David Philip Hefti wins the Composer Award of the ICMA
Composer and conductor David Philip Hefti will be honored with the Composer Award of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) in April 2023, and it is precisely the diversity of his works that is the focus. "Hefti's tonal language captivates with an enormously wide spectrum of expressive means. Luminous timbres and dramatic constructions are as much a part of it as subtle and fragile sonic developments. The spectrum of genres in which the composer expresses himself is also wide, with the result that his music reaches performers as well as a broad audience." said jury president Remy Franck.
For Hefti, "it is an honor to be given this year's ICMA Composer Award. After the Corona years of artistic starvation, I'm grateful to ICMA's distinguished jury for their tireless work in showing us a hopeful perspective through pre-pandemic diversity and abundance, which is important in every sense, especially today." The award ceremony at the National Forum for Music in Wroclaw will include Hefti's work con moto - Beziehungsweisen für Orchester, commissioned in 2014 by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and its principal conductor Jonathan Nott. For the composer, this work in particular is very appropriate, since "the title should be understood as a desire to get cultural life moving again." More information on the work and a short audio preview can be found here.
The 2022/23 season saw the world premiere of Hefti's Rhapsody for baritone and orchestra, a work based on texts by Sir Salman Rushdie and featuring soloist Benjamin Appl and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn under Case Scaglione. On 4 February at 8:03 p.m. CET, the work can be listened to at the SWR2 evening concert. Furthermore, the world premiere of the saxophone quartet Harmonia with the Kebyart Ensemble at the Tonhalle Zurich on 6 February (further performance on 23 March at the Casino Basel) and the world premiere of the Fünf Concerti for String Orchestra with the Berlin Baroque Soloists at the Kammerkonzerte Laufen on 30 June, after which a CD recording is taking place, will follow this season. In addition, Hefti's Danse interstellaire, funeral music for basset clarinet and string quartet, will be performed with the Merel Quartet in Lucerne (1 Feb), Zurich (2 Feb) and Triesen (3 Feb).
More information on David Philip Hefti's works as well as concerts can be found at hefti.netread more less
World premiere of David Philip Hefti's Rhapsody for baritone and orchestra to a text by Salman Rushdie
In April 2020, to celebrate the 75th birthday of the writer Salman Rushdie, the composer and conductor David Philip Hefti was commissioned by the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn to compose a new work. On September 21, 2022, Hefti's Rhapsody for baritone and orchestra will be premiered with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, conducted by Case Scaglione and with baritone Benjamin Appl.
For Hefti, the contact with Rushdie marked the beginning of “an inspiring correspondence that culminated in a completely new text compilation of passages from his novel “The ground beneath her feet”. The composition freely follows the rhapsodic text and, despite the full orchestra, is treated like chamber music, which allows the wonderful ambitus of Benjamin Appl’s singing voice of almost three octaves to come into its own.”
The Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie is considered one of the most important authors of contemporary British literature and has been persecuted since the late 1980s because of his novel “The satanic verses”. You can find more information about the work here.
Further information on the world premiere on September 21, 2022 in the Heilbronner Harmonie can be found here.read more less
World premiere of David Philip Hefti's 2nd viola concerto with Lawrence Power
On Sunday, May 15, 2022, David Philip Hefti's work Songs of sorrow, songs of joy - Concerto No. 2 for Viola and String Orchestra with the soloist Lawrence Power, accompanied by the Camerata Zürich under the baton of the composer, will be premiered at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. The Swiss premiere will take place the following day (Monday, May 16, 2022) with the same performers in the Zürich Tonhalle.
Details on the concert in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall can be found here, on the concert in the Zurich Tonhalle here and on the work here.read more less
David Philip Hefti's CD debut with Deutsche Grammophon
On 9 July 2021, Deutsche Grammophon releases Shades Of Love – Korean Drama Soundtracks, arranged orchestrally. The music will be performed by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Philip Hefti. Soloists are Daniel Hope (violin), Albrecht Mayer (oboe), Richard Yongjae O’Neill (viola), Sebastian Knauer (piano) and Philipp Jundt, Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway (flutes).
Patricia Kopatchinskaja premieres David Philip Heftis Sechs Klanginseln
Patricia Kopatchinskaja will play and lead the world premiere of David Philip Hefti's Sechs Klanginseln (Six Sound Islands) – for violin, clarinet and string orchestra with the CAMERATA BERN on June 27, 2021, with clarinetist Reto Bieri as co-soloist.
It is a commission from CAMERATA BERN and artistic partner Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who brought Hefti to Bern as composer-in-residence for the 2020/21 season. The program of the concert entitled Reigen consists of Hefti's work and various dances by Ligeti, Schönberg, Schubert, Veress and Bartók and is intended to bring the home countries and sounds of great composers into the concert hall and bring them to life there. This concert will also be recorded by radio SRF 2 Kultur and broadcast in autumn 2021. read more less
