Time of Music Festival opens with the German Fabrik Quartet performing Liza Lim’s work String Creatures. The piece presents string instruments as living creatures and organisms which, in the composer’s words, “weave a shifting fabric of glittering sound”. Lim also visited Viitasaari as a course teacher at the festival in 2023.
In the second half, we will experience the European premiere of Annea Lockwood’s monumental Elwha!, performed by contemporary music and flute superstar Claire Chase. Composed for seven flutes, electronics, and lights, the work reflects on the restoration of the ecosystem of the Elwha River in the United States after the removal of dams. A multichannel soundscape recorded on the Elwha River will be heard as part of the composition. Elwha! is part of Chase’s 24-year Density 2036 commissioning project, which will culminate in 2036, marking the 100th anniversary of Edgar Varèse’s Density. Lockwood will come to Viitasaari as a visiting instructor for Chase’s Environmental Dialogue masterclass.
Performers
Fabrik Quartet
Federico Ceppetelli, violin
Muzi Lyu, violin
Jacobo Díaz Robledillo, viola
Elena Cappelletti, cello
Claire Chase, flutes
Timo Kurkikangas, electronics
Program
Liza Lim: String Creatures (2022)
Cats Cradle (3 diagrams of grief)
Untethered
A nest is woven from inside out
-intermission-
Annea Lockwood and Claire Chase: Elwha! (2025, European premiere)