Ink Still Wet

Every year we welcome a new Composer in Residence who writes a commissioned work for Grafenegg and also leads the composer conductor workshop Ink Still Wet.

Aspiring composers can rehearse their own works with the Tonkunstler Orchestra and premiere them in a concert. Such an opportunity is unparalleled. From all submissions, the Composer in Residence generally selects five or six participants. What they have so far notated in their scores will be fine-tuned under the guidance of the Composer: over the course of the workshop, they will be occupied with questions of correct notation, effi- cient use of rehearsal time, and clear communication with the members of the orchestra.

Ink Still Wet’s aim is to be a springboard for the next generation of composers and to promote a unique creative exchange between audiences, composers and performing musicians. The intention of the workshop is to provide impulses for the creation of new works for orchestra. In addition, the workshop offers the opportunity to rehearse and perform an own work with a professional orchestra. Thus, also gaining a new perspective on one's own work. 

Previous years have shown how important and multi-layered these workshops are for the composers. What has only existed in their head or on paper is now tested in the exchange between the performing musicians and its performance on a major concert platform. Do the imagined sounds pass the trial run, or do they need to be revised? Is there a better way to notate one or another musical idea? Or, more fundamentally: as a composer, how do you approach a long-established professional orchestra, and how do you explain or, when necessary, defend your musical ideas?