New Music Forum: Let’s experiment!

19:30
Pre-concert talk with Simone Heilgendorff (moderated by: Gregor Pompe)

20:00
Concert 
The concert Let’s Experiment! offers an in-depth perspective on the experimental practices that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century, where the boundaries between composition, interpretation, and performance were consciously dissolved. The performer assumes the role of co-creator, and the score becomes a site of open exploration. In the works of Pauline Oliveros and Karlheinz Stockhausen, where text replaces traditional notation, one observes a shift from prescriptive writing towards a conceptual understanding of the musical event. Oliveros develops a practice of deep listening as a form of sonic consciousness, while Stockhausen, in his cycle Aus den sieben Tagen (From the Seven Days), articulates the paradigm of “intuitive music”. The works of Dieter Schnebel extend this experience into the domains of corporeality and space, whereas Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes provide a historical framework for these experimental inquiries.

Under the artistic direction of Simone Heilgendorff—renowned violist, musicologist, and researcher of performative practices—the concert establishes a reflective space for the exploration of relationships between sound and silence, and between individual and collective creativity.

Programme 
Selection from the collections:
Earle Brown, Folio
John Cage, Song Books
John Cage, Sonatas and Interludes
Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening 
Dieter Schnebel, Museumsstücke I
Dieter Schnebel, MoMA Museumsstücke II
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Aus den sieben Tagen
Chrfistian Wolf, Prose Collection
Karlheinz Essl, Fontana Mixer 

Performers: Simone Heilgendorff (concept & artistic leadership), Ina Puntar (voice), Lucija Lorenzutti (piano), Rok Zalokar (electronics, intermedia), Urška Rihtaršič (harp), Weronika Partyka (saxophone), Luka Poljanec (percussion)

Co-produced by Društvo UHO (New Music Forum) and Cankarjev dom. 

New Music Forum 2025 Festival: An Open Cage 
Featured Composer: John Cage 
11–26 November, various venues 
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