This summer, I was delighted to join Bled Contemporary Music Week in Slovenia as a Resident Conductor, working alongside an international community of composers, performers, and conductors dedicated to the creation and performance of contemporary music.
Throughout the festival, I had the privilege of rehearsing and conducting a programme of 13 world premieres, collaborating closely with composers as their works developed from the page into performance. Each rehearsal became a shared process of exploration, requiring openness, flexibility, and dialogue between conductor, performers, and composers. Working across such a wide variety of musical languages was both challenging and immensely rewarding, continually encouraging new approaches to rehearsal, communication, and interpretation.
Over the festival, I conducted two programmes of newly commissioned works. The first featured compositions by Monte Taylor, Luca Vaillancourt de Dios, Lize Briel, Jude Duane, Daniel Álvarez Veizaga, Vinicius Siqueira Baldaia, and Pranav Ranjit, performed by Axelle Bruyne (violin), Yauheni Skrypnikau (viola), Jacob Tesarczyk (cello), Ethan Blackburn (piano), and Constanza Ibarra Olalla (piano). The second programme presented world premieres by Austeclínio Lopes de Farias, Ian Chung, Gustavo Arima, Whitney Sheng, Evan Fein, Yiding Wang, and Elia Perinu, performed by the same ensemble. Working closely with both composers and performers throughout the rehearsal process was one of the most rewarding aspects of the residency, as each performance evolved through discussion, experimentation, and shared artistic decision-making. I am deeply grateful to the artistic team of Bled Contemporary Music Week, the composers, performers, fellow conductors, and everyone involved for making the festival such a memorable experience. It was a privilege to contribute to so many new works and to be part of a community so committed to the future of contemporary music.
A livestream of the concert is available below, together with a selection of photographs from rehearsals and performances.
Livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/live/fXmsbJsW2kQ?si=vLdG23exc4SxWMol
https://www.youtube.com/live/DxFoe0GR2SE?si=g_vSLZ8ntcOADxC9&t=6317
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