Featuring scores of World and UK Premieres across 10 days of concerts, commissions, installations, workshops and talks, welcoming musicians, composers, concert-goers and delegates, and held in collaboration with global and local production partners, broadcasters and venues, the brilliant 2024 edition of hcmf// has drawn to a close.
For the 47th instance of the UK’s leading international festival of new and contemporary music, we invited interdisciplinary artist Lina Lapelytė to bring her playful, subversive, performance-based practice to Huddersfield as our Composer in Residence, we commissioned new works by the eminent Wadada Leo Smith and versatile Claudia Molitor, we celebrated 50 years of the Arditti Quartet, we continued to explore sustainability in the arts and culture sector through The Current Climate, and we held another day of hcmf// shorts, producing a free-to-attend, town-wide concert crawl as part of our ongoing efforts to address financial barriers to new music. As part of these efforts, we introduced a new ticket pricing structure and made programme information exclusively available online; these changes enabled us to focus on delivering a festival of the highest quality in a challenging environment for everyone, and make it as financially accessible as possible. We are grateful to our audiences for continuing on this journey with us!
We were pleased to continue spotlighting the best new music from abroad through our international partnerships this year, including a dedicated focus on collaborating with artists and organisations from Lithuania, Ireland and Finland. hcmf// 2024 marked the first year of three in partnership with Music Finland plus the third year of three with Culture Ireland as well as Lithuanian organisations the Lithuanian Culture Institute and Music Information Centre Lithuania. We are delighted to share that during hcmf// 2024, we announced an extension to our partnership with Ireland for another two years, and an extension to our partnership with Lithuania for three more years. We look forward to sharing more about the music these renewed partnerships will bring to Huddersfield in 2025.
In the meantime, we have selected some highlights from this year’s festival in the photography gallery below. Tune in to BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show to listen to selected concert recordings from the festival for the next few weeks – episode 1 of 4 is available to listen to now via BBC Sounds. You can also visit our Instagram page to relive moments from the past 10 days through our festival Stories.
Our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to our supporters, audiences and all who have joined us, and our very best wishes for the holiday season. See you in 2025!
Composer in Residence Lina Lapelytė performs as part of Candy Shop – The Circus
The Yrttitarha herb garden installation opens with a performance by Tytti Arola
Wadada Leo Smith discusses his work and career in a post-concert talk
Marco Fusi performs with viola d’amore
Okkyung Lee teams up with Explore Ensemble for the UK Premiere of Signals
Irvine Arditti performs in the festival opening concert, celebrating 50 years of the Arditti Quartet
Claudia Molitor in conversation as part of our talks programme during a year spotlighting her work
Marie Schreer plays violin accompanied by poet Taher Adel for the World Premiere of Ashkan Behzadi’s Ballads: Oblique, selected by hcmf// shorts open call
Lina Lapelytė: Ladies featured Violeta Aukštkalnytė, Nijolė Plavinskaitė, Danutė Mikalauskienė and Judita Kundrotienė playing kanklės
An immersive UK Premiere of Ann Cleare’s TERRARIUM courtesy of Crash Ensemble
The UK Premiere of Enno Poppe’s Streik would see the 10 drummers of Percussion Orchestra Cologne put to work
Linda Jankowska’s Parable of the Prize of Heaven, for cymbals, objects, electronics and video, selected by hcmf// shorts open call
Zwerm guitarist Kobe Van Cauwenberghe plays Anthony Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music
Slow weavings and improvised hockets in Patricia Auchterlonie and Hestor Dart’s performance of loomeweight
Shovel Dance Collective lead the audience in a collective singalong to close out a special first date on their tour
The music of Wadada Leo Smith conjures a smile when played by the Ligeti Quartet
Sonics and sculptured mudlarked from the shores of the Thames by David Sappa, selected by the hcmf// shorts open call
defunensemble don’t hold back in their triumphant turn at hcmf// 2024
Lina Lapelytė: Pirouette pairs dancer Ilva Juodpusytė alongside Liudas Mockūnas on bass clarinet
Percussionist Dirk Rothbrust joins Marco Blaauw’s trumpet octet The Monochrome Ensemble for a Wadada Leo Smith World Premiere
Furrowed’s Dylan Beattie ‘tattoos’ live cello and saxophone to blank disc in his performance alongside Alexander Painter, selected by the hcmf// shorts open call
Zubin Kanga demonstrates his innovative practice at a lunchtime piano concert
Sofia Jernberg sings as part of Cristopher Trapani’s Noise Uprising, performed with Zwerm and Lieselot de Wilde
Bára Gísladóttir’s blistering SILVA for double bass and electronics performed in full
The choir of Lina Lapelytė’s Study of Slope, with Angharad Davies on violin and Hampus Lindwall on the Huddersfield Town Hall organ behind
The World Premiere of Atefeh Einali and Nikta Mohammadi’s Indefinite Dreams: I am alive! featured santoor and film, selected from the hcmf//shorts open call
Hanna Hohti performs the Norse magic-inspired Seidr for viola and electronics
Photography by Point Of View