Japan-Germany Exchange Program｜ Kurzwelle (Short Wave) ll

Kurzwelle (Short Wave) is a long-term workshop project for young composers proposed by ON – Neue Musik Köln e.V. and Johannes Schöllhorn, then professor at the Cologne University of Music. Targeting mainly young composers in their mid-20s to mid-30s who have begun their post-university careers, the program includes “sessions with performers,” “trial performances at the mid-composition stage,” “sessions with composer tutors,” “rehearsals with performers for the first performance,” “public premiere,” and “production of recorded CDs” over a period of about six months.

The second project featured a duet by the Duo Vertige, consisting of German harpist Mirjam Schröder and Japanese percussionist Rie Watanabe. In order to draw attention to the diversity of the next generation of contemporary music scene, a total of six young composers from Japan and Germany have been invited to the project, recommended by mid-career composers from Japan and Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany, a contemporary music ensemble, and a professor of composition at a music academy. The workshop was held as part of the long term Japan-Germany exchange workshop project “Kurzwere (Short Wave) ll” for young composers organized by the ON – Neue Musik Köln and PARADISE AIR. A rehearsal session with musicians and performers was held in Cologne in September 2021, followed by the world premiere performance at the Lutherkirche in Cologne in October. In addition, a recording of the music performed at the concert was made and a CD was produced. The CD will be released soon. 

A concert in Japan was scheduled for February 2022, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19, and a new “Kurzwere (shortwave) ll” online archive and creation project was implemented. The archive of activities in Germany, interviews with musicians who participated in the project, and remix works created based on the recorded music will be released sequentially on the following website.

Kurzwelle (Short Wave) ll Online Archive & Creation Project

ON – Neue Musik Köln –
ON neue Musik Köln e.V. is a non-profit organization created in 2008 to support the free music scene in Cologne from the production side. Funded by the City of Cologne and other art and cultural foundations in Germany and abroad, it has become a platform for various sound-related artists, including contemporary music, improvised music, jazz, and sound artists. https://www.on-cologne.de/

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Kurzwelle (Short Wave) ll | Concert (Cologne, Germany)

October 1st, 2021 at 19:00 – at Lutherkirche of Cologne
Duo Vertige (Miriam Schröder, Rie Watanabe)

Program
Hotaka Tanikawa (1993-): fine (2021)
Natsuki Niwa (1991-): Beyond Tinnitus (2021)
Takuya Harashima (1993-): Lapislazuli verdeckt die Sterne, Kristall verdeckt den Regenbogen (2021)
Dariya Maminova (1988-): new work (2021)
Peter Rubel (1992-): new work (2021)
Nayoung Yuk (1988-): Einfärbung (colouring) (2021)
*World premiere of all works.

Kurzwelle (Short Wave) ll｜Credit

Participating musicians
Japan: Hotaka Tanikawa, Natsuki Niwa, Takuya Harashima
Germany: Dariya Maminova, Peter Rubel, Nayon Yuk

Duo Vertige
Miriam Schröder, Rie Watanabe

Online projects
Kenta Tanaka

Project coordination and documentation
Isao Kanemaki (PARADISE AIR)

Kurzwelle (Short Wave) ll
Organized by ON neue Musik Köln, Duo Vertige
Subsidized by Kunststiftung NRW, Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Musikfonds e.V.
Cooperated by PARADISE AIR

Kurzwelle (Short Wave) ll | Online project
Organized by PARADISE AIR, ON neue Musik Köln, Duo Vertige
Subsidized by  the Agency for Cultural Affairs: FY2021 “Artist-in-Residence Program