The motto of the 7th TAURON Musica Electronica Nova 2016 festival in Wrocław (19–22 May 2016), “Growing”, fits the slogan of the European Capital of Culture (ESK) Wrocław 2016, “Spaces for Beauty”.

This year the festival programme is based on the idea of coming to existence and development, which is reflected by the installation by Jean-Luc Hervé which transforms part of the concrete square in front of the National Forum of Music into a green area that keeps growing along with the music. The piece is related to the concert of one of the most famous contemporary music groups, the Paris-based Ensemble intercontemporain, established in 1972 by Pierre Boulez. The concert, planned for 21 May, is an exceptional event: in the evening the ensemble, appearing for the second time in Poland, will perform the world premiere of a work commissioned from Wrocław-based composer Agata Zubel. The concert will also feature pieces by Edgar Varèse and Yan Maresz.

On Friday 20 May, the National Forum of Music Wrocław Philharmonic, conducted by Michał Klauza, will present a repertoire that combines electronic music with the symphonic orchestra sound. The project intends to present different kinds of interplay of sounds, from orchestra sound accompanied by electronic music playback (Höller), to real-time processing of acoustic sounds (Mitterer), to using a sampler in a piece by Simon-Steen Andersen, with samples of everyday life sounds perfectly and humorously intertwined with the orchestral layer. The concert will feature works by composers from different generations who come from four geographic regions of Europe, including from Cracow. That city will be represented by two young composers, Piotr Roemer and Szymon Stanisław Strzelec, who created a joint work at Festival commission.

TAURON Musica Electronica Nova 2016 also offers an extensive programme of the Sound Cinema, a long-standing part of the Festival. Since Wrocław is the European Capital of Culture this year, composers from across Europe were requested to create sound portraits of cities. Special sessions for children and adults will present the sounds of different places in Europe, both of large agglomerations and the less known, more mysterious places.

The festival programme will include two works created within the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage programme Collections – Composing Commissions priority, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance: Zurine F. Gerenabarren’s “IKUR” for tape and Guillermo Lauzuric’s “Asleep City” for tape.

Elżbieta Sikora is the artistic director of TAURON Musica Electronica Nova 2016 Festival. Detailed festival programme is available at www.nfm.wroclaw.pl/musica-electronica-nova.