24 Jun 2014 — Monodies for ensemble will be performed at the Jaani Kirik Concert Hall, St. Petersburg. Performance by Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (MCME).
The Monodies by Mehdi Hosseini was completed in 2011. The work is scored for flute, Clarinet, piano, violin and Violoncello. The world premiere of Hosseini’s composition “Monodies” was on 21 November 2011 as part of the opening day of the 23rd Annual International New Music Festival “Sound Ways”, in the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and performed by the Sound Ways New Music Ensemble. Hosseini’s “Monodies” dedicated to Italian 20th-century composer Luciano Berio. The name “Monodies” has been used quite often in the composer’s works, he is devoting a significant amount of attention to the embodiment of his musical ideas into a single-voiced style, using the sounds of the traditional music of Persia and mixing them with western trends.
Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (MCME) was founded in 1990 by Yuri Kasparov, under the patronage of the famous Russian composer Edison Denisov. The ensemble focuses on promoting 20th and 21st century music. It is Russia’s foremost contemporary chamber ensemble and consists of some of the best Russian musicians specializing in modern music. MCME has strong educational goals and works closely with both Russian and international cultural foundations to bring contemporary music to a wide range of audiences. As part of this goal, MCME has organized the International Young Composers Academy (Tchaikovsky City, Ural) to bring together both young composers and internationally recognized composers in workshops.
The ensemble’s repertoire is quite extensive and has included the premiere of almost 800 different works. Particularly, they champion the music of Russian composers of the 1920’s and ‘30’s, such as Nikolai Roslavets and Alexander Mosolov. Additionally, they regularly perform music by “Shestidesyatniki” (1960’s Russian) composers.
MCME regularly performs in many diverse locales across Russia (80 cities) and elsewhere in the world, including Armenia, Austria, Belorussia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and USA. MCME performed on the best concert stages, took part in the biggest international festivals such as “Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art”, “DiaghilevFest” (Russia, Perm), “Radio-France presences” (Paris), “FrankfurtFest”, “Maerzmusik” (Germany), “Gaudeamus music week”, “The Night of the Unexpected” (the Netherlands), “Warsaw Autumn” (Poland), “Klangspuren” (Austria) and other. MCME has recorded more than 40 CDs for leading CD labels, including Olympia (UK), Harmonia Mundi (France), Triton (Japan), Donemus (The Netherlands), Fancymusic (Russia), etc. Each season MCME gives around 70 concerts in Russia and abroad. The special place in repertoire is allocated for music of young Russian and foreign composers. The ensemble also takes active part in the international multimedia and theatrical projects. In 2009 MCME became the winner of the Award ACTION in support of theatrical initiatives. In 2013 MCME got the Award GOLDEN MASK.
