Katharina Rosenberger’s music is available at Project Schott, New York, USA: https://www.eamdc.com/psny/composers/katharina-rosenberger/ 
and Edition Musicale Suisse, Lucerne, Switzerland: http://www.musicedition.ch/sme/index_e.htm
for self-published work please contact me directly: mo_sounds@yahoo.co.uk

Stage

folds
for solo violin, electronics, paper objects and projection design 30'
2019
voices past present
Barbara Strozzi / Katharina Rosenberger

This is a collaboration of violinist Miranda Cuckson, composer Katharina Rosenberger and media artist John Burnett. Folds presents a sensory journey from the present to the past, engaging with the voices of other artists and bringing the ephemeral nature of sound and thought into dialogue with the tangible world. An array of paper objects — sculptures, manuscripts, scraps woven between the strings of the violin — highlights the importance of capturing the art and thought of past centuries. These traces of our physical world further serve as an impulse to reflect on our current dependency on the digital and virtual realms.
The performance takes as its starting point a cantata by the remarkable 17th–century composer/vocalist Barbara Strozzi, which is fragmented and dovetailed with Rosenberger’s audiovisual response. Ghostly projections and evocative electroacoustic sounds drawn from paper complement Cuckson’s expressive playing. The artists then “fold the page” and turn to the current era with an interpretation of recent music played and chosen by Cuckson herself to reflect further on the notation and transmission of ideas.


folds is generously supported by National Sawdust, and in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.

 

more folds paper rolls
testing various papers, summer 2017
miranda cuckson in the rehearsal for Folds
rehearsal of folds, November 30, 2018, National Sawdust, Brooklyn
Meeresgesänge
for 12 choreographed solo voices and three percussionists 8'
2018

commissioned by Fritz Hauser / Chortrommel Project

Premier of the concert version August 18, 2018, Festival Lucerne, KKL Lucerne, featuring the Basler Madrigalisten and Trio Klick

"Meeresgesänge" combines vocal sounds with physical gestures and presents a choir sculpture that slowly moves across the stage. The three percussionists are positions in a triangle shape around the audience.

Based on Homer's Odyssey, Cantos 9 - 12 (Project Gutenberg)

Late Nite
soundscape 65'-75'
2005

a play Matthias Lehmann 
premiered September 17, 2005, Theater Tuchlaube, Aarau, Switzerland

WAX
soundscape 55’25
2002

in collaboration with Mela Meierhans for “Sogni – Più belli della realtà svelata”, a music theater by Esther Flückiger after “Die Wachsflügelfrau” by Emily Hasler
premiered January 31, 2003, Teatro Sala Uno, Rome, Italy

le 11 passioni dell’anima
music for brass quintet, 11 sculptures and a mime 28’
2000

inspired by St. Thomas of Aquinas and his studies on the human soul 
commissioned by the ensemble Clangore, premiered as part of the exhibition "Mostra Internazionale G'99", September 3, 2000, Vira Gamborogno, Switzerland

Camino de Estrellas
music for theatre 12' to 60‘
1999

a play by Nuria Alcorta for string quartet and electronics commissioned by the Institutes Cervantes, New York, USA

Iphigenia in Aulis
lyrical drama in one act 50’
1997

after Euripides, libretto K.Rosenberger / Steven Dooner for 4 soloists, narrator, choir and orchestra premiered by the Synergon Orchestra & Chorus, under the direction of Tibor Pusztai, December 8, 1997, St. Cecilia Church, Boston, USA

Orchestral

REIN - orchestra
2.2.2.2, 2.2.2.1, 3 perc, klavier, 10.8.6.5.4
2018 / 2019 has audio

Commissioned by ZeitRäume Basel and the Basel Sinfonietta with the generous support of Pro Helvetia.

Premiered under the baton of Baldur Brönnimann, September 15, 2019
Festival ZeitRäume Basel @Mitteldeck
http://baselsinfonietta.ch/tv/musik-im-fluss

https://soundcloud.com/chrrroseberger/rein-for-orchestra-201819
Radio SRF2 Kultur live recording Festival ZeitRäume Basel, Mitteldeck, September 15, 2019

REIN is the Rhaeto-Romance name of the river Rhine and refers to the region in the Swiss Alps where the river emerges from beneath dense granite rocks. The Rhine runs through a number of European countries and plays a prominent role in their histories and mythologies. Even though rivers demarcate borders, they also connect countries and contribute to prosperity and cultural exchange. Promoting unity rather than separation between lands and peoples, Rein also speaks of the severe challenges threatening the Rhine and other rivers due to climate change and drought. Rivers are vital arteries, and this music reflects on their life-sustaining essence and on the environmental precariousness of the world that we currently live in. 

PERIPHER
2.2.2.2, 2.2.1, pn, hp, 8.4.4.4.2. and solo percussion 10’
2011 / 2012 has audio

commissioned by the Société de Musique de la Chaux-de-Fonds, pemiered by the L'Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, François Volpé (solo percussion), David Greilsammer, March 18, 2012, Salle de Musique de L'heue bleue, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

parcours III
fl (bass-fl), ob, cl (bass-cl), alto sax, bn (contra-bn), hn, trp, tbn, 1.1.1.1.1. and electronics 15'
2007 / 2008 has audio

premiered by the Manhattan Sinfonietta under the direction of Jeffrey Milarsky, May 6, 2008, Merkin Concert Hall, New York, USA

parcours III (excerpt)
mokume gane
large ensemble, 2fl, ob, cl, alto sax, bn, hn, 2trp, tbn, tb, perc, pn, hp, 5.4.0.4.1. 14’
2005

commissioned by the City of Nîmes, premier in November 2005, Orchestre de Nîmes, under the direction of Jean Deroyer

mokume gane
for string orchestra 15'15
2002 / 2003

commissioned by the Hans Scheuble Stiftung, Zurich, Switzerland

Anunit
for small orchestra (fl, cl, sax, bn, hn, trp, tb, 2perc, pn, 1.1.1.1.1.) and improvised electric guitar 14’
2001

premiered by John Bisset, mo ensemble, under the direction of Christopher Austin, June 27, 2001, Red Rose, London, UK

white with rectangular objections
for small orchestra (fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, trp, tb, perc, hp, pn, 1.1.1.1.1.) 7'30
2000

premiered by the Manson Ensemble, under the direction of Simone Fontinelli,
November 3, 2000, Duke's Hall, London, UK

nucleus
for 15 solo strings 7'30
2000

premiered by the RAM soloists, under the direction of Clio Gould, Duke's Hall, London, UK

Chamber music

New Work for MUSIKFABRIK
violine concerto and large ensemble
2024

A new work is being developed in collaboration with MUSIKFABRIK, Cologne.

Together with the two violinists Hannah Weirich and Sara Cubarsi, we explore the sonic universe of the electric violin with the glory of exquisites sounds from the Mooger Fooger Ringmodulation pedal, the Whammy-Bar, Cry Baby and some other goodies.

Premier Fall 2024

New Work for Ensemble Phace
2024
Wälzung
alto sax (w/effect pedals), e-guit, keys, fixed media 10'20
2023
The empty stage at Royal, Baden set up for Ensemble Soyuz21
ready for Soyuz21 @Royal, Baden, Switzerland

Wälzung (2023) 10'20

for 
alto sax (with Whammy Pedal, Mooger Fooger Ringmodulator, Cry Baby and Volume Pedal)
e-guit 
keyboard
fixed media

commissioned by and written for Soyuz21

 

Atchafalay (Remix)
bass-cl, perc, prep. pno/ARP Odyssey, vla, vcl, electronics 12'30
2021

Atchafalaya National Park is the largest swamp area in the United States and is located in the Mississippi River estuary plain in southern Louisiana. 
The Atchafalaya Basin, wild and impassable and haunted by myths of people disappearing into the thicket or falling prey to the "Rougarous" (Louisiana's werewolf), is one of the most important bird sanctuaries in America. It is populated by migratory birds or endangered species that have lost their habitat elsewhere. Meanwhile, Atchafalaya Swamp itself is threatened by human destruction.

Atchafalaya (Remix)'s world of sounds consists of sound fragments of endangered birds, sonic descriptions of the swamp as described in narratives, and recordings made by the composer during a road trip in southern Louisiana in 2010.

Atchafalaya (Remix) has been commissioned by the Ensemble Lemniscate and has been composed in close collaboration with the individual performers.

Recorded at Gare du Nord, Basel, 21.05.2021

Azra Ramic - bass clarinet
Miguel Angel Garcia Martin - percussion
Helga Karen - piano, ARP Odyssey
Sophie Wahlmüller - viola
Ellen Fallowfield - cello

Andreas Eduardo Frank - live sound

 

 

glimmer
for accordion and percussion 12'
2020

The composition Glimmer explores the sonic amalgamation between two instruments that both offer a richness of timbres and toneless sounds. I was particularly fascinated by the immense range of the accordion and how the percussion fills this range with complex sonic textures, contributing to a unified sound image. 
During the composition process I thought of different granite formations and how these formations, consisting of different minerals, come together to form a rock. I have a preference for glimmer, which is a delicate layered silicate that shimmers in the sunlight. Grown into the hard rock, these vividly reflective and pliable platelets can be removed effortlessly. 

Glimmer is dedicated to the accordionist Margit Kern and the percussionist Olaf Tzschoppe.
 

Instrumentation

Percussion

     Vibraphone
     Belltree
     Watergong

     Ride (22‘)
     1 small China Cymbal, which is held against the Ride
     1 medium China Cymbal, which is placed up-side-down onto the bass drum

     Bass Drum
 

Accordion

 

A commission of the Hannoverschen Gesellschaft für Neue Musik

Performance of world premier by Margit Kern and Olaf Tzschoppe, May 9, 2021, Klangbrücken/Musik21
approximations
for bass-fl, bass-cl, prep. pno, perc, vln, vla, vcl, live-electronics 8'30
2020

commissioned and dedicated to Ensemble Lemniscate

premiered at reMusic.org during COVID 2020 online-channel

video recording, June 13, 2020, Druckereihalle Ackermannshof, Basel, Switzerland
documentation: Andreas Frank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdsSm-hDLKY

blur
fl, bass-kl (bari-sax), perc, pn, vln, vcl (e-guit optional) 7'50
2019 has audio
spät nachts im Taxi durch New York. Erst die langen Avenues, später die Brücken. Schrille Lichter, Neonanzeigen in allen Farben, verschwommen in der Ferne, dann sind sie schon vorbei. Sie alle flackern und zittern auf den kräuselnden Wellen, nur der Mond ist auffällig still. Rot – Grün – Gelb, das Spiel der Ampeln, ansonsten rauscht es nur
people dancing in a blurry light
Photo: Hans Gut Photography

blur (2019)
bass flute, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, violoncello

commissioned and written for ensemble für neue musik zürich

 

blur (2020)
bass flute, bari sax, e-guit, percussion, piano, violin, violoncello

Adaption of blur (2019)

Schallfeld Ensemble performs blur (septet), 18.12.2021 in Theater am Lend, Graz.
SCHICHTUNG
organ and multichannel electronics 45'
2018 has audio
Lightinstallation Münster Bern
Photo: Annette Boutellier

premiered September 8, 2018 Musikfestival Bern, "Nachtgezeiten / Zeitinseln" Münster Bern by organist Daniel Glaus, diffusion electronics Beat Müller, Katharina Rosenberger

 

 

unzeitig – Zeitdehnung / Zeit(ent)faltung / Zeitinseln – dies sind alles Begriffe, welche sich bei einer Betrachtung von imposanten alpinistischen Gesteinsstrukturen in meinen Gedanken wiederfinden. So beherbergen gewaltige Felsformationen eine Vielzahl von Schichten und Materialien aus verschiedenen geologischen Zeiträumen. Monolithisch und scheinbar unveränderlich thronen sie über den Tälern, doch klimatische Veränderungen infiltrieren das Sediment und schmelzen kurzfristig lang bestehende Gesteinsschichten, glätten Felsfalten und waschen Eisinseln weg.

 

Schichtung für Orgel und Elektronik orientiert sich nach diesen geologischen Entwicklungen. Die dreiteilige Komposition alteriert zwischen sich langsam etablierenden harmonischen- sowie klangfarblichen Schichtungen und schnell verlaufenden chromatischen Strängen. Gewaltig brechen die vertikalen Strukturen auseinander, dann wiederum kaum hörbar reihen sich raunende Säulen  vor und unter linearen Schichtungen ein. Die Elektronik dient als subtiles Bindeglied zwischen der spielenden Orgel auf der Empore und dem lauschenden Publikum. So greift die Elektronik mikroskopische Elemente einer dichten Klangtextur auf und drapiert diese gezielt um die Zuhörerschaft herum. Schwingungen, Klangfarben und Rhythmen werden näher an die Ohren und an die Körper der Lauschenden herangetragen und unterstreichen so die physische Einbindung des Publikums in die Entfaltung eines Tons, einer harmonischer Struktur und von Klangfeldern oder Klangschichtungen.

 

Ich danke für die inspirierende und enge Zusammenarbeit mit dem Organisten Daniel Glaus. Komposition und Bearbeitung Elektronik: Katharina Rosenberger, Programmierung Max/MSP: Elliot Patros, Klangregie: Beat Müller.

audience münster bern
Photo: Annette Boutellier
surge
bass clarinet, prepared piano, violoncello 13'
2018 has audio

surge für Bassklarinette, präparierten Flügel und Violoncello befasst sich mit kompositorischen Methoden, wie sie in der elektronischen Musik vorkommen, zum Beispiel mit Sampling und Recycling, mit dem Anbringen von Filtern oder mit additiven Klangverfahren. Musikalisches Material und Passagen werden dabei fortwährend wiederverwertet und modifiziert, der Gestus der Komposition ist vorwärtstreibend. Ein konstanter Energiestrom, analog eines Perpetuum Mobiles mit sich rasant windenden Figuren, wird immer wieder von kurzen perkussiven Einschüben unterbrochen. Es entsteht eine Zug-Stoss-Dynamik, welche die Bewegung teils komplett unterbindet oder auch in einem Schwall von Aktivitäten ausbrechen lässt. 

Ohrknacker Nr. 14 - Trio Catch presents surge

Bei Ohrknacker-Konzerten des Trio Catch werden Ohren geöffnet, hier erklingen neue Töne. Im Zentrum steht jeweils ein Werk, das zweimal gespielt und dazwischen im Austausch mit dem Publikum genauer betrachtet wird. Alles kann, nichts muss: ohne Altersbeschränkung, ohne Berührungsängste, ohne die Notwendigkeit musikalischer Vorkenntnisse. Die Veranstaltung dauert etwa eine gute Stunde, die Komponistin ist anwesend. Vor und nach dem Konzert laden wir zum Verweilen und zum Austausch ein. 

surge has been commissioned by Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik with the great support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia

premiered by Trio Catch, April 28, 2018, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Saalbau, Witten, Germany

surge excerpts recorded live Radio WDR 3 Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Saalbau, April 28, 2018 

Bögen
four hand piano 3'
2017

commissioned by Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, premiered on May 22, 2017, Gare du Nord, Basel, CH

Part of Amy Williams' and Helena Bugallo's "Microludes, György Kurtág Program"

 

trio (quasi) en sol
string trio 11'
2017

commissioned by Swiss Chamber Music thanks to the great support of Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia

Re-SHIFT
for two trombonists 2'30
2016 has audio

premiered by RAGE THORMBONES, Matt Barbier and Weston Olencki, January 12, 2016, Beta Level, Los Angeles, USA

Ragethormbones

On SHIFT hat [now]ART 199, 2017

Katharina Rosenberger
SHIFT
WasteLAnd with
RAGE THORMBONES
Nicholas Deyoe, e-guitar, conductor

Re-SHIFT is performed by RAGE THORMBONES, Matt Barbier and Weston Olencki

shift
flutes, ob, clarinets, 2 trombones, perc, piano, 2 vln, vla, vcl, cb 11'30
2014 has audio

commissioned by AMS, Lausanne, premiered by the Nouvel Ensemble Contemporaine, August 26, 2014, Festival des Jardins Musicaux, Cernier, Switzerland under the direction of Pierre-Alan Monot

Recorded on SHIFT at hat [now]ART 199, 2017

with WasteLAnd and RAGE THORMBONES (Matt Barbier and Weston Olencki)
Nicholas Deyoe, e-guitar, conductor

Members of ensemble WasteLand
Members of WasteLAnd during recording SHIFT, photo: K. Rosenberger
Erzählung
bass flute, bass clarinet, percussions, piano, violin, violoncello 11'30
2013 has audio

commissioned by Musik & Wort, Lucerne, premiered by the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, October 7, 2013, Moscow, Russia

After Igor Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat"

éventer I + II
bass flute, bassoon, harp, violoncello 2'45 / 2'30
2012

premiered by ensemble Reflexion K premiered November 2012, Neue Musik Eckernförde, Germany / Festival Bernaola, Victoria, Spain

 

éventer I + II was originally written for flute, alto saxophone, violin, and violoncello as part of the video-opera "X - suite filante" (2007)

Tinguely Machine 2.0
cb flute, cb sax, tuba 8'55
2010 / 2011

commissioned by KONTRA TRIO premiered March 20, 2011, "akku" Emmen, Lucerne, Switzerland

La Chasse
for two alto saxophones
2010 has audio
„C’est pourquoi les moments violents du récit, les moments dramatiques sont ceux où la personne suivie fait demi-tour, prise d`une inspiration soudaine, faisant volte-face comme une bête pour vendre chèrement sa vie. Le système se renverse immédiatement, et le suiveur est suivi...
suivre pour être suivi, se masquer pour être démasqué, apparaître pour disparaître, deviner pour être deviné ... „

La Chasse is a re-orchestration of the vocal duet “Voc_1b” initially written for the video opera X – suite filante by Katharina Rosenberger and Ivan Talijancic (WaxFactory), premiered August 18, 2007, Zürcher Theaterspektakel, Rote Fabrik, Aktionshalle, Zurich, Switzerland.

 

Scene: Day 5 “ ... prendre sa revanche ... ”

 

Text: Iva Sanject / Ivan Talijancic after “Suite Venitienne” (Please Follow me) by Sophie Calle and written responses by Jean Beaudrillard

Recorded by the Landman/Stadler Saxophone Duo, February 2018, 940 St. Nicholas Ave, NYC
the picture shows the Landman/Stadler Saxophone Duo
parcours III
version for octet - fl, cl, alto sax, tbn, vln, vla, vcl, cb and electronics 12'10
2010 has audio

premiered July 27, 2010, Millers Theatre, New York, USA by Wet Ink Ensemble under the direction of Carl Christian Bettendorf

Recorded on hat [now] ART 186

WET INK ENSEMBLE & guests
Ariana Lamon-Anderson (clarinets), Eliot Gattegno (saxophones), Ian Carroll (trombone), Andrew McIntosh (viola), Eric Moore (cello), Scott Worthington (contrabass)

Carl Christian Bettendorf - conductor

Recording parcours III
Recording parcours III with Wet Ink Ensemble and guests
scatter 2.0
fl, cl, pn, perc, vln, vcl 9'45
2010

commissioned by ensemble für neue musik zürich, version 2009 premiered Nov 19, 2009, Forum Siegfried, Zofingen, CH

torsion
piano 9’15
2008 has audio

comissioned by Simone Keller, premiered April 24, 2009, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich, CH

miroir
flute, soprano saxophone
2007 / 2007 has audio

performed by Erin Lesser, Eliot Gattegno WET INK ENSEMBLE

on hat [now] ART 186

 

miroir exists also for
flute and alto saxophone
bassflute and bassoon

Octuor Nº 3
fl, cl, alto sax, tbn, vln, vla, vcl, cb and handpercussion 12’
2006 / 2007

premiered May 5, 2006 by Ensemble Polychronie, Galerie District, Marseille
under the direction of Laurent Melin

fünf Bilder für Oktett - Bild 3A
fl, cl, alto sax, tbn, vln, vla, vcl, cb 5'30
2006 has audio

premiered March 26, 2006 by the Columbia Composers Ensemble at Merkin Hall, New York under the direction of Carl Christian Bettendorf

fünf Bilder für Oktett - Bild 3A (excerpt)
ocean greyness
alto saxophone 12’
2003 / 2004

premiered by Massimo Mazzoni, April 14, 2004, Merkin Hall, New York, USA

fünf Bilder für Oktett - Bild 1
fl, cl, alto sax, tbn, perc, vln, vcl, cb 8'30
2004

premiered January 9, 2005 as part of the "Portrait Concert" Katharina Rosenberger and Kaspar Ewald, Forum für Neue Musik, Lucerne, Switzerland

zsOom
amplified contrabass 7'15
2003

Bewegungsstudie III (study on movements III) 
commissioned by Cristin Wildbolz as part of the "K9+one" tour, premiered May 3, 2004, Electronic Music Foundation @ Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA

ahom
piano 4'30
2002 has audio

performed by the great Hsing-ay Hsu at the Pendulum New Music Festival, Boulder, CO, USA
February 22, 2017

And also a wonderful interpretation by Los Angeles based pianist Richard Valitutto

ahom Richard Valitutto
s(S)treifen
violin, contrabass, piano 5’30
2002

Bewegungsstudie I (study on movements I)
premiered by Ensemble Sonata Concert, May 2002, Paris, France

Xylodessia
percussion quartet 10’
2001

premiered by So Percussions, January 2002, Casa Italiana, New York, USA

Vocal

The Future is a Broken Record
for soprano (partially amplified, harmonizer pedal), alto sax and contrabass 16'00
2022

commissioned and written for 
Johanna Vargas, soprano
Marcus Weiss, alto saxophone
Uli Fussenegger, contrabass


Premiered November 1, 2022, Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozart Saal, Vienna, Austria
 

Katharina Rosenberger, composition, text
Patrick Klingenschmitt, dramaturgy, text
Rozalie Hirs, poetry

Inspiration for content from Hannah Arendt, Octavia E. Butler, Franz Kafka, Ursula K. Le Guin, Haruki Murakami, and DJ Noumenon/Scratch DJ Academy.

with the friendly support of Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council
 

Aufzeichnungen eines Stimmlosen
for four voices, vln, bass cl, accordion 11'
2020

Aufzeichnungen eines Stimmlosen
(no voice other than this pen...)

Aus den Tagebuchaufzeichnungen von Mohammed al-Hamiri

Die Komposition bezieht sich auf Gustav Mahlers Des Knaben Wunderhorns, „Lied des Verfolgtem im Turm“ (1898), dessen Ursprung wiederum auf dem Lied „Die Gedanken sind frei“ eines/einer unbekannten Verfasser*in des 18. Jahrhunderts gründet. Aufzeichnungen eines Stimmlosen wurde am 4. September 2020 an den Gustav Mahler Musikwochen in Toblach, Südtirol, durch das Vokalensemble Cantando Admont sowie Marco Sala (Bassklarinette), Mirko Jevtovic (Akkordeon) und Johannes Haase (Violine) uraufgeführt.

In die Aktualität umgesetzt, thematisiert Aufzeichnungen eines Stimmlosen die unzulässigen Umstände von Verfolgungen und Freiheitsentzug von Menschen ohne richterliche Haftprüfung. Besonders in den USA sind Gefängnisse und kontroverse Inhaftierungen ein großes Thema und ein florierendes Geschäft. Mit den 9/11-Anschlägen in 2001 und sukzessiver politisch motivierter Propaganda zu Terroristenverfolgung und Angstmachung der Bevölkerung erlaubte sich die USA die rechtswidrige Internierung von hunderten von Menschen, welche teils bis heute in dem 2002 errichteten außerordentlichen Gefängnis Guantánamo festsitzen. Hier, unter unmenschlichen Bedingungen festgehalten, verloren die Gefangenen nicht nur ihre Freiheit, sondern auch ihre Stimme.

Das Libretto besteht aus bearbeiteten Satzfragmenten von unterschiedlichen Berichten aus der Frankfurter Allgemeinen, Süddeutsche Zeitung, New York Times sowie von den Nachrichtensendern Al Jazeera und The Intercept. Letzterer veröffentlichte Ausschnitte aus den Tagebuchaufzeichnungen des jungen Jemeniten und Guantánamo Bay-Insasse Mohammed al-Hamiri*. In diesen Schriften und besonders in den Briefen an seine Mutter wird deutlich, dass den eingesperrten Terrorverdächtigen jegliche Rechte entzogen und viele ohne offizielle Anklage festgehalten wurden. Trotzdem lässt al-Hamiri seine Hoffnung nicht erdrücken. Seine Ausführungen sprechen von einer beispiellosen Stärke und Glauben auf ein Leben in Frieden und Glück. Al-Hamiri wurde 2015 nach 13 Jahren Gefangenschaft freigesprochen.

*Hussain, Murtaza (2016), „Prisoner’s Letters Document Tragedy, Hope Inside Guantánamo“, The Intercept,18.04.2016, zuletzt aufgerufen 7. August 2020, https://theintercept.com/2016/04/18/trapped-guantanamo-letters-mohammed-al-hamiri/. Aus dem Englischen von Katharina Rosenberger.


Aufzeichnungen eines Stimmlosen entstand im Auftrag des Vocalensembles Cantando Admont, dank der großzügigen Unterstuẗ zung von der Schweizer Kulturstiftung Pro Helvetia

Cantando Admont performs Aufzeichnungen eines Stimmlosen
oh... n(o)w, roar all over and over again
for speaking and singing percussionist 3'00
2017

based on E.E.Cummings "n(o)w"

punti allontanarsi
for britone and bass
2015
tratti confluenti
for two sopranos
2013
vive faville
2 sopranos, 2 mezzo sopranos
2013
the sky
voice and piano
2012

from the series "E.E. Cummings Miniatures"

premiered by Tiffany DuMouchelle and Stephen Solook, August 2012, Conrad Prebys Music Center, University of California San Diego

n(o)w
voice and percussion
2012

from the series "E.E. Cummings Miniatures"

premiered by Tiffany DuMouchelle and Stephen Solook, August 2012, Conrad Prebys Music Center, University of California San Diego

 

TEXTUREN
soprano, fl, sax, perc, pn, vln, electronics 8’40
2010 has audio

premiered by Wet Ink Ensemble, January 12, 2011, Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, UCSD, San Diego, US

Libretto based on botanist Michael Sundue's "A monograph of Ascogrammitis, a new genus of grammitid ferns (Polypodiaceae)". Brittonia 62(4): 357-399. © 2010 The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx

Recorded on hat [now] ART 186

WET INK ENSEMBLE & guests
Ariana Lamon-Anderson (clarinets), Eliot Gattegno (saxophones), Ian Carroll (trombone), Andrew McIntosh (viola), Eric Moore (cello), Scott Worthington (contrabass)

Carl Christian Bettendorf - conductor

Rozalie Hirs - poetry
Michael Sundue - taxonomy

und die Gravitation verschwindet darin
tenor, pn, ambisonic surround sound 5’30
2009

premiered April 18, 2009, Weimarer Frühlingstage, Weimar, Germany

Tinguely Machine
mezzo soprano, tuba 5’30
2008 / 2009

commissioned by Welti/Bachmann, premiered April 1, 2009, Imprimerie Basel, CH

aPhasis
mezzo soprano, bassflute, bassclarinet 6’30
2002

premiered by Ensemble Accroche Note, July 24, 2002, Centre Acanthes, Chartreuse Villeneuve lez Avignon, France

Kaspar Studien
mezzo soprano, bass clarinet, piano, violoncello (2000) 12’
2000 / 2001

improvised speaking voice, bass clarinet, piano, violoncello (version 2001) 14’

Von Verrückten und Verdrückten
soprano, fl, cl, hp, vln, vla, vcl 10’
1999 / 2000

Kapitel 19 - Die Unbekannte

after “Weymouth Sands” by John Cowper Powys
premiered February 26, 2000, TransArt Festival, Musikforum Zug, Spinnihalle, Baar, Switzerland

Mutlimedia

Up Close
for quintet, close-up microphones and interactive lights
2019
Michael playing the flute

Up Close is written for flute, clarinet, cello, piano and percussion, utilizing close-up microphones and live interaction with lights.

By intensely amplifying very quiet sounds and minute details of the act of playing an instrument, the listeners are enabled to zoom into the intimate relationship between instrumental sounds and their physical articulation. The audience receives a unique insight into the virtuosic act of contemporary music making, and the amplification will offer Rosenberger a rich palette of otherwise unheard sounds that she will incorporate into her composition.

Having a microphone attached so closely to the source of sound production will reveal every instance of a sound’s evolution and highlight spectral properties or other acoustic phenomena impossible to perceive otherwise.

Rebecca the percussionist with clip on microphone
TJ the cellist performing

the [Switch~ Ensemble] is:
Zach Sheets, flute
Madison Greenstone, clarinets
Megan Arns, percussion
Wei-Han Wu, piano
Tyler J. Borden, cello

Jason Thorpe Buchanan, sound diffusion

 

Up Close has received support from the New Music USA (2018), the Guggenheim Fellowship (2019), and Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung

 

All photos taken by Jason Buchanan
The photos show guest musician Michael Matsuno, flute and Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, percussion

Madison the clarinetist with me rehearsing
the [Switch~ Ensemble] performing Up Close @SinusTon Festival, Magdeburg, Germany, 2021
Electric Fields
Installation
2019 has audio
brain cells neurons

First showing: June 12-21, 2019 at calit2@gallery, UCSD, La Jolla, USA

Electric Fields, an immersive audio-visual installation, is the result of my work as the Composer-in-Residence at the Qualcomm Institute, the UC San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). Electric Fields has been developed in collaboration with neuroscientist Alexander Khalil and media artist John Burnett. The work draws its materials and inspiration from experiments with neuronal feedback and sonification, novel methods of sound diffusion and projection mapping.

Alexander Khalil and I have been exploring a number of different methods of converting brainwaves to sound, a process referred to as “sonification”. Brainwaves already feature many of the characteristics of soundwaves and, once recorded and stored digitally, can readily be rendered as sound. Many of the most easily recorded brain activity, however—and most of the brainwaves that are studied scientifically—are of frequencies below the range of human hearing. Through a process of speeding up and then stretching these oscillations, we have been able to make them audible, revealing a rich and nuanced sonic world.

In its final presentation, Electric Fields transforms the gallery into an abstracted multidimensional neuronal network. The audience encounters a mesh of suspended interlaced fabrics, masking the room’s actual dimension and immersing the viewer in the work. The video material consists of neural imagery, filigree and organically shaped drawings, and pointillist textures designed by John Burnett. The sound diffusion consists of a multichannel audio system combining both near and far field sonification. The sound texture generated from the study is projected through far field spatialization; the beam forming technology however, picks up specifically on the auditory stream segregation. In the correct listening position, the audience perceives sound objects swirling closely around their head that are directly pulled from the general sound texture that is heard simultaneously.

In the dream that I dreamed, you awoke
sop, fl, b-cl, t-sax, tbn, vcl, electronics and 3D hologram projections 15'
2018
3D projection for In the dream...
3D projection: Achim Stromberger / Photo: Wen Liu

In Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Circular Ruins” a stranger, maybe a magician withdrew himself into the thickness of a forest, into a circular temple that had been devoured by ancient fires. There at the food of a stone tiger or a horse, his sole task was to sleep and dream. He wanted to dream a human; he wanted to dream a human in every detail to eventually expose them to reality. 

 

"In the dream I dreamed, you awoke" has been commissioned by M.A.R.S. Music & Arts ReSound and saw its first performance at the Los Angeles M.A.R.S. Festival, October 5, 2018, The Vortex, featuring Laurel Irene (Soprano), the MARS Collective under the direction of David Harris, and Achim Stromberger of ThisPlay, who designed the 3D hologram projections.

"He understood that modeling the incoherent and vertiginous matter of which dreams are composed of was the most difficult task that a man could undertake..." (Borges)
photograph of the projections of "In the dream..."
3D projection: Achim Stromberger / Photo: Katharina Rosenberger
if they bite with all their might
hn, korg MS20 mini, vcl, spoken text and 18 live activated light bulbs
2016

Faust’s level of frustration is peaking. His monumental invention, the electric light, does not cause him any satisfaction anymore. Even though, this deal had cost him his soul. But to stand up against Mephisto, he knows, is a futile act.

But then, he meets a woman of iridescent appearance and a multiplicity of names: Ms Marguerite Ida and Helena Annabel. It is this enigmatic female figure who beguiles the audience. Based on fragments of Getrude Stein’s “Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights” Ms Marguerite Ida and Helena Annabel reflects on herself and the world. In her company a dog who says “thank you”. Less pleasing is the arrival of a viper that shakes up Ms Marguerite Ida and Helena Annabel’s world.

The musicians too, are pretty freaked out by the reptile’s appearance. More than just interpreters of a fixed score, the performers are entangled in the unfolding of the story. The score calls for improvisatory and temporarily freely interpreted passages.
Also, through their voices we hear Getrude Stein’s vivid characters. And not only Faust, the trio too, loves to play with the lights. They do so quite successfully. Yet, the 18 live activated light bulbs are stubborn and like to play their own game.

The audience is witnessing a performance that responds to the spur of the moment, to Ms Marguerite Ida and Helena Annabel’s mood swings, to the appearance of all sorts of treacherous wild creatures and shadowy figures and ultimately, to the tussle of who now gains control over the technology and the lights.

 

World premier June 24, 2016, Kunstraum Walcheturm Zurich

Retro Disco
Samuel Stoll, horn
Reto Staub, korg MS20 mini (for Simone Keller)
Moritz Müllenbach, cello

Ljubo Majstorovic, programming, design and building of the live light interaction

Video: Franz Bannwart

SABre
Sensor Augmented Bass Clarinet 10’30
2012 / 2013

commissioned by ICST Zürich, premiered by Matthias Müller, April 3, 2014, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich, Switzerland

www.icst.net

The_Line
video / sound art piece 8'
2007

The Line (2007) denotes metaphorically the enigmatic path we walk down every day... at times known... at times bewildering; a given, marked by an ever-mutating configuration of events and encounters, parading against the steady backdrop of passing time.
Filmed, edited and produced spring 2007 in Brooklyn/Greenpoint

Commissioned by Jean-Marc Montera, Montevideo, Marseille, France. 
With inclusion in the art publication "Le son d'amour", DOC(K) 4th edition, w/DVD, Akenaton, Campbell, France, Spring 2008.

 

Video and sound: Katharina Rosenberger

Malachit
two electro acoustic works
2005 has audio
Prologue to Malachit
Malachit

Prologue to Malachit / Malachit (2005)

My ongoing interests in sound and its materiality and the fusion of music and the visual arts have brought me to collaborate with New York painter and sculptor Peter Mallo. I have started to record him while he is working on his art in his studio. The two pieces Prologue to Malachit and Malachit are a document of Peter smashing and grinding Malachit stones to make paint out of it. Every present sound is derived from working on the stones. Whereas the Prologue to Malachit features more processed sounds, alluding to its visual character with its beautiful fine lines and color gradations, Malachit in contrast, represents tactile rawness, the stone’s sharp edges and fractured surface when untreated.
 

then
video and sound installation with two phone booths 20’ in loops
2005

Maria Mayer - concept, video
Matthias Lehmann - concept, programming
Katharina Rosenberger - surround sound
premiered May 10+11, 2005, ITP Final Show 2005, Tisch School of Arts, New York, USA

Room II
interactive sound installation (2004) 14’
2004

Katharina Rosenberger - idea / soundscape
Alfred Preisig - texts 
Luke DuBois - programming 
commissioned for the Tonkünstlerfest 2004 - Montey, Switzerland
on view 09.04-10.15.2004, Médiathèque du Valais, Martigny, Switzerland

Echo
performance art piece for a spinet and tape, choreography, light design 11'
2004

premiered October 21, 2004 as part of “spinet – an Experiment on Gesamtkunstwerk”, “Totalartwork” curated by Birgit Ramsauer, The Great Hall at The Cooper Union, New York, USA

kaspar – or n(one)
tape, one dancer and live video 15’
2003

Elyssa Dole - choreography 
Nina Hein - direction / light design 
Katharina Rosenberger - sound 
premiered April 6, 2003, WilliamsburgArtneXus, Brooklyn, USA

untitled
tape 7 ’
2002 has audio

... one of my inofficial favourites

untitled (excerpt)
urapa
tape 5’30
2001

in collaboration with Pedro Barboza
February 1, 2003 @ SCRIME 2003, Zoobizarre, Bordeaux, France