NYKY Ensemble: matter–body–freedom
Join NYKY Ensemble exploring matter and freedom in music with works by Czernowin, Scelsi, Lindquist, Hartikainen and Eastman
This time, NYKY Ensemble presents a concert based on the exploration of spaces between matter – materials, instruments; the physicality – bodies, those of performers, composers, living beings; and freedom – the path and the challenges of finding freedom with and from a musical instrument, within a creative space as well as society.
In the programme, Czernowin’s Ayre observes matter as in a microscope, observing the movements of extremely small things. Scelsi, in his 5th String Quartet, takes a single note and bends and distorts it, uncovering the deepest nature of sound through processes of malleability. Ellen Lindquist’s Earth is a meditation on the element of Earth and its energy. The Earth is the place in which matters, bodies, systems, living structures coexist, and the planet’s energy and its elements are essential to our physical and spiritual growth. Joy Boy finds a seemingly logical and natural blend between minimalism and experimental musica, something possible through the absolute originality of Julius Eastman’s approach to composition and music making, which often call for creative contribution from the performers.
The relationship between the musicians’ bodies and their instruments, the frictions between intention and execution, and the awe of discovery are at the center of Jarkko Hartikainen’s new piece. The piece is developed with NYKY Ensemble’s performers through workshops and directed by the composer himself.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of Eriikka Maalismaa and is part of the Maalisvalo concert series honoring her legacy.
Programme
Ellen Lindquist — Earth (2022)
Giacinto Scelsi — String Quartet No. 5 (1984)
Chaya Czernowin — Ayre: Towed through plumes, thicket, asphalt, sawdust and hazardous air I shall not forget the sound of (2015)
Intermission, 15 minutes
Julius Eastman — Joy Boy (1974)
Jarkko Hartikainen — MaTer(re)ia (2025), World premiere
Program note
Jarkko Hartikainen — MaTer(re)ia (2025)
After composing EMBODIED: Violin Solo—a key work written for my brave favorite musician Eriikka Maalismaa and based on the so-called “wolf tone”—my compositional work has increasingly sought to let the natural materials used in instruments shape the music more holistically, according to their own will. At its core, this is a non-verbal reexamination of our relationship with nature, explored through one of the major arenas for our emotions (because in the end emotions guide all our actions).
I am inspired by ritualistically and meditatively listening to what music-making becomes if it consciously and truly democratizes itself into the tangible materiality of the performance event. In the classical tradition, we are thoroughly trained to smooth out the friction connected to material reality and our environment—so that our purely human-centered fantasies may shine uninterrupted. The broader consequences of this attitude are evident in daily climate news, which offer far less inspiration. Since all of our lives are responsible and dependent for making a corrective shift, I believe that this must also permeate the work of the composer.
MaTer(re)ia (2025), developed with the weekly support of the NYKY Ensemble, begins from sonic phenomena rooted in material reality—those that elude our full control. In the past six weeks of workshop collaboration, we have searched for sounds that behave not 100% predictably, but 50%, in one way or another. These are sounds where the non-human reality can influence the music as an equal partner. The behavior of the instruments in this 50/50 state determines how the music forms in time—somewhat like navigating a maze-like board game—resulting in a performance that is thrillingly different each time, with the agency of the players, composer, and natural materials in balance.
The piece begins at a moment where the tonality underlying the machines we build from wood and metal is just barely forming. From there, we move through the limits of sustaining this life by exploring the instrument-specific differences, eventually marveling at the poetry between human and matter in the various dialogues before ending by going back to square one with newly sensitized consciousness.
The words matter and material—referring to physical reality—come from the Latin word mater, whose meanings unite the key elements in the birth and maintenance of human culture: timber (wood) and motherhood. Spoken aloud, it even evokes the French phrase ma terre (“my Earth”). The piece is dedicated to the memory of violinist and activist Eriikka Maalismaa (1980–2024).
© 2025 Jarkko Hartikainen
Performers
Mikael Loponen, Conductor
Tuule-Helin Krigul, Flute
Ioana Tomescu, Clarinet
Vicent Orón Bolós, Alto saxophone
Børge Rekstad, Horn
Clara Berná, Harp
Arttu Aaltonen, Percussion
Máté Dömötör, Piano
Skyla Murray, Violin
Fanni Piri, Violin
Siiri Kaijansinkko, Viola
Max Savikangas, Viola
Liu Pöntinen, Violoncello
Terhi Paldenius, Music coaching
Jarkko Hartikainen, Composing and musical directing
Mikko Ingman, audio and lighting engineering
Libero Mureddu, Intendent of the NYKY Ensemble
Jaakko Kilpeläinen, Producer of the NYKY Ensemble
NYKY Ensemble
NYKY Ensemble is a contemporary music group of Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, which serves as a forum for contemporary music projects and provides perspectives on the trends and techniques of our time, such as expanded playing techniques, live electronics, microtonality, minimalism or cross-disciplinary artistic cooperation. The composition of the ensemble depends on the pieces to be presented at any given time, and the visiting supervisor in each concert period is a musician or ensemble specialising in contemporary music.
This time, NYKY Ensemble presents a concert based on the exploration of spaces between matter – materials, instruments; the physicality – bodies, those of performers, composers, living beings; and freedom – the path and the challenges of finding freedom with and from a musical instrument, within a creative space as well as society.
In the programme, Czernowin’s Ayre observes matter as in a microscope, observing the movements of extremely small things. Scelsi, in his 5th String Quartet, takes a single note and bends and distorts it, uncovering the deepest nature of sound through processes of malleability. Ellen Lindquist’s Earth is a meditation on the element of Earth and its energy. The Earth is the place in which matters, bodies, systems, living structures coexist, and the planet’s energy and its elements are essential to our physical and spiritual growth. Joy Boy finds a seemingly logical and natural blend between minimalism and experimental musica, something possible through the absolute originality of Julius Eastman’s approach to composition and music making, which often call for creative contribution from the performers.
The relationship between the musicians’ bodies and their instruments, the frictions between intention and execution, and the awe of discovery are at the center of Jarkko Hartikainen’s new piece. The piece is developed with NYKY Ensemble’s performers through workshops and directed by the composer himself.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of Eriikka Maalismaa and is part of the Maalisvalo concert series honoring her legacy.
Programme
Ellen Lindquist — Earth (2022)
Giacinto Scelsi — String Quartet No. 5 (1984)
Chaya Czernowin — Ayre: Towed through plumes, thicket, asphalt, sawdust and hazardous air I shall not forget the sound of (2015)
Intermission, 15 minutes
Julius Eastman — Joy Boy (1974)
Jarkko Hartikainen — MaTer(re)ia (2025), World premiere
Program note
Jarkko Hartikainen — MaTer(re)ia (2025)
After composing EMBODIED: Violin Solo—a key work written for my brave favorite musician Eriikka Maalismaa and based on the so-called “wolf tone”—my compositional work has increasingly sought to let the natural materials used in instruments shape the music more holistically, according to their own will. At its core, this is a non-verbal reexamination of our relationship with nature, explored through one of the major arenas for our emotions (because in the end emotions guide all our actions).
I am inspired by ritualistically and meditatively listening to what music-making becomes if it consciously and truly democratizes itself into the tangible materiality of the performance event. In the classical tradition, we are thoroughly trained to smooth out the friction connected to material reality and our environment—so that our purely human-centered fantasies may shine uninterrupted. The broader consequences of this attitude are evident in daily climate news, which offer far less inspiration. Since all of our lives are responsible and dependent for making a corrective shift, I believe that this must also permeate the work of the composer.
MaTer(re)ia (2025), developed with the weekly support of the NYKY Ensemble, begins from sonic phenomena rooted in material reality—those that elude our full control. In the past six weeks of workshop collaboration, we have searched for sounds that behave not 100% predictably, but 50%, in one way or another. These are sounds where the non-human reality can influence the music as an equal partner. The behavior of the instruments in this 50/50 state determines how the music forms in time—somewhat like navigating a maze-like board game—resulting in a performance that is thrillingly different each time, with the agency of the players, composer, and natural materials in balance.
The piece begins at a moment where the tonality underlying the machines we build from wood and metal is just barely forming. From there, we move through the limits of sustaining this life by exploring the instrument-specific differences, eventually marveling at the poetry between human and matter in the various dialogues before ending by going back to square one with newly sensitized consciousness.
The words matter and material—referring to physical reality—come from the Latin word mater, whose meanings unite the key elements in the birth and maintenance of human culture: timber (wood) and motherhood. Spoken aloud, it even evokes the French phrase ma terre (“my Earth”). The piece is dedicated to the memory of violinist and activist Eriikka Maalismaa (1980–2024).
© 2025 Jarkko Hartikainen
Performers
Mikael Loponen, Conductor
Tuule-Helin Krigul, Flute
Ioana Tomescu, Clarinet
Vicent Orón Bolós, Alto saxophone
Børge Rekstad, Horn
Clara Berná, Harp
Arttu Aaltonen, Percussion
Máté Dömötör, Piano
Skyla Murray, Violin
Fanni Piri, Violin
Siiri Kaijansinkko, Viola
Max Savikangas, Viola
Liu Pöntinen, Violoncello
Terhi Paldenius, Music coaching
Jarkko Hartikainen, Composing and musical directing
Mikko Ingman, audio and lighting engineering
Libero Mureddu, Intendent of the NYKY Ensemble
Jaakko Kilpeläinen, Producer of the NYKY Ensemble
NYKY Ensemble
NYKY Ensemble is a contemporary music group of Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, which serves as a forum for contemporary music projects and provides perspectives on the trends and techniques of our time, such as expanded playing techniques, live electronics, microtonality, minimalism or cross-disciplinary artistic cooperation. The composition of the ensemble depends on the pieces to be presented at any given time, and the visiting supervisor in each concert period is a musician or ensemble specialising in contemporary music.