This weekend I am in Warsaw, attending the 69th Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music, where I represent the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) and its contemporary music festival deciBels at the ULYSSES Platform partners’ meeting.
It is an excellent company of colleagues, with many new ideas, discussions about future collaborations, and important conversations about how to support emerging composers, performers and ensembles in contemporary music across Europe.
The ULYSSES Platform 2024–2028 brings together 14 leading European institutions and festivals active in contemporary music: IRCAM in France, Divertimento Ensemble in Italy, Gaudeamus in the Netherlands, HfMT Hamburg and the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) in Germany, impuls in Austria, Mixtur in Spain, Time of Music in Finland, Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival in Norway, Warsaw Autumn in Poland, the Myroslav Skoryk Lviv National Philharmonic in Ukraine, Rupert in Lithuania, the Estonian Centre of Contemporary Music in Estonia, and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Latvia.
The platform aims to support the professional development and international visibility of emerging contemporary music artists. It creates opportunities for young composers and performers to take part in residencies, masterclasses, international projects, commissions and concerts across Europe, while building connections with festivals, ensembles and other professionals in the field. The ULYSSES Platform is co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme.
At this meeting, I had the opportunity to present three outstanding Latvian music representatives to colleagues from these leading European institutions: violinist Magdalēna Geka, composer-performer Agita Reķe, and Perons Percussion. I hope these presentations will lead to new collaborations and create further opportunities for Latvian musicians on international stages.
ULYSSES cooperation is already an important part of the activities of JVLMA and the deciBels festival. In recent editions, the festival has hosted and developed several projects connected with the platform, including international emerging ensembles, new music collaborations and co-commissioned works.
In the photo I am together with Jerzy Kornowicz, Director of Warsaw Autumn, who welcomed us warmly and has created an impressive edition of the festival. The closing concert was certainly one of the highlights of my visit and genuinely surprised the audience.
It is inspiring to see the JVLMA Contemporary Music Festival deciBels alongside institutions and festivals that have played such an important role in shaping contemporary music in Europe. Even more importantly, this international network creates real opportunities for Latvian composers and performers to become part of a wider European contemporary music scene.
The next edition of the JVLMA Contemporary Music Festival deciBels will take place in Riga from 15 to 19 March 2027, and the cooperation with the ULYSSES Platform will once again be an important part of the festival’s international programme.
See you at deciBels 2027!
