Shapes

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Description +
- The first note of the Shapes was written in a hotel room in Wuppertal. The piece is mainly constructed on a recurring three-note bass line improvisation taken from one of the improvisations I played that I couldn't take out of my head, which is the opening of the piece.
  
  To me, the piece is not only rhythmic and energetic but also melancholic and nostalgic in a way. Some passages of the piece were composed firstly as an electronic music track in the drum and bass style and later transferred onto paper. Some of the ideas came from an improvisation I played, and others came into existence through the intellectual work directly put on paper.
  
  These different working styles and aesthetics nourish each other and are very important to my writing process. As I strongly favour vibraphone's sound, its musical potentiality, and the sense of playing, it was an enormous pleasure for me to write this piece for Vanessa Porter, who came to the idea to commission it.
  
  Emil Kuyumcuyan
Instrumentation +
- Vibraphone
Watch+
- Performed by Vanessa Porter
About the composer +
- Percussionist Emil Kuyumcuyan was born in Istanbul. He has Armenian, Greek, African, and Croatian roots. Emil, tours internationally as a solo percussionist, as a soloist at Les Percussions de Strasbourg, as a guest performer with ensembles including Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre Nationale de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Opéra de Paris and in numerous collaborative projects spanning a wide range of musical genres including contemporary classical chamber music, original compositions and music theatre. 2019 saw the debut of his first audio-visual piece entitled ‘ISTANBUL I the roots’
  
  As an acclaimed percussionist, Emil won first prize at the "Tromp International Percussion Competition“, one of the most renowned percussion competitions. His other accolades include a first prize win as a soloist at the "Stockholm International Music Competition” and prize win for his trio “Talking Drums” at the "International Percussion Competition Luxembourg". He has also received grants and scholarships from organizations like Yamaha Foundation Europe, Deutschlandstipendium, Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg, Nguyen Thien Dao Scholarship, Adami, and the Alfred-Toepfer-Foundation. In 2016 he was awarded the DAAD Prize (German Academic Exchange Service).
  
  As an active composer, he has received commissions from the IPEA Competition Shanghai and the Philharmonie Cologne (KoelnMusik).
  
  Following his musical education under Turgut Mehmet Sökmen at the "Mimar Sinan Istanbul State Conservatory", Emil Kuyumcuyan studied in Germany with Marta Klimasara, Klaus Dreher, Juergen Spitschka and Harald Loehle at the "Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart" and subsequently with Jean Geoffroy at "CNSMD Lyon" in France.
  
  Emil Kuyumcuyan gives masterclasses internationally and has shared his artistic expertise with institutes such as "Emesp São Paulo", "Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow", "Gnessin Institute Moscow", and his alma mater in Stuttgart. Since 2021 he teachs at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) as visiting tutor in snare drum.

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