On 25 April, the ensemble hand werk will premiere Chaya Czernowin’s new music theatre work The Redheaded Man »…and then I realised that I am the world, but the world is not me.« ; a second performance will follow on 26 April at the Witten Days of New Chamber Music.
This world premiere will be framed by numerous other performances of Chaya Czernowin’s music: in the opening concert on 24 April, the Klangforum Wien, conducted by Elena Schwarz, will perform the work Seltene Erde: alchimia communicationis for ensemble and double bass with its own recording, which premiered in 2023; the soloist is Evan Hulbert.
On 26 April, the Quatuor Diotima will perform the string quartet Ezov (Hyssop), composed in 2023/24; in the same concert, Noa Frenkel and the SWR Experimentalstudio will present Shu Hai practices javelin for voice and electronics (1996/97).
In the closing concert, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yalda Zamani and featuring soprano Sofia Jernberg, will perform another highly acclaimed recent work: No! A Lament for the Innocent for amplified soprano, ensemble and recorded accompaniment, expresses the pain caused by the separation of refugee children from their parents under the Trump administration. The work attracted considerable attention at its world premiere with the LA Phil and at its country premieres with the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna. The first version of the work will be performed in Witten as a world premiere.
In a concert entitled ‘Ambiguous Signals’ on 25 April, Johannes Maria Staud’s Jagende Wolken, blendendes Blau! for brass quintet will receive its German premiere, and Christian Mason’s Towards a not yet remembered past… for string quartet will have its world premiere, performed by the Ensemble Schwerpunkt and the Quatuor Diotima.



















































