1. Ruth Prieto: You are going to participate at the European Meeting of Contemporary Percussion at Jávea-Alicante, what can you tell us about this project?
 
Elena Rykova: I was kindly invited to the European Meeting of Contemporary Percussion by the creator of this festival, amazing musician Juanjo Guillem. It’s a great opportunity for me to get to know the musicians of his ensemble NEOPERCUSION in person, which features three works of mine during this season: The Mirror of Galadriel, 101% mind uploading and Life expectancy. Experience #1. The Sun.
Our meeting in July will be held in the format of a workshop - presentation of my music for public and a discussion together with a wonderful pianist Ricardo Descalzo, with who we collaborate on my music for a while.
I am very excited about this event and looking forward to hear all fascinating pieces announced in the program of the festival.
 
2. R.P.: As a Guest Composer you are going to participate with the work “101% mind uploading”, what can you tell us about this work?
 
Elena Rykova: 101% mind uploading is a piece with a strong visual aspect. It is written for a prepared piano, percussion and three performers dressed in surgeon gowns. My piece explores several ideas. One of them is the idea of interdependency of the physical gesture and sound. In my music, each movement is conditioned by the necessity to produce a certain sound, I believe that in this way the degree of theatricality is transformed into reality of the process and instead of acting the interpreter starts living through the situation.
Another concept I am working on is the instability of the material (coming, for instance, from a piano preparation with magnets), which comprises in itself the possibility of a danger, sharpening the focus and attention of performers in a way that it scripts their gestures and behavior.
And the third approach is the re-contextualization of a situation. The concert situation is being transformed into a surgical process that at the end turns to be a mysterious ritual (e.g. the part with the gongs). This piece is a journey taking the listener from one place to another.
 
3. R.P.: What are you working on at the moment? What are your next projects?
 
Elena Rykova: I am working on several projects at the same time: a new piece commissioned by Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and a reed quintet Calefax to be premiered at ECLAT festival the next February, a solo piece for prepared amplified trombone and objects for Weston Olenski and a solo piano piece for Ricardo Descalzo.




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