Commission to George Lewis

Composer duo Cymin Samawatie and Ketan Bhatti, composer George Lewis and the Trickster Orchestra are developing three new works for chamber ensemble that explore the methodical integration and aesthetic potential of orality in trans-traditional contemporary music practice. The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is making the commission to George Lewis possible.

The three works spokenscores i–iii explore the appealing boundaries between written and oral/aural scores. A two-month composition process involving the ensemble of will be followed by four days of rehearsals and the world premiere at the Festspielhaus Hellerau on 4 April 2025. The concert format, like the score, is conceived through the experimental merging of ephemeral and fixed spatial constellations.

For eleven years, the Trickster Orchestra has been working on an orchestral practice characterised by diversity, combining instruments and forms of knowledge from a wide range of global music traditions on an equal footing in a common contemporary sound language. While hybrids have formed at almost all levels of this music – tuning, rhythm, sound sources and architecture, texture – the ensemble works exclusively with the European notation system of the 19th century, in addition to improvisation.

Further information:
tricksterorchestra.de

Date

April 4, 2025
Festspielhaus Hellerau, Großer Saal, Dresden