»Midmeste«, a concert by Judith Hamann and James Rushford

This February, the ECLAT Festival will be taking place in hybrid form. On February 6, Akademie Schloss Solitude is delighted to present Midmeste, a concert by James Rushford (portative organ) and Judith Hamann (violoncello).

»Midmeste« derives from the Old English for »in between« or »in the middle«. The two Australian musicians, who have been collaborating in various constellations for many years, used a joint residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude to develop the work, in which they meet »in the middle« of their common interests, especially with regard to the production and embedding of »sound« in broader conceptual images, influenced by late medieval melody and harmony, pure tuning and microtonal nuances.

Thus, in their meditative work, they explore a network of relationships covering the interplay of their specific instruments and the surrounding space — reminiscent of a search for traces of multiple strands, outlines and connections, maps and paths in which musical materials and psychoacoustic vestiges recur.

The Australian composer and performer James Rushford was a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude in 2018. His work is characterized by its proximity to specifically concrete music, improvisation, the avant-garde and collaged forms of expression.

Judith Hamann is a cellist, performer and composer and a current Solitude fellow in the field of practice Aural & Physical. Their practice focuses in particular on performing as a process that spans many locations and contexts.

Numerous other former fellows and jurors will be participating in the ECLAT Festival, including Annesley Black, Chaya Czernowin, Saed Haddad, Clara Iannotta, Sven-Ingo Koch, Isabel Mundry, Silvia Rosani, Kinga Tóth and Christopher Trapani.

The ECLAT Festival is funded by the City of Stuttgart and the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg. In collaboration with the radio station SWR2. Funding from the foundation Baden-Wuerttemberg Stiftung has ensured that ECLAT hybrid can go ahead.