Didn’t you resolve to challenge yourself more this year? Deutschlandradio and RBB’s Ultraschall Festival is here to help you out with five days of boundary-pushing contemporary classical.
The fest kicks off on January 20 with avant-garde jazzer James Carter interpreting Aaron Jay Kernis and a variety of American composers (20:00, Großer Sendesaal des rbb). Bringing a little Viennese flavour into the mix, the Rundfunk Symphonie Orchester Berlin and Boulanger Trio will take recent pieces by Austrians Friedrich Cerha and Georg Friedrich Haas to Köpenick’s funky, GDR-era Funkhaus (Jan 21, 20:00, Studios Nalepastraße).
Not just obscure composers are celebrated, but also obscure instruments. Ever heard of the shawm? Berlin duo Ensemble Mixtura is bringing the medieval oboe predecessor back into the spotlight (Jan 23, 15:00, Radialsystem V).
Hometown up-and-comers are well represented, with virtuoso percussionist Matthias Engler’s recital certainly not to be missed (Jan 23, 22:30, Radialsystem V). Meanwhile, Barbara Lüneburg scores points with her eclectic tunes, supplementing the range of her violin with voice, electronics and videos (Jan 24, 20:00, Radialsystem V).
You’re one of those rare hard-working Berliners with no free time on your hands? Worry not: you can also enjoy mid-week concerts broadcast on Deutschlandradio Kultur and RBB Kulturradio.
Ultraschall Berlin 2016 Jan 20–24 | Various venues, full programme at www. ultraschallberlin.de
