I’m thrilled to finally share the film premiere of my 2022 Růžičková Composition Competition piece, La Conversation Enchantée et Galante - and I have a long list of heartfelt THANK YOUs!

First and foremost, to the amazing Ada Witczyk for creating the wonderful Růžičková Composition Competition and tirelessly supporting, encouraging and inspiring contemporary composers to write new music for period instruments, as well as giving stunning performances of the pieces! To the awesome Simon Helbling - and all his fantastic film crew listed below - for his inspiration and magical direction, which perfectly captures the spirit of enchantment in La Conversation. To the fabulous musicians of Florilegium - Ashley Solomon - Baroque Flute, Reiko Ichise - Viola da Gamba, Steven Devine - Harpsichord (audio), Dominika Maszczynska - Harpsichord (on screen) for their exceptionally beautiful playing, and to Dominika for her kindness in demystifying Harpsichord registrations for me! To the excellent Nick Hardisty for his Artistic Direction & Producing, and making the beautiful recording. To the brilliant Brian Clark at Prima la musica! for expertly guiding me through the publishing process and producing such beautifully printed copies of the scores and parts. 

I’ve loved every minute of being part of this large creative Růžičková family - it’s been the most wonderful year! THANK YOU! ❤️🥰

MUSICIANS:
Ada Witczyk - Baroque Violin 
Ashley Solomon - Baroque Flute 
Reiko Ichise - Viola da Gamba
Steven Devine - Harpsichord (audio) - @steven
Dominika Maszczynska - Harpsichord (on screen) - @dominika

FILM CREW:
Simon Helbling - Director
Nick Hardisty - AD / Producer / Sound Engineer
Hamid Ahmadi - Director of Photography
Alessandro Di Rosa - 1st AC Piero Cioffi - Gaffer / Camera Operator 
Markela Kontaratou - Spark 
Taina Vez - Hair & Makeup

I’m so excited to share with you that the film premiere of ‘La Conversation Enchantée et Galante’ will be released on 11th July at 7:30pm. Composed as my submission to the 2022 Růžičková Composition Competition, La Conversation is for the same Baroque Ensemble instrumentation as Telemann’s Paris Quartets and takes inspiration from circus arts and aesthetics. 

Huge thanks to the amazing Ada Witczyk for playing Baroque Violin and creating this wonderful composing opportunity, to Simon Helbling for his inspired direction, and to the musicians of Florilegium for their very beautiful playing. 

Baroque Violin - Ada Witczyk
Baroque Flute - Ashley Solomon
Viola da Gamba - Reiko Ichise
Harpsichord (audio) - Steven Devine
Harpsichord (on screen) - Dominika Maszczynska

I’m thrilled and honoured to announce that I have been selected for:

‘The first international virtual exhibition on the island of Venice: “Viral Human. Public Art and Metaverse” promoted by MiRNArte and Creative Motion.’

Huge thanks to MiRNArte and Creative Motion for including me in this wonderfully innovative project and I’m very much looking forward to sharing the music selected from 17th July 2023.

Please head over to the MiRNArte website:
https://mirnarte.com/en/
for more information about this wonderfully innovative project:

‘The event will be open from 17 July to 2 November via the MiRNArte mobile application, which can be downloaded for free from 25 June on the Apple and Google Play stores. The exhibition catalog will be available both in paper and digital form from the month of July. Further updates coming soon.’

‘Viral Human is a multimedia installation virtually spread on the island of Venice, that travels in parallel between two historical eras, the Plague and Covid. The visit itinerary unfolds like a treasure hunt through an app that, like a time capsule, guides the visitor in an immersive and interactive experience. The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, the Ugo and Olga Levi Foundation and prestigious collaborations such as the well-known theatre director Matteo Belli, the Department of Ancient Music of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory, the Venice State Archives, the Venice Civic Museums Foundation, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and the Pantakin Theatre Company – comedy circus theatre events.’

I am delighted and honoured that my piece La Conversation Enchantée et Galante has been chosen as one of the three winning compositions in this year's wonderful Zuzana Růžičková Composition Competition 2022. Huge thanks to competition founder Ada Witczyk and the rest of the judging panel. Receiving the Viktor Kalabis Prize and the Prima la Musica Prize means that the piece will be recorded by Ada Witczyk and the musicians of Florilegium, then filmed by Director Simon Helbling, and published by Prima la Musica, which is all wonderful news. This competition has been such a pleasure and an inspiration to take part in and I look forward to sharing the piece very soon. To read more about the competition and La Conversation Enchantée et Galante please follow the link on the button below.