This project brings together four distinctive and internationally acclaimed composers—Sonja Mutić, Pilar Miralles, Angus Lee, and Camilo Mendez—to create a collaborative exploration of contemporary music, uniting diverse cultural perspectives and compositional approaches. These composers, each with a distinct voice, will write new works inspired by the complexities of broken relationships, whether personal, cultural, or geographic, reflecting on their own experiences of displacement and international life.

The works, commissioned for a unique ensemble combining instruments from both Eastern and Western traditions, will be performed by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Vertixe Sonora (Spain), and NAE Ensemble (Croatia).

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Vertixe Sonora Ensemble is a chamber ensemble connecting musicians from Galicia and Portugal. Together they create an open space for exchange, reflection and conversation about contemporary music. The members of the ensemble – sound and visual artists, jazz and classical musicians – are united by the desire to investigate new ideas through creative collaborations in a broader artistic context.

Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (HKNME) is one of the leading contemporary music ensembles in Asia, known for dynamic performances and innovative projects. Apart from concert halls, it also participates in educational programs, interdisciplinary collaborations, and research projects in cooperation with artists across the globe.

Vid Veljak started playing the cello at the age of 3, enrolled in the Academy of Music at 14, and at 23 became the leading cellist of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. He is a co-founder of the NAE Collective and a member of the Synchronos Ensemble. He launched the project Resonance(s), devoted to recording works by Croatian composers for solo cello (and electronics), with the aim of promoting the music of the 20th and 21st centuries and encouraging new compositions. The project received a Porin, the Croatian music award, in 2022. He currently teaches at the Arts Academy in Split.

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Hong Kong New Music Ensemble:
Angus Lee, conductor, flute
Linus Fung, clarinet
William Lane, viola
Karen Yu, percussion
Chiu Tan-ching, guzheng

Vertixe Sonora:
Pablo Coello, saxophone
David Durán, piano
Nuno Marques, electric guitar
Roberto Alonso Trillo, violin

Vid Veljak, cello

Angus Lee: hic / nunc*, for chamber ensemble and fixed media
Baihui Jia ci poem recitation on Chiu Tan-Ching (guzheng) improvisation
Sonja Mutić: spektrum . spektra**, for amplified ensemble, multi-channel electronics and imaginary voices
Baihui Jia ci poem recitation on Chiu Tan-Ching (guzheng) improvisation
Camilo Mendez: Disappeared Quipu[s]: Broken & Forgotten*, for chamber ensemble
Pilar Miralles: done for the day*, for chamber ensemble

* premiere – commissioned by the 33rd MBZ
**premiere – commissioned by the 33rd MBZ and DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program

* This new work is commissioned by Hong Kong New Music Limited in 2025 with sponsorship from CASH Music Fund *

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Supported by:

Cultural Exchange Grant (Hong Kong Arts Development Council)
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels
Acción Cultural Española (PICE)
The Embassy of Spain in the Republic of Croatia and the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD

Hong Kong Arts Development Council supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.