The 2005 Reggello International Festival offers performances by outstanding players from Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, and Britain, in concerts of music for mixed instrumental and vocal ensembles, music with live electronics and recitals for solo guitar and for 'cello and piano. 

In keeping with the Festival's policy the programmes include music by major and lesser known living composers alongside music from past ages.

A special feature of this year's festival will be the New Music Day which will be a fascinating opportunity to experience some of the ways in which the music of today is created, with a special focus on the use of computers, electronic music, and on improvisation. As in 2004 the festival hosts the Reggello International Composers' Competition, and the workshop to explore the finalists' works and select the winners of the competition will also be included in the New Music Day.

Admission to all events is free of charge

¨      10 July - 9.30 pm, Polivalente, Saltino di Vallombrosa, Reggello
Concert by Ensemble Phoenix 
Christoph Bösch (flute), Tosiko Sakakibara (clarinet), 
Daniela Müller (violin), Beat Schneider (violoncello), 
Jürg Henneberger (pianoforte and conductor)

John Cage                Music for 6

Iannis Xenakis           to be announced

Arnold Schönberg      Chamber Symphony no.1 op.9 (arr.Webern)

¨       11 July - 9.30 pm, Fattoria degli Usignoli, S.Donato in Fronzano
Recital by Robin Michael ('cello) & Mary Dullea (piano)

Debussy           Sonata, 1915 

Detlev Glanert   Serenade for 'cello and piano, op.13 

Tristan Murail    C'est un Jardin Secret 

Fauré                 Sonata no.2 in G minor, op.17 

Brahms             Sonata no.2 in F major, op.99

¨       13 July - New Music Day - All events to be held at the Spazio Energia, Reggello

10.30 am & 2.30 pm - Reggello International Composers' Competition, 2005

A public workshop rehearsal of the four finalists' pieces to be given by Uroboros Ensemble, & followed by the announcement of the winners. The finalists and their pieces are:

Gianluca Deserti (Italy)               nightly flowing along 

Fernando Fiszbein (Argentina)    Si y sólo si  

Füsun Köksal (Turkey)               Quartett

Admir Shkurtaj (Albania)             Lato

The competition raised considerable interest and composers from all over the world submitted more than one hundred scores from which the jury consisting of Claudio Ambrosini (Italy), Johannes Maria Staud (Austria), Thoma Simaku (Albania) and Gwyn Pritchard (Great Britain) selected the four finalists' pieces to be included in this workshop. The composers of the pieces will discuss their works with the players and with members of the jury. 

The winning works will be performed by Uroboros Ensemble at the Festival on July 14th and also in London on a date to be announced. The winner of first prize will also receive 2500 euros.

5.30 pm - Computers and improvisation in musical performance

Members of Fat Battery, a new ensemble from Norway and Britain, lead a workshop exploring the practical possibilities of computers in the context of both improvised and notated music. 

Computerized recording and music production is now well established. However when using the computer as a live instrument different challenges arise. In this workshop we look at some of the technical and improvisational practices used by the group Fat Battery, both with live acoustic instruments and electronics. We will see how the computer can be a responsive instrument for live performance of both notated and improvised music. Through a hands on approach we will demonstrate some typical techniques including, but not limited to, live sampling, sample manipulation, some examples of sound processing, some methods for generating sound and methods of controlling all of these. Participants that wish to bring an instrument for experimentation with electronics are encouraged to do so.

9.30 pm Concert by Sarah Nicolls (piano with electronics) & Fat Battery 

Victoria Johnson (electric violin), Alwynne Pritchard (voice), Knut Vaage (keyboards), Edvin Østvik (mini percussion), Thorolf Thuestad (computer)

Piano and electronics: 

Luigi Nono                    ‘…sofferte onde serene…’ 

Helmut Lachenmann     Guero

Olga Neuwirth               incidendo/fluido