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Friday 4 May 2012

Call for the first Al-Quds Composition Award


The first Al-Quds Composition Award will be presented by the new Al-Quds University College of Music, celebrating the cultural uniqueness of the city of Jerusalem. This year it will be supported by the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ramallah.
It will be awarded and the winning submission performed during the Autumn Academy of Al-Quds University College of Music, Jerusalem, during October 2012. The Artistic director of the performances will be Anke Rauthmann, director of Berlin International Opera.
This new award aims to encourage the creation of high quality chamber music works which include elements of Oriental and Western European music combined with human voice.

A panel of judges consisting of international composers and contemporary music experts will select the winning composition. The winning composer is expected to attend the rehearsals and award concert in Jerusalem. The cost of travel and accommodation will be covered.

Deadline of submission: July 25th 2012

Maximum of instruments or voices involved: 4 (human voice is obligatory)

Title of the new piece: Impossible Grace

Composition prize: 1000 Euros


 „Music scores“ by Maria Tupay Duque


 
The music should be inspired by and reflect on the following poem ‘Impossible Grace’
by Meena Alexander, poet in residence at Al-Quds University, 2011:


Impossible Grace

I
At Herod’s gate
I heap flowers in a crate
Poppies, moist lilies --
It’s dusk, I wait.

II
Wild iris --
The color of your eyes before you were born
That hard winter
And your mother brought you to Damascus gate.

III
My desire silent as a cloud,
It floats through New gate
Over the fists
Of the beardless boy-soldiers.

IV
You stopped for me at Lion’s gate,
Feet wet with dew
From the torn flagstones
Of Jerusalem.

V
Love, I was forced to approach you
Through Dung gate
My hands the color
Of the broken houses of Silwan.

VI
At Zion’s gate I knelt and wept.
An old man, half lame --
He kept house in Raimon’s café,
Led me to the fountain.

VII
At Golden gate
Where rooftops ring with music
I glimpse your face.
You have a coat of many colors -- impossible grace.


 
Please send the score digitally or by post to:

Petra R. Klose
Al-Quds University College of Music
c/o Künstler und Kulturprojekte
Marc Aurel Strasse 2a/6/8
1010 Vienna – Austria

Mail: petra@music.alquds.edu

The score must contain the composer's name, address, telephone number, e-mail and a brief biographical sketch.
If a recording of the work is available, it should accompany the score.

The premiere performance of the winning composition will be presented in two concerts in Jerusalem in October 2012.


For further information please contact:
Ms. Petra R. Klose
Tel: +43 664 2549593 or +972 54 4687640
Mail: petra@music.alquds.edu

Supported by:

Thursday 3 May 2012

Invitation to a Piano Recital with Ranko Markovic and Marialena Fernandes


May 29th 2012, 7 p.m.

Theatre Hall of the Hind Al-Husseini College
of Al Quds University Jerusalem

Pieces and arrangements by Gustav Mahler, Alfredo Casella, Anton Bruckner und Sergej Rachmaninov.



 
Marialena Fernandes, Professor of Chamber Music at the State University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, was born in Mumbai. Having graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, she has both performed and lectured throughout the world, appearing at prestigious venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna. Alongside her career within the Western Classical Tradition, she has received acclaimed success for projects involving highly innovative concert programmes, integrating a wide range of styles and approaches including classical, improvised, ethnic and contemporary music.

Ranko Markovic, Artistic Director of the Konservatorium Wien University, was born in Croatia. He graduated from the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, and completed his studies at the Tchaikowsky Konservatorium in Moscow and in London. He keeps up a demanding international schedule - recent lectures, masterclasses and performances include institutions such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmony Hall in St.Petersburg and the Shanghai Conservatory.

Fernandes und Markovic have been appearing in concert as a four-hand piano duo since 2000. Their international performance schedule is extensive, and they have receiving outstanding critical acclaim for their performances of transcriptions of both Mahler’s and Bruckner’s Symphonies in New York, Canada, Vienna, London, Poland, Italy, Kazakhstan and India.


The concert is supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum.



Further information and reservations:
Phone: +43 664 2549593 or +972 (0) 54 235 9171