To mark the 100th birthdays of the composers Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and David Tudor, Akademie für Tonkunst, Darmstadt International Music Institute (IMD) and Darmstadt Jazz Institute on 11 June 2026 for a joint concert event at the Kunsthalle Darmstadt invited. The event was structured as a sound journey and highlighted the central ideas of the New York School, such as open-form concepts, experimental notation and innovative sound production. The performers included students and lecturers from Akademie für Tonkunst, as well as the composer Nikolaus Heyduck.
The concert installation took place amidst the exhibition by the Dutch artist Robert Zandvliet, whose works draw on key influences from North American colour-field painting of the 1950s and 1960s. In each exhibition room, a different musical experience awaited the numerous visitors, who simply followed the sounds. As a result, the music was not presented as a finished work, but as a process – something that unfolds and changes in the moment, engaging in dialogue with the space, the performers and the audience.
The sound journey featured works by Morton Feldman („Only“ for voice and „Four Instruments“ for piano, violin, viola and cello) and Earle Brown („Four Systems“, „December 1952“). On the other hand, an audio collage comprising archive recordings and interviews with participants was played. In addition, there were several world premieres. Johannes Morgenroth, a pupil in Jadwiga Frej’s composition class for children and young people at the Municipal Music School, performed the work „Graphic Score for Clarinet in Motion“. The Darmstadt-based composer, artist and music prize-winner Nikolaus Heyduck premiered his works „Mobilie Volatils with two mobile loudspeaker objects“ and „4DT – Hommage à David Tudor“, featuring objects and electronics, as part of this event. The programme booklet for the sound trail can here can be viewed.
The project emerged from the „Werkstatt Neue Musik“ seminar at Akademie für Tonkunst, led by lecturers and Darmstadt Music Prize winners Sun-Young Nam and Arne Gieshoff. It involved close collaboration with the International Music Institute Darmstadt (IMD) and the Jazz Institute Darmstadt, as well as the Kunsthalle Darmstadt as an external partner. This collaboration brought together educational, artistic and archival perspectives, bringing the ideas of the New York School to life through practical experience. At the same time, the project built on the long-standing cross-institutional collaboration between the participating organisations and strengthened Darmstadt’s position as a centre for experimental music and open artistic thinking.
Photos: © Leila Martin
