Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart

The Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart was founded in 1984 as an ensemble for contemporary vocal music under the management of Musik der Jahrhunderte; they have been performing since 2000 as a purely vocal chamber music ensemble. The members comprise seven concert and opera soloists with a collective range from coloratura soprano and countertenor to basso profundo. Their central interest involves exploring new sounds, vocal techniques, and forms of vocal articulation. They place great emphasis on establishing a dialogue with composers. The ensemble’s artistic concept also encompasses music theater and interdisciplinary work with electronics, video, visual arts, and literature; their concert programs frequently draw on the principle of collage and juxtapose contrasting works, presenting early and new music side by side. In recent years the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart have taken part in productions of Hilda Paredes’s Phantom Palace in Stuttgart and New Haven; they have performed Brian Ferneyhough’s Shadowtime on stages in Munich, Paris, London, and New York, Julio Estrada’s Murmullos de Páramo in Stuttgart, Madrid, Venice, and Mexico City, and works by Oscar Strasnoy, Luciano Berio, and Lucia Ronchetti in various European countries and in Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. In 2012 the ensemble will give the world premieres of 22 new works, including two music theater compositions by Francesca Verunelli and Giovanni Bertelli, as well as a cappella pieces by Friedrich Cerha, Luca Francesconi, Gordon Kampe, Bernhard Lang, and Oscar Bianchi. They will perform additional world premieres with the Berlin RSO, the Orchestra della RAI in Turin, the SWR Stuttgart RSO, the Bavarian RSO, and the Klangforum Wien.

One previous LUCERNE FESTIVAL appearance, on 16 September 2006, in works by Michel Roth, Annette Schmucki, and Mischa Käser.

August 2012