Helena Winkelman and Dominik Dolega
Photo: Pilvax
The Swiss-Dutch composer and violinist Helena Winkelman has a distinctly personal style. Her music is performed all over the world and fascinates as a clever, open fusion of contemporary sounds with folk music or Asian traditions. The different stylistic influences have allowed her to find her own tonal language, in which tonal subtleties and temporally refined arrangements are developed into warm, almost natural pieces. Helena Winkelman has been working as a freelance violinist and composer in Basel since 1998 and is a passionate mediator of new music. In 2016, she received the Georg Fischer Prize from the city of Schaffhausen for her work and the Swiss Music Prize in 2017. Her music has been premiered by the Arditti Quartet, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Asian Art Ensemble Berlin and Steamboat Switzerland, among others. She was composer in residence at the Lockenhaus Festival and the Ernen Festival. She has written for soloists such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Wu Wei and created stage works such as "Der arme Spielmann" (Grillparzer) and "Das Allmachtsrohr" (Wölfli). Interpreting is just as important to her as composing, and she has been the artistic director of Camerata Variabile Basel since 2010. In addition to her teachers Roland Moser and Georg Friedrich Haas, the composers György Kurtag and George Benjamin were also important influences. More at: www.helenawinkelman.ch
Photo: Piotr Dzumala
Dominik Dolega, born 19 December 1979 in Krakow, studied classical percussion at the Academy of Music in Krakow and new music and improvisation at the Basel Music Academy. He organizes concerts, seminars and works with cultural organizations. In 2016-2021 he directed his concert series "Steinklang in Dialogue" at neuestheater.ch in Dornach. As an instrumentalist, he specializes in lithophones, prototypes of sound stone instruments, which he combines with classical percussion instruments as well as idiophones and electronics. His compositions are unusual collages of sounds that contain elements from experimental and electro-acoustic music as well as being inspired by classical and contemporary music trends. He teaches at the Basel Music Academy and the Aesch-Pfeffingen Music School. Ensembles: The Stone Alphabet, Frontton www.dominikdolega.net
Project
"Electric Stones" is a pioneering project for the development of lithophones. It serves as a platform for artists and the public to experience stone instruments and their possibilities. The central element is a 3–7-day festival that includes the presentation of instruments, a symposium, workshops with experts and various concert formats.
The first part of the project focusses on the presentation of archaic sounds of stone instruments during the festival. The emphasis is on the natural variety of overtones and different playing techniques.
A second part aims to professionally record the stone sounds and create samples for a competition that will be announced a year before the festival. Composers of electronic music can use these to create new works. The best works will be selected by a jury and presented at the festival.
The third part includes duo concerts that combine live electronics and lithophones. This is where archaic sounds and modern electronics meet. Improvisation in larger groups is also welcome, with live electronic musicians working with samples of stone instruments.
