PLANS FOR FUTURE OPERAS
NOIeS! - klangpol concert series
Sun 9.2. | 19:00 | Exhalle (am Pferdemarkt) of the Oldenburg State Theatre
Tickets (14.-/7.- EUR) are available HERE. Free admission for students at the box office!

For more information in English including video trailer, press and tour infos please check:
https://oyvindtorvund.com/plans/

The performance is part of the 22nd Carl von Ossietzky Composition Competition (2024/25) with a focus on musik_szene_theater and will take place on the day of the jury's selection meeting:
https://uol.de/kompositionswettbewerb

Current article in the NWZ from 04.02.25 on the performance and composition competition HERE.

Review of the NWZ from 11/02/2025 on the performance and composition competition HERE.

The Norwegian composer and author Øyvind Torvund drafts plans and fragments of ideas for future operas, all of which defy the laws of physics and acoustics. Soprano Juliet Fraser and pianist Mark Knoop sing and play the PLANS FOR FUTURE OPERAS and are simultaneously confronted with a wealth of projected drawings in a highly entertaining way.
The acclaimed production of the Munich Biennale for New Music Theatre (UA 2022) will be presented as the prelude to the current 2024/2025 composition competition at the University of Oldenburg on the day of the jury meeting.

With: Juliet Fraser (soprano), Mark Knoop (piano, keyboard, sound design)

The guest performance is an event of the Verein für Musiktheaterproduktionen am Fach Musik der University of Oldenburg e.V. in co-operation with the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater as part of klangpol, funded by klangpol - NETZWERK NEUE MUSIK NORDWEST, the Universitätsgesellschaft Oldenburg e.V. (UGO) and the University of Oldenburg.

Øyvind Torvund - composition, text, drawings
Juliet Fraser - soprano
Mark Knoop - piano, keyboard, sound design

Commissioned by the Munich Biennale - Festival for New Music Theatre (premiere 2022).

Duration: approx. 50-60 minutes

Short biographies:
In the compositions by Øyvind Torvund (*1976) include sounds from rock music or everyday life as well as improvisations, film music or visualisations. He has longstanding co-operations with ensembles such as asamisimasa, the Oslo Sinfonietta, the British Plus Minus Ensemble and the video artist Yorgos Sapountzis. His works have been performed at the Donaueschinger Musiktage, MaerzMusik, the Ultraschall Festival and the Darmstadt Summer Course, among others. Øyvind Torvund studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Berlin University of the Arts.

The soprano's repertoire Juliet Fraser is characterised by old and new music. She works closely with composers Rebecca Saunders, Bernhard Lang, Michael Finnissy, Matthew Shlomowitz and Cassandra Miller and performs regularly with ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Musikfabrik and Ensemble Modern. She has also initiated projects with percussionist Maxime Echardour and pianist Mark Knoop.

The pianist and conductor Mark Knoop is known for his bold performances. He has premiered numerous works by composers including Peter Ablinger, Joanna Bailie, Michael Finnissy, Bernhard Lang, Cassandra Miller, Matthew Shlomowitz and Steven Kazuo Takasugi. His virtuosity always allows for surprising interpretations of the 20th century repertoire.

Play info, trailer, press (in English): https://oyvindtorvund.com/plans/

PRESS:

This is much more than just a delightful whimsy, it touches the core of music theatre. Because Torvund deals with music, especially when it becomes theatrical, as a communication phenomenon.
- Egbert Tholl, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 17 May 2022

...a wonderful capriccio, a very modern form of meta-theatre.
- Gianluigi Mattietti, Il Corriere Musicale, 6 June 2022

The gorgeous performance by Juliet Fraser (soprano) and Mark Knoop (piano) came as close to a stand-up comedy show as contemporary music performance ever could. ... The excellent vocal performance not only critically inquires into the future of contemporary opera. It also delivers answers. The future of opera lies in artistic collaboration, friendships, and ongoing conversations between composer and performer who dare to laugh and dream together.
- Monika Zyła, Glissando, 3 June 2023

A similar playfulness pervaded the Norwegian composer Oyvind Torvund's imaginative Plans for Future Operas, performed by the soprano Juliet Fraser and the pianist Mark Knoop. ... the duo conveyed, with gusto and evident amusement, Torvund's freewheeling musical language.
- Jennifer Gersten, The New York Times, 23 March 2023

The whole thing is built with wit and at the same time very cleverly and quite complex... A fun performance and a pretty great project.
- Jörn Florian Fuchs, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 13 May 2022

Opernwelt 2022: Vote by Jörn Florian Fuchs (DLF, Salzburger Nachrichten) and Klaus Kalchschmid (Die Deutsche Bühne) for the best new production.