Isabel Mundry was born in Schlüchtern (Germany) in 1963 and studied composition at the Hochschule der Künste and electronic music, musicology and history at the Berlin Technische Universität. From 1991 to 1994 she taught at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and furthered her studies in Frankfurt with Hans Zender and later researched at the IRCAM in Paris. In addition to her teaching activities in Berlin, she held teaching appointments in Zürich and at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.

Isabel Mundry was the first resident composer of the Staatskapelle in Dresden. She previously held a similar position at the Tong Yong Festival, the Lucerne Festival and the Mannheim National Theater.

Mundry's compositions are characterized by a highly individualized musical language, full of variants and nuances: "She hardly ever repeats herself; each time, sounds and sequences of sounds are articulated differently." Isabel Mundry's work is currently published by Breitkopf & Härtel.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary the Studio for New Music Ensemble navigates between places and countries that have become 'centres of gravity' for the contemporary arts scene. 'Projections of Contemporary Music' is a concert-series that places focus on the music of countries who have been long-term partners and friends of the ensemble. The next concert is dedicated to contemporary music from Switzerland. It features works by Isabel Mundry (Professor of composition at the Zurich University of Arts) and two of her former students Micha Seidenberg and Mauro Hertig.

What is musical perception? How does our awareness of music become a personal experience and which role does the differentiation of listening contribute to this process? The works featured in this concert address these issues in very different ways. For example: a) The archetypes of musical tradition are being approached as today's musical artefacts whose creative potential can be critically assessed. b) The creation of new listening experience and essential correlations resulting from conscious 'imperfection' of composition (Isabel Mundry). c) A composition as a filigree work of art that is based on isolated phenomena discovered by the composer (Micha Seidenberg). d) Listening as a process of building inner connections between previously gained experiences and their projections into the future (Mauro Hertig).

True to its key goals, the Studio for New Music seeks to provide opportunities for artistic and academic exchange and is happy to welcome Isabel Mundry as its special guest. The meeting with the composer will be held on March 13th.

We would like to thank the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, without whose valued support this concert could not take place.

Sergej Tchirkov, the project curator

From Aristotle to Lessing, from Gramsci and Adorno to Deleuze and Levinas - there has always been a discussion about intrinsic values of the art forms: whether the arts exist as self-reliant phenomena or they all have common roots and do need each other. At first sight, the art of music is perhaps the only self-sufficient form of art. That’s why it has certain power to influence our perception of other arts as a background process or else by highlighting elements of the other arts or by opening up yet another facets of a piece of art. Together with Vladimir Tarnopolski and Fedor Sofronov the listener is invited to this journey though the different art forms and to take part in the controversial discussion between music and other arts.