A Journey of Artistic Discovery Across Europe
ULYSSES COMMISSION – JAIME BELMONTE
Organised by IRCAM, France
The ULYSSES Platform supports emerging composers with commissions.
In 2025, Ircam is commissioning Spanish emerging composer Jaime Belmonte.
At Manifeste 2025
The American quartet Yarn/Wire gives its first concert at IRCAM, with Jaime Belmonte, Lisa Streich, and Alex Mincek transforming the existing instrumentarium. Written for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart and for a wide range of percussion instruments, Alex Mincek’s imposing work Images of Duration pays tribute to the minimalist painter Ellsworth Kelly. A succession of fascinating sonic landscapes and ‘flat tones’. Lisa Streich orchestrates two motorized pianos in which strips of paper set in motion represent winds and strings, accompanied by real percussion. Her Orchestra of Black Butterflies might just as well have been called Rosebud. As in Orson Welles’ work, the drama centers on our memory of a familiar body of music, carried along by this quartet-orchestra.
Programme
Alex Mincek Images of Duration – French Premiere
Lisa Streich Orchestra of Black Butterflies – French Premiere
Jaime Belmonte new work – Premiere 2025
Yarn/Wire:
Laura Barger, piano
Julia den Boer, piano
Russell Greenberg, percussion
Sae Hashimoto, percussion
Rémi Le Taillandier IRCAM electronics
Serge Lacourt IRCAM sound diffusion
