UMZE – VOICE TWIST

Pieces selected through the call for projects of MusicaFemina Hungary

What do we associate with the human voice? Singing on the stage, singing together, humming to ourselves, talking, whispering, baby cooing – just to mention the most obvious ones. We will meet these sounds, and many more, at the concert of the UMZE Ensemble, in the form of singing mixed with electronics, instrumental arias, the instrumental “overmumbling” of Offenbach’s work, beatbox, musical allusions and recaps from music history. 

The title of the concert comes from Andrea Szigetvári’s premiering piece. The work was born as part of the programme of the MusicaFemina International, commissioned by the Transparent Sound Festival and funded by Creative Europe – similarly to two other pieces from female composers, nominated through a competition.  

Apart from being men, the composers of the second part of the concert are also connected by the fact that during the last decade they have been working with the THReNSeMBle group, which is related to the UMZE Ensemble as well. Their three pieces performed at the concert are all based on a unique relation to human voice, and on the decade-long connection to the workshop.

As one of the most notable groups of the local concert life, the UMZE Chamber Ensemble has been performing crucial pieces of new music for more than 20 years, among which works of Hungarian composers also play a significant role. Although its musicians differ in terms of generations and interests, they are connected by  considering contemporary music not as an independent, unaccessible genre, but as their natural habitat. 

Since the 2019-2020 season they have been working under the direction of Gergely Vajda, and have been creating concerts that go beyond the traditional experience of music, offering a complex effect.