Credit: Philharmonie Luxembourg

Philharmonie Luxembourg has announced that its festival “rainy days” is set to take place from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 November 2023.

The event is under the directorship of Catherine Kontz for the first time, and is dedicated to the topic “memory”. The programme will offer a glimpse into contemporary music via compact formats and will range from composers such as Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff to a number of upcoming names. The performances will mix classic notation and improvisation, traditional and unusual instruments (such as fog horns) alike.

The festival’s opening day will feature a presentation of the results from the ten-week “Turtle Song” workshop, which invited people with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers to create music through movement, singing and songwriting. The project was led was Milla Trausch and Ivan Boumans in cooperation with the Fondation EME.

Artists present for the occasion will include Laurie Anderson and D'Gëlle Fraen. On Thursday 16 November, the festival will start with the presentation of eight composers chosen for the eighth edition of the Luxembourg Composition Academy, led by Annea Lockwood and Ed Bennett this year. United Instruments of Lucilin will present this project in cooperation with Abbaye de Neumünster (neimënster) and the rainy days festival.

The Belgian vocal ensemble Hyoid Voices will revisit songs formerly sung in factories, on ships and in fields. The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra will present the world premiere of Northern Lights while “A Mother’s Voice” will perform a multi-disciplinary work for string quartet and electronics, dedicated to the memory of the women forced into institutions for unmarried mothers in 20th century Ireland. These are only a few highlights, as the festival has many other surprises in store, including installations and workshops.

The last day of the festival is dedicated to families and will include a DIY musical “Memory” game creation that can be taken home as well as a meet-and-greet with the composers and a performance by the festival’s Director herself.

Catherine Kontz, the festival’s artistic Director, said: “To me, it was important to create a festival feeling, that eager anticipation that comes with the opportunity to choose from a multitude of events, enticing the audience to come for a whole day, or even the whole festival. This is why the concerts are relatively short. The programme is quite broad, and I hope there is something for everyone, and that people are curious enough to discover things that are new to them.”

Further information and ticketing prices can be found at the dedicated link: https://www.philharmonie.lu/en/programm/festivals/rainy-days.