IMPULS-Festival 2020

The Impuls Festival features works of New Music in ten cities in Saxony-Anhalt every year. It provides a platform for composers, conductors, soloists, ensembles, and orchestras of New Music and aims to discover and promote the next generation of young musicians. The motto of the 2020 festival is “Enter the Void” – a title which has taken on unexpected relevance in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
Special formats and collaborations are planned for the 2020 festival. The Impuls Festival has established the new Festival Alliance for Contemporary Music in Europe (F.A.C.E) which bundles the efforts and talent of several European New Music festivals. Among the invited productions are a percussion project by Aart Strootman and the Slagwerk Den Haag from the Netherlands, the vocal project “Passwords” featuring the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, the music theatre piece “Bukake” by Sara Wéry from Belgium and the project “Bad Boys” from Italy. The Impuls Festival programme also includes two world premieres based on the theme “void”. A live-streamed conference from the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and France will accompany the musical programme.

With concerts in Halle, Berlin and Munich, the Impuls Festival combines contemporary music with the genres of rock and electro. The VKKO Orchestra, a young chamber orchestra from Munich, which merges New Music, pop and jazz with the energy of a punk band, will perform world premieres by Vasiliki Krimitza and Clemens K. Thomas together with the vocal artist Salome Kammer. The New York composer Gene Pritsker will take to the stage as a soloist, DJ and rapper.

Artistic director: Hans Rotman
Composers: Aart Strootman, Ricardo Eizirik, Sara Wéry, Carolina Eyck, Nicola Sani, Vasiliki Krimnitza, Clemens K. Thomas
Ensembles and orchestras: Slagwerk Den Haag, VKKO Orchester, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Wéry Ensemble Brussels, Siena Contemporary
Soloists: Salome Kammer, Gene Pritsker