The XII St. Petersburg International New Music Festival is the largest annual forum of contemporary classical music in Russia and one of the most comprehensive platforms for global new music events. It will be held from May 23 to June 7, 2025. Organized by the St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center ‘reMusik.org’ under the direction of the artistic director and prominent composer Mehdi Hosseini, the festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of St. Petersburg, and the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.
The two-week festival will showcase over 70 diverse artistic events. Concerts will take place at premier music venues across the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, including the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall, the Manege Central Exhibition Hall, the Kamenny Island Theatre (Bolshoi Drama Theatre, Second Stage), New Holland, Radio House, the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, Sheremetev Palace, Sevkabel, the Museum of Urban Sculpture, the Anikushin Workshop, and the St. Petersburg Museum of Sound and various other venues throughout the city.
This year’s festival will feature 88 World and Russian premieres of works created by composers of the 21st century. The main theme of the XII reMusik.org Festival will focus on ‘Graphic Sound’. The project aims to explore alternate musical notation in a broad sense, encompassing graphics, videos, as well as text notations. In addition to the many concerts, the festival will also feature online and offline educational programs, presentations, round table discussions, lectures, composer readings, creative meetings, and educational programs called “Composer Courses” for young authors from around the world that are led by prominent teachers from around the globe. Additionally, there will be a laboratory dedicated to improvisational and experimental music.
The St. Petersburg International New Music Festival is a unique event within Russia’s musical culture. It encompasses various aspects of modern academic music, including experimental, electroacoustic, electronic music, multimedia projects, sound art, as well as’ free improvisation’. The presentation format is not limited to traditional academic concerts, but goes beyond it by incorporating diverse performances and experimental shows.
The festival program will include concerts featuring prominent Russian and international musicians and ensembles, specializing in contemporary academic music, such as the Ensemble Répons, Studio of New Music Soloists Ensemble, Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music, Shanghai New Music Ensemble, Vacuum Quartet, CEAM Artists, St. Petersburg Improvisational Orchestra, Festino Chamber Choir, The Gallery of Actual Music Ensemble (GAMEnsemble), Reheard Ensemble, Fortis Chamber Choir, Maria Sadurdinova (piano), Gleb Khokhlov (violin), Serafima Verkholat (saxophone), Daria Lutsenko (cello), Dmitry Shubin (electronics), and Gerard Costes (trombone), as well as numerous other international music artists during the two week festival.
The educational segment of the festival is taking place for the 12th year in a row and the composition courses are offered for the 7th year now. It will feature a multitude of lectures, presentations, round table discussions, master classes, reading sessions, and creative events. The ‘Composer’s Courses’ are organized by the composer Alexander Khubeev under the auspices of the ‘reMusik.org’artistic director, Mehdi Hosseini. This creative educational laboratory provides young authors from all over the world (selected by a jury) the opportunity to work with renowned performers and world-class composers. Due to global events, all composer’s courses will be carried out online. Invited professors and lecturers for the courses include Deqing Wen (China/Switzerland), Fernando Garnero (Argentina), Vladimir Gorlinsky (Russia), Stefano Gervasoni (Italy), Panayiotis Kokoras (Greece), Lucia Ronchetti (Italy), Elena Rykova (Russia), Vladimir Tarnopolsky (Russia), Mehdi Hosseini (Iran/Russia), and Nikolai Khrust (Russia).
Additionally, the Laboratory of Improvisational and Experimental Music, curated by pianist and conductor Dmitry Shubin, will take place for the fourth time in a row. This year’s laboratory program will focus on the graphical representation of sound, featuring lectures, practical exercises, master classes, as well as many workshops. The participants of this music laboratory will present the music of their experimental work at a final concert on the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater.
In keeping with long held traditions at the ‘reMusik.org’ Festival, the program will include various creative round table discussions. led by the composer Svetlana Lavrova. The topics will include “Mimesis and Mimicry in New Music: Noise and Soundscapes of the Real World”, “The End of the Time of Great Compositional Techniques”, “New Music and Literary Language”, “Russian New Music in the Mirror of Social Change”, “New Music Festivals from the Darmstadt Courses to reMusik.org Music and Society “, and “New Music and Artificial Intelligence: Composer vs. Machine.” Renowned personalities from different cultural areas, such as composers, music critics, as well as any other interested listeners will be invited to participate in these compelling discussions.
For detailed information of the reMusik.org Program of the festival, please visit: www.remusik.org