what we immerse ourselves in

interview06.08.2021

All Tomorrow's Music

© Willa Wathne

One of Europe’s oldest contemporary music festivals comes to Aarhus. We profile Ung Nordisk Musik, which is as ageless as Madonna and contains Icelandic vulgarities from 1612.

interview08.03.2021

‘We don’t have the same aspirations at all’

Guitarist Mikkel Schou prefers the brand-new music composed today; his upcoming Debut Concert is a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to institutional forces of habit.

By Andrew Mellor
interview02.06.2020

‘I wanted to be radical’

Instruments struggle to voice themselves in the music of Christian Winther Christensen. His focus on small sounds and deep concentration is a perfect match for a time of silenced soundscapes.

By Andrew Mellor
interview13.02.2020

‘Things are very anarchistic right now’

Neko3 is one of the most visionary ensembles at a moment where the contemporary music scene is changing rapidly.

By Andrew Mellor

interview16.09.2019

‘The hardest thing is to trust your material’

Daníel Bjarnason. © Saga Sig

Next month, the LA Philharmonic will celebrate its centennial birthday with a new piece by Daníel Bjarnason that requires no less than three conductors. Is it fair to talk of a quintessentially Icelandic school in today’s classical music scene? Yes and no, he says.

By Andrew Mellor

interview03.06.2019

‘I really wanted to write a pop love song’

Polish composer Marta Śniady is set to finish her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Recently, her works have embraced video and pop music.

By James Black
interview03.04.2019

‘I need to believe it myself’

Ragnhild May works in a chameleon-like way. James Black takes her to yoga class in this final interview with young ‘composer/performers’.

By James Black
interview25.02.2019

So, this is where it all ends

In Bára Gísladóttir’s view, the apocalypse is a given. James Black goes bowling with the captivatingly introvert, yet apocalyptic, Icelandic composer/performer.

By James Black

interview09.01.2019

‘It’s almost like I can feel the whole world’

Marcela Lucatelli. © Marcela Lucatelli

In this first of three interviews with young ‘composer/performers’ James Black goes climbing with Marcela Lucatelli. Her powerful onstage presence suggests a connection to something with very deep roots.

interview28.11.2018

Man among the machines

Kaj Duncan David’s music has always been intimately linked with software and machines. His next major work deals with artificial intelligence.

By Andrew Mellor
interview07.02.2018

Shouting, naked. James Black, the composer

His debut concert only a few weeks away – both a blessing and a ‘fucking nightmare’ – Copenhagen-based composer James Black talks to Andrew Mellor.

By Andrew Mellor
interview27.09.2017

Gender and social relations in New Music: Tackling the octopus

Juliana Hodkinson interviews anthropologist / cultural theorist Georgina Born on gender and other social relations in contemporary music.

By Juliana Hodkinson