Meet the ComposHer: Laura Konjetzky

Check out today's Meet the ComposHER interview with Laura Konjetzky!

The pianist and composer Laura Konjetzky was born in Munich in 1977.

She studied piano at the University Mozarteum Salzburg and at the University of the Arts Berlin. She then studied free improvisation at the Basel University of Music with Walter Fähndrich.

As a pianist she has recorded numerous solo works for the Bavarian Radio (Prokofieff, Schulhoff, Ustwolskaja) and gives concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in the areas of classical, new music and improvisation. Since 2009 Laura Konjetzky is music consultant at the Bavarian Television.

The piano plays a central role in her compositional work. She has worked intensively on new sounds in and with the grand piano and the expansion of piano playing with new elements, such as structured spoken language or percussive additional instruments.

Get to know more about her and her works in the Meet the ComposHer of this week!

Being a musician is my vocation. Before I discovered my compositional calling, I followed a pianistical path / my pianistic vocation.

I think my artist parents.

Sometimes it´s quite a challenge to write for an instrument, that I don´t play myself, and that I´ve not dealt with so far. This is my starting position to dive deep into this specific instrumental cosmos, that includes the musical thinking and the needs of this specific instrument. At the end you present your approach to a musician who has been inhaling this instrument all his life.

My way to compose is a hidden and secret process far from other people's eyes and ears. I need the retreat, to find the door to my inner realm.

My composition Fading Varnish / Verklingender Lack is a piece for piano solo, playback and additional instruments. Fading Varnish narrates in music the fantastic adventure of a grand piano in the wilderness. At the beginning, the grand piano is a lost foreign matter.

Later it becomes more and more a part of nature. Its sound and its music are changing and eventually gaining archaic nativeness.

The piano plays an essential role in my creative realm. So a core question for me is: How is the basic identity of the grand piano? To come closer to an answer I sent the grand piano on this journey.

Nautilus by Anna Meredith:

When I first listened to her composition, I pricked up my ears immediately and thought: "Wow! It sounds strong, powerful, fresh and repeatedly fascinates me".

Be courageous! Find your individual path.

Find your individual paths and believe in yourself! Don´t give up too fast, be patient.

The art of listening is very important to me. I hope the awareness for this sense becomes more important. So listen carefully and with an open mind, to perceive the moment with full attention!

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MAY 19

ANNE BOLEYN- UK
Death 19 May

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DORI DÍAZ JEREZ - SPAIN
Born 19 May

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Meet the ComposHER: Aleksandra Bajde

Check out today's Meet the ComposHER interview with Aleksandra Bajde!

Aleksandra is a Slovenian singer and composer currently residing in Vienna. She studied the piano, the violin and classical singing. During her career, she participated a singer and music composer in various projects in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Slovenia. She initiated several projects, among them are: Nostalgy.com, Luminosity, Self-Portraits in Imagined Places and duo clearobscure in collaboration with Emre Sihan Kaleli.

Her music has been performed in several European countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and the Netherlands

Currently, she works as an Assistant to the President of the International Society for Contemporary Music (Austrian Section) and to the Secretary General of impuls . International Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music.

Get to know more about her and her works in the Meet the ComposHer of this week!

I have always had many interests and for that reason, I also pursued different studies. Music is an important part of my life, but I would not identify myself only as a composer.

I have been lucky enough to meet a few wonderful people on my journey, who have supported me and taught me a lot about music and life.

My biggest challenge is to reinvent my personal approach to composition with every new piece.

I have a different compositional approach if I have to write a piece for an ensemble or for a solo/duo. For example, if I write a piece for a solo voice, I always start with improvisation. But in the end, the piece is not an improvised piece because all the elements have already been determined during the process. To start, I improvise, experiment, and record my own voice. I listen to the recordings and think about how I can develop the piece further. Then I experiment/sing again, record, make some adjustments and that's how it continues for some time... During the process I make sketches and at the end, sometimes even after a few performances, I notate the piece. Thus the production of sound and physicality both play an important role in my music.

hA Andr le for solo voice:

Michelle Agnes Magalhaes – Mobile (2012):

I am not able to answer this question.

I do not have any advice for future composers, everyone needs to find his/her own way.

Thank you for promoting women composers!

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MAY 12

ELLEN HEIJKORN - SWEDEN
Born 12 May

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GENI SADERO - TURKEY
Born 12 May

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Meet the ComposHer: Dorothee Eberhardt-Lutz

Check out today's Meet the ComposHER interview with Dorothee Eberhardt-Lutz!

Dorothee is a German composer and passionate about music! Since her first piece, "Für Julia", she has written more than 60 pieces for several instruments.

Get to know more about her and her works in the Meet the ComposHer of this week!

No, but music always played a preeminent role in my life.

My music teacher, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Stravinsky, Ligeti, Jazz, Bob Dylan, all kinds of rhythms.

Not to repeat myself in music.

Careful and slow.

“Orion” for violoncello and piano;

I think it is one of my best pieces, beautifully played by Stefan Schütz and Gabriele Seidel.

“Quanta” for oboe and string trio by Priaulx Rainier. A piece finely woven yet full of energy. You Tube “Quanta” part one:

 part two:

Learn to play the piano, the violin and a wind instrument; listen to a whole variety of music.

Be clear and distinct (clare et distincte) in what you write.

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MAY 05

MAIA CIOBANU - ROMANIA
Born 05 May

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BOHDANA FROLYAK - UKRAINE
Born 05 May

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