ResearchWorks: Agata Zubel – Vocal Works

(Photo: Łukasz Rajchert)

Agata Zubel has been exploring the areas of voice and its use in new music for over twenty years. As a composer and singer in one person, in her work she puts great emphasis on, on the one hand, the attractiveness and originality of the vocal parts of her works, and, on the other, the adequacy of the text used. She also does not shy away from the abstract use of voice. The lecture presents selected issues regarding the use of voice in the vocal works of the composer and singer Agata Zubel.

Speaker

Agata Zubel, composer and vocalist, is known for her unique vocal range and the use of techniques that challenge stereotypes. Zubel gives concerts throughout the world and has premiered numerous new works. As a singer and composer, Agata Zubel has collaborated with prestigious philharmonic companies such as: Carnegie Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Musikgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall in London, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Philharmonie in Berlin, Cologne, Luxembourg, Casa da música in Porto, Seattle Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony. She was also present at the festivals: BBC Proms, Wien Modern, Donaueschingen Musiktage, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Festival Présence, März Musik, Darmstadt Summer Course, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Warsaw Autumn, Beethoven Festival in Bonn. She has worked together with the world’s leading ensembles – Klangforum Wien, Ensemble InterContemporain, musikFabrik, London Sinfonietta, Ictus, Eighth Blackbird, San Francisco Contemporary MusicPlayers, Münchener Kammerorchester, Neue Vocalsolisten, Remix Ensemble, as well as The ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatsoper Hannover and others. Winner of several competitions, both as singer and composer, she also boasts such important accolades as selected work (the grand prix) of the 60th UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers for the piece NotI (2013), European Composer Award (2018), Erste Bank Kompositionspreis (2018).Her discography includes albums dedicated to her own music – Not Iand Cleopatra’s Songs (KAIROS), Cascando (CD Accord), the operas Bildbeschreibung and Oresteia (Anaklasis).

Guildhall School’s ResearchWorks is a programme of events centred around the School’s research activity, bringing together staff, students and guests of international standing. We run regular events throughout the term intended to share the innovative research findings of the School and its guests with students, staff and the public.