Konrad Boehmer Foundation

One of the central objectives of the Konrad Boehmer Foundation (KBF) is to care for the (material) legacy of the foundation’s namesake, the composer and music critic Konrad Boehmer. Making an inventory of this legacy, together with its digitalisation, archiving and availability, entails problems which are by no means unique, and this is also true of various ethical questions. The same issues naturally arise at other institutions that manage such collections. Perhaps the most important and recurrent question is: how do we maintain these archival collections now that the general public seems to be increasingly distant from the terrain of “classical” music.

Representatives of archival institutions throughout Europe take part in the symposium Contemporary Music Heritage with the purpose of exchanging their views, also implying the wish that their organisations establish and maintain mutual contact, in order to take advantage of each other’s expertise. 

A number of questions will be addressed concerning archival policies and also practical and managing aspects of the institutions’ actions, such as: motivations for collecting and maintaining the archives of composers and creative musicians with respect to scholarly work and musical life in general; strategies and priorities in digitisation of the collections; expanding and/or preserving the identity of a given archival collection; intermediality and dealing with legacies that include different kinds of documents (e.g. audiovisual media vs. manuscripts); preserving/restoring the heritage of historical electroacoustic music; managing an archive with respect to the different skills required, like musicology, librarianship, and sound engineering; guaranteeing the long-term continuity of the institutions and their collections. 

The symposium is also offering two concerts whose programmes include pieces of instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic music within a repertoire connected with the topics of the sessions and discussions.

Concert 13 December 2022, Conservatoriumzaal, 19:30

Bruno Maderna (1920–1973)        
Musica su due dimensioni for flute and tape (1952/1958)
Jana Machalett, flute 
Veniero Rizzardi, sound projection

Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001)            
Hibiki hana ma for 8-channel tape ( 1969)
Kees Tazelaar, re-spatialization and sound projection

Ton de Leeuw (1926–1996)           
Antiphonie for wind quintet and tape ( 1960)
Sarah Ouakrat, flute
Juan Esteban Mendoza, oboe
James Meldrum, clarinet
Amber Mallee, bassoon
Jan Harshagen, horn
Hilde Wollenstein, sound projection

Beatriz Ferreyra (*1937)          
Médisances for 4-channeltape (1968–9)
Siamak Anvari, sound projection

Luciano Berio  (1925–2003)             
Altra voce for alto flute, mezzo-soprano and live electronics ( 1999)
Jana Machalett, flute 
Petra Ehrismann, mezzo-soprano 
Marco Accardi and Riccardo Ancona, electronics

Dick Raaijmakers (1930–2013)       
Mao leve! for tape and slides (1977)
Johan van Kreij and Kees Tazelaar, digital reconstruction and sound projection

Symposium 14 December 2022, New Music Lab

10:00 – Session 1 – Veniero Rizzardi, chair

Frits Zwart (Konrad Boehmer Foundation and Stichting Nederlands Muziek Instituut)
“Why all these efforts?” The relevance of musical heritage.

Therese Muxeneder (Arnold Schönberg Center, Vienna)           
(Re)constructing the (Un)authentic. Process-related collection strategies.

Chris Walton (Hochschule der Künste, Bern)
Problems of collecting, archiving, cataloguing and making accessible composers’ archives in Africa.

Pierluigi Ledda (Archivio Storico Ricordi, Milan)
The living archive. Management and communication strategies.

Philomeen Lelieveldt (Haags Gemeente Archief / Nederlands Muziek Instituut)      
Sounding the Archives. Storytelling through Podcasts

14:00 – Session 2 – Kees Tazelaar, chair   

Veniero Rizzardi (Università Ca’ Foscari and Fondazione Archivio Luigi Nono, Venice)
Networks for research and dissemination. A contemporary archive in Venice. 

Angela Ida De Benedictis (Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel and Centro Studi Luciano Berio, Florence)
Glass-walled archives: on some multimedia projects for extended uses of archival materials.

Makis Solomos and Mâhki Xenakis (Paris)
The Iannis Xenakis Archive.   

15:30  – Session 3 – Chris Walton, chair

Daniel Teruggi (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, Paris)
Preserving the complexity of contemporary music

Folkmar Hein (International Documentation of Electroacoustic Music EMDoku, Berlin)
Statistics on Electroacoustic Music   

Kees Tazelaar (Institute of Sonology and Konrad Boehmer Foundation)         
“We don’t have authentic ears”. Considerations of authenticity in the reconstruction of electronic music.

Concert 14 December 2022, Conservatoriumzaal, 19:30

György Ligeti (1923–2006)          
Pièce électronique no.3 for 4-channel tape (1957)
Paul Berg, Johan van Kreij and Kees Tazelaar, digital reconstruction (1996)

Konrad Boehmer (1941–2014)     
Potential for piano (1961, new version no.1 by Nora Mulder)
Nora Mulder, piano

Jan Boerman (1923–2020)                 
Kompositie 1972 for 8-channel tape  (1972)
Kees Tazelaar, multichannel version and sound projection

Konrad Boehmer (1941–2014)     
Potential for piano (1961, new version no.2 by Nora Mulder)
Nora Mulder, piano

Henk Badings (1907–1987)
Capriccio for violin and tape (1959)
Leslee Smucker, violin 
Kees Tazelaar, tape restauration
Siamak Anvari, sound projection

Gottfried Michael Koenig (1926–2021)         
Klangfiguren II for 4-channel tape  (1955–6)
Kees Tazelaar, reconstruction and sound projection

Tera de Marez Oyens (1932–1996)           
Charon’s Gift for piano and tape (1982)
Akane Takada, piano
Yota Morimoto, sound projection 

Luigi Nono (1924–1990)                           
La fabbrica illuminata for soprano and 4-channel tape (1964)
acousmatic version with projection of archival materials
Veniero Rizzardi, sound projection

An impression of BimBamBoehmerBoem! on 11 September 2022 at Pampus by 7090 is now available on YouTube.

BimBamBoehmerBoem! From the 6th until the 11th of September 2022 | Pampus, Amsterdam Island During BimBamBoehmerBoem! 7090 takes the legacy of composer and music critic Konrad Boehmer in hand, lifts it out of its context and gives it a new place in the twenty-first century.  BimBamBoehmerBOAT! on 11th September Start the party early on the 11th of September on our very own BimBamBoehmerBOAT! As our activities on Sunday the 11th of september start at 12.00 and continue on until 16.30, we would like to offer you the opportunity to take the BimBamBoehmerBOAT! Departing from IJburg at 11.00, and departing from Pampus to IJburg at 17.00. That way, you don’t have to miss any of the action! Tickets for a return-trip are €25 (including entrance to the museum, discount options available!) Interested? Click the BimBamBoehmerBOAT! button below to book your spot. Don’t want to be tied to a clock? In Muiden, you can book a ferry every hour between 10.30 am and 2.30 pm, or you can take the regular roundtrip from IJburg by clicking on of the buttons below. The Installation BimBamBoehmerBoem! is open from Tuesday September 6th until Sunday September 11th during the regular opening hours of Pampus, Amsterdam Island. On Sunday, the 11th of September there will be various performances between 12.00 and 16.00. Make sure you book your time slot in time to visit BimBamBoehmerBoem! There is a limited number of places on the boats. Book your boat via one of the buttons below. BimBamBoehmerBOAT!Boat from Muiden From Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 September music will blare through the corridors, texts will drip from the walls and art and kitsch from Konrad Boehmer’s private collection will fill the rooms of Pampus. On Sunday 11 September, 7090 will close with four explosive performances by Akim Moiseenkov, Arie de Zwijger, Bart de Vrees, Christophe Roy, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti, Jasper Stadhouders, Koen Kaptijn, Nora Mulder, and Ruben Kieftenbelt. More information on BimBamBoehmerBoem! can be found on  www.7090.nl

During BimBamBoehmerBoem!, Stichting 7090 takes the legacy of composer and music critic Konrad Boehmer in hand, lifts it out of its context and gives it  a new place in the twenty-first century. 

From Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 September 2022, music will blare through the corridors, texts will drip from the walls and art and kitsch from Konrad Boehmer’s private collection will fill the rooms of Pampus.

On Sunday 11 September, 7090 will close with four explosive performances.

TICKETS:

from Muiden:  https://webshoppampus.recreatex.be/Exhibitions/Register

from IJburg:  https://www.veerdienstamsterdam.nl/bestemmingen/pampus/

from Utrecht: https://gaudeamus.nl/events/bim-bam-boehmer-boem/

BimBamBoehmerBoem! was commissioned by the Konrad Boehmer Foundation and takes place during the Gaudeamus Music Week.

On 5 July 2022, Hilde Wollenstein and Lucie Nezri received the Konrad Boehmer Prize for their outstanding final presentations.

Veniero Rizzardi is an Italian musicologist and cultural historian, and adjunct professor at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. His main research interests are the genetic analysis of the compositional process, the history of sound technologies, and the social history of sound. He has lectured extensively in Europe and in the United States, published numerous essays and books on twentieth-century music, including one on Miles Davis’s recorded work, and also curated editions of previously unpublished music by Luigi Nono and Bruno Maderna. Together with A.I. De Benedictis he has edited the writings of Luigi Nono (English ed. for University of California Press) and a volume on the Studio di Fonologia of RAI, Milan and the beginnings of electroacoustic music in Italy (RAI-ERI 2001). He has co-founded the Luigi Nono Archive in Venice, where he is member of the Managing Board and of the Scientific Committee, and the music review AAA/TAC.

On 12 October 2021, Trevor Wishart will present the world premiere of The Garden of Earthly Delights, a one-hour eight-channel acousmatic composition. Wishart started to work on The Garden of Earthly Delights during a residency at Sonology. This residency (the Konrad Boehmer Visiting Professorship) is funded by the Konrad Boehmer Foundation. 

Wishart collaborated with students, research associates, the conservatoire’s First Year Choir and staff.

Entrance is free but registration is necessary through this link. Please note that a QR-check (vaccination or negative PCR test) will take place at the entrance of the hall.

The concert starts at 19:30. Please be there at least 15 minutes in advance, because QR-checks take time. Entering the hall is not possible after the concert has started.

Arnold Schoenbergzaal, Juliana van Stolberglaan 1, 2595 CA Den Haag.

In June 2021, Margherita Brillada and Giulia Francavilla both received their Master of Music in Sonology degrees. Their grades are 9.5 with distinction. Therefore, this year’s Konrad Boehmer Prize was awarded twice.

Cathy van Eck is new Konad Boehmer Visiting Professor. Instead of a two-month residency, she will visit the Royal Conservatoire eight times for a week, spread over two academic years.

The saxophonist and improvisor Evan Parker will be the Konrad Boehmer Visiting Professor at the Institute of Sonology from 23–27 March 2020. Parker will give lectures and will perform in the Sonology Concert on 25 March.