Always, already there” Incubator of Afrodiasporic New Music in Berlin, where she will be participating in a “Composing while Black” panel discussion. The programme also features the European premiere of her work “when flesh is pressed against the dark" performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble.

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