October 28, 2024 / 8:00pm / MÜZİKSEV
Zöllner-Roche Duo
Toward New Seas
Program
Elnaz Seyedi, Nach neuen Meeren (2018) for clarinet & accordion 9´*
Mert Kocadayı, Verses to Hecate (2024) for clarinet & accordion 6´**
Annika Socolofsky, Silience (2021) for clarinet & accordion 10´*
Matthew Ricketts, Lucent (2021) for clarinet & accordion 10´*
Çağdaş Onaran, shadowplay (I) (2024) for clarinet & accordion 5´**
Matthew Shlomowitz, The Inescapable (2023) symphony for clarinet & accordion & drum-machine 15´*
*Türkiye premiere. ** World Premiere
Program Notes
Elnaz Seyedi, Nach neuen Meeren (2018)
It’s true, I want to go out there —
I trust in me and in my grip.
The blue and open sea is where
I float in my exploring ship.
Here everything around me gleams,
Through space and time the noontide sleeps —
But close I feel the monstrous beams
That gaze on me from endless deeps.
Toward New Seas by Friedrich Nietzsche
Mert Kocadayı, Verses to Hecate (2024)
Verses to Hecate is a homage to the ancient Western Anatolian goddess Hecate, whose legacy has undergone profound changes over the millennia. Her early depictions as a divine figure of life and growth gradually gave way to a more complex and darker persona. Over the centuries, due to social changes and evolving religious practices, she became a symbol of witchcraft and the occult – a change that is closely linked to Hecate’s lack of traditional familial ties and historical attitudes towards women who defied conventional roles.
Verses to Hecate is an episodic ceremony dedicated to the continued presence of the goddess, and every woman shares the same story with her to this day.
Annika Socolofsky, Silience (2021)
The concept for this piece comes from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a collection of words invented by John Koenig that “aims to fill a hole in the [English] language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for.” The title for this piece comes from the definition for “silience.” This word is something I felt deeply following the King Soopers shooting in my town of Boulder, Colorado on March 22nd 2021. I remember that day vividly, as I was receiving my first COVID vaccination while the shooter was active at the grocery store down the road. As our community grieved the loss of ten lives, I witnessed an incredible spirit and strength in those around me. I was amazed by my students–by their ability to face the weight of this tragedy, and their ability to hold space for others. I truly believe that community, our collective strength and care, is the highest form of excellence human-kind has to offer. And while we’re here: ban guns.
silience, n. the kind of unnoticed excellence that carries on around you every day, unre- markably—the hidden talents of friends and coworkers, the fleeting solos of subway busk- ers, the slapdash eloquence of anonymous users, the unseen portfolios of aspiring artists—which would be renowned as master- pieces if only they’d been appraised by the cartel of popular taste, who assume that brilliance is a rare and precious quality, acci- dentally overlooking buried jewels that may not be flawless but are still somehow perfect.
Matthew Ricketts, Lucent (2021)
Lucent (2021, Gaudeamus commission for accordion and clarinet) continues my exploration of incadence—glow, shimmer, sheen—in music by grafting a line from Joshua Clover (“…if you stare at objects / hard enough you can see / their particles swarming lucently / like moths around a lightbulb, / how every lightbulb is a thought….”) into a new context. Flickering, throbbing, glowing, the music refies Clover’s poetry without explicit text-setting.
Çağdaş Onaran, shadowplay (I) (2024)
‘shadowplay (I)’ is the first movement of the piece for clarinet and accordion that explores the concept of creating an interplay where one instrument effectively becomes a shadow of the other. Throughout the piece, the playing techniques of the instruments are crafted to blur the distinctions between the clarinet and accordion’s individual sounds. This approach leads to a cohesive and ever-evolving timbral progression, where the sonic boundaries between the two instruments dissolve, resulting in a unified and continuously shifting motions. The piece has been written for duo Zöllner-Roche and for the fifth edition of the festival ‘İzmir New Music Days-V’.
Matthew Shlomowitz, The Inescapable (2023)
The Inescapable was inspired by a segment comedian Stewart Lee made for Comedy Vehicle on BBC Two, which is known as, ‘these days if you say you’re English you get arrested and you’ll be, you’ll be just thrown in jail.’ It was composed for the Zöllner-Roche Duo.
Zöllner-Roche-Duo
Eva Zöllner – Accordeon, Heather Roche – Clarinet in Bb
Clarinettist Heather Roche and accordionist Eva Zöllner are two of contemporary music’s most versatile and adaptable voices. Known for their independent travels in experimental performance and extended techniques, the duo come together in projects of constantly changing aesthetics and approaches. Adventurous music-making, creative risk-taking and innovation characterize their work. In cooperation with composers from different parts of the world they create a new and exciting repertoire and bring it on stage.
Heather Roche
Born in Canada, clarinetist Heather Roche lives in London. Referred to as ‘The Queen of Extended Techniques’ on BBC Radio 3, she appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. She currently plays with the experimental chamber music ensemble, Apartment House, who are Ensemble in Residence at the Wigmore Hall as well as ‘House Band’ for the Sheffield-based another timbre label, for whom they have recorded 40+ CDs. She also has had a duo with accordionist Eva Zöllner since 2016, with whom she has toured Mexico, Sweden, Colombia, Brazil and Turkey. They have also performed together at festivals including Gaudeamus (Utrecht), Flow (Helsinki), HCMF (UK), Mixtur (Barcelona), etc. and commissioned dozens of works for their unique duo. She has performed as a soloist with the BBCSSO in the premiere of a new Clarinet Concerto by Scott McLaughlin and performed as a guest with various ensembles and orchestras including the London Sinfonietta, the LSO, Musikfabrik, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Red Note, Riot Ensemble, manufaktur für aktuelle musik, Mimitabu, etc. She holds a PhD from the University of Huddersfield, with her thesis on “Dialogue and Collaboration in the Creation of New Works for Clarinet”. Her blog on writing for the clarinet attracts 70,000 viewers each year. She is also Reviews Editor of TEMPO, published by Cambridge University Press, and teaches clarinet at Goldsmiths University. Her debut solo CD, Ptelea, is out on HCR/NMC, and her CD featuring the clarinet works of Christopher Fox, Headlong, appears on Métier. Her recording of Martin Iddon’s clarinet works, Sapindales, appears on the another timbre label. She also appears regularly with rock bands including Dog Unit and Modern Nature, and records for film, including on the Emmy-winning score for The Reason I Jump, by composer Nainita Desai. She has been Head of Clarinet at tonebase since spring 2024. She lives in south-east London with her partner and their cat, Vera.
Eva Zöllner
Eva Zöllner studied accordion at the Music Academy in Cologne and the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen with Prof. Geir Draugsvoll. She is one of the most active accordionists of her generation and is a passionate advocate of contemporary music. As an internationally sought-after artist, she presents projects ranging from experimental solo performances to collaborations with renowned orchestras. She has initiated several chamber music formations, of which her 10 year long collaboration with clarinetist Heather Roche ist the most fruitful. Concert tours have taken her to all continents; she is particularly interested in the countries of Central and South America with their lively contemporary music scene. Collaboration with composers around the world is an essential aspect of her work. As a result, she has premiered more than 300 works. In 2021 her book „Composing for the Accordion“ was published. In 2023 she successfully released her solo album „voces, señales“ with Genuin classics. Eva Zöllner is also active as a curator and cultural manager. She lives in Westerwald, Germany, and often travels to explore her instrument in various contexts and cultures.