Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival releases 2023 programme

The annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//) will present its 46th edition this autumn. Running from 17 to 26 November, the festival will bring a programme of over 50 events – including performances, installations, exhibitions, talks and workshops, plus 20 world premieres and 34 UK premieres – to the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield.

The festival kicks off on 17 November with the UK premiere of PERSONHOOD, written by composer in residence Jennifer Walshe, and performed by Oslo Sinfonietta. Walshe’s hcmf// residency forms part of a three-year partnership with Culture Ireland which will also feature the premiere of her 2020 work Ireland: A Dataset, plus a screening of her short film AN GLÉACHT and an exhibition of her work at Huddersfield Art Gallery.

Festival chief executive and artistic director Graham McKenzie said: ‘Jennifer has a long association with the festival and has provided so many unforgettable moments during my tenure at hcmf//… For this year’s programme, co-curated by the composer, the aim is very much to reflect all areas of her current artistic practice which I’m confident we’ve achieved with [this] wide-ranging programme.’

Other projects across the festival will include The Current Climate, supported by Culture Ireland and PRS Foundation Beyond Borders, which will see a performance – co-commissioned by hcmf//, New Music Dublin and Aberdeen-based sound festival – by collaborative contemporary ensemble Kirkos exploring ways to navigate the world as climate change accelerates. The ensemble can also be found elsewhere in the festival inviting audiences to join them for a nap.

This year’s festival marks its second year of partnership with Lithuanian Culture Institute and Music Information Centre Lithuania which will see it premiere Stand-by for Minna, by Lithuanian composer and sound artist Arturas Bumšteinas and Žibuoklė Martinaitytė’s Hadal Zone alongside performances of Liudas Mockūnas’ ‘Hydro 3’, an improvised piece in which sound is created by blowing overtone keyless and soprano saxophones into water.

Another exciting premiere included in this year’s festival will be Laura Bowler’s new work, ADVERT, which will see the composer (pictured above) take the stage as a vocalist alongside live tattoo artist Julia Rehme, in a possible first for contemporary music. Encompassing themes including tribalism, self-advertisement, mental health, gender, political affiliation and sex, this work will also be performed by German ensemble Decoder.

This year’s festival will also feature a focus on Swiss composer, performer and clarinettist Jürg Frey in celebration of his 70th birthday. Audiences will be immersed in the composer’s work with a day of dedicated programming (25 November), also including a sound installation and artist talk with Frey. Starting with a concert by contemporary vocal ensemble EXAUDI and violist Stéphanie Bozzini at St Paul’s Hall, the composer focus day will include an afternoon of solo piano from Reinier van Houdt followed by an evening concert given by Frey's long-time collaborators, Quatuor Bozzini.

McKenzie commented: ‘Following Jürg Frey’s tenure as composer in residence in 2015 his music has always had a special place in the hearts of the hcmf// audience, and it is both right and a pleasure that the festival welcomes him home in this special birthday year.’