Zygmund de Somogyi captivates audiences with music that blends wit, emotional depth, and sonic creativity. My first encounter with their work was via Pixelhead for violin and harpsichord (2022). This intentionally unsettling piece defies conventional Baroque expectations for the devices, showcasing De Somogyi’s distinctive fashion, which is rooted in punk and various music. Moreover, Zyggy is the founding father of the net modern music journal Prxludes, offering a platform for rising musicians and composers.

On April 19, their newest compositions, quarter-life disaster (synth étude) and IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY, premiered at London’s Wigmore Corridor throughout a live performance dubbed Music for the Quarter-Life Disaster. Carried out by the proficient ensemble Temporal Harmonies Inc (that includes Lydia Walquist on flute, Mikołaj Piszczorowicz on cello, and Xiaowen Shang on piano), this system additionally included works by Caroline Shaw, Lowell Liebermann, Ashkan Layegh, and the late, nice Kaija Saariaho. The live performance highlighted the varied compositional voice of De Somogyi, shifting from the humorously surprising mix of virtuoso piano and a singer-songwriter vibe in synth étude, to a four-movement piece that allowed the instrumentalists to embrace each problem offered by the composer.

Presently, Zyggy is concerned within the esteemed Royal Philharmonic Society composers’ programme and serves as a fellow on the Guildhall College of Music and Drama. Not too long ago, they’ve developed a ardour for opera and narrative-driven music, emphasizing collaboration of their inventive work. Whereas introducing the Wigmore Corridor program, they mirrored on the struggles younger folks face in immediately’s difficult local weather but in addition emphasised the potential for hope via resistance, solidarity, and neighborhood.

Congratulations in your Wigmore Corridor debut! What informs your programming selections for a live performance of this sort?

Thanks! That is my first time co-curating a live performance that options my very own compositions, and I am extremely grateful to the Royal Philharmonic Society and Wigmore Corridor Studying for this chance.

After I introduced in my shut collaborators from Temporal Harmonies Inc. for this program, our discussions centered round making a live performance that resonated with our experiences as younger folks within the 12 months 2025. We humorously referred to this period because the Twenty-First Century’s “quarter-life disaster.” We tapped into emotions of exhaustion, nervousness, and frustration relating to the unsure future, pairing two of my new works with stylistically numerous items that echoed these sentiments.

By way of curating this live performance, I spotted that my programming fashion mirrors my method to composition. I really like fostering a stylistic eclecticism, the place style boundaries are blurred or fully dismantled. New music, as Sam Rudd-Jones places it, is a “large tent.” Whereas everybody has their preferences, I imagine limiting ourselves stylistically in programming is pointless. We take heed to quite a lot of music, together with genres past classical, and I feel a little bit of eclecticism can enrich the expertise.

You could have benefitted from alternatives such because the RPS Composers programme: how does any such scheme contribute to the event of rising composers?

Taking part within the RPS Composers Programme this 12 months has been very important for my development as a composer. After the momentum of schooling, many composers, together with myself, can really feel a lull when transitioning into the skilled world. Notably within the UK, packages just like the RPS Composers Programme are essential for nurturing rising composers, providing important skilled improvement that educational environments usually lack.

Alongside a fee—my items for Wigmore Corridor Studying, music for the quarter-life disaster (synth étude) and IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY—the RPS supplies a 12 months of mentorship {and professional} steering. We have interaction with established composers, commissioning our bodies, venues, and publishers, which is invaluable in navigating the aggressive panorama of the music business.

I’m grateful to be on this journey with some good composers within the UK—lots of whom are additionally buddies. Not too long ago, I traveled to observe the premiere of ‘an sgaireag: she screams’ by fellow RPS composer Lisa Robertson. The efficiency by The Hermes Experiment was gorgeous. Notably, many RPS composers attended our live performance at Wigmore Corridor, making a supportive neighborhood.

I cherished IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY – it had a robust emotional influence and was beautifully written for the flute, cello, and piano ensemble. Inform us about what motivated the piece and the way you labored with Temporal Harmonies Inc.

The first inspiration for IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY got here from a YouTube video by themaininyourcomputer, which I stumbled upon late one September night time. This video supplied a glimpse into one other particular person’s life, piercing via the anonymity of the web and the cynicism of a social media tradition craving which means. As one commenter expressed, “it’s such a present to be alive on this time of small glimpses into others’ experiences.”

For me, IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY turned deeply private for related causes. Its 4 actions replicate slices of my emotional panorama as I approached 2025, drawing titles from indie online game Concern and Starvation 2: Termina (‘Moonscorched’), a humorous inside joke with old skool buddies (‘Madeleine, Mortlake’), a music by Movement Metropolis Soundtrack (‘Collectively We’ll Ring Within the New 12 months’), and concluding with the aforementioned YouTube video for the final motion (‘IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY’).

At its core, IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY explores empathy: the power to attach with each other amidst divisions. I couldn’t have composed this piece with out the unimaginable dedication of Temporal Harmonies, Inc. Their love, belief, and collaboration had been important, particularly as they utilized their voices within the piece’s closing motion. Maybe I’m idealistic, however I imagine empathy can actually change the world if given the prospect.

Plenty of your work has a strongly theatrical dimension, together with your instrumental items. How is storytelling necessary to you?

Theatricality and storytelling are central to my compositional course of. I spent two years as a theatre-maker with the Mushmoss Collective, and since I began composing in 2019, I’ve more and more gravitated towards opera and music theatre; my second opera, URSA MINOR, with librettist Alexia Peniguel, premiered in London final June.

For me, music’s transformative energy to create worlds, inform tales, and broaden views brings immense pleasure. All through my life, I’ve used music to specific emotions that phrases cannot seize. My method to composition is emotionally pushed, contrasting with some colleagues who focus predominantly on formal strategies. Rising up, I didn’t join deeply with classical music; my teenage years had been largely spent taking part in in punk bands.

Not too long ago, I’ve turn out to be inquisitive about crafting emotional moments by manipulating narrative buildings and expectations. A major affect on my work is Tom Drayton, a theatre researcher who launched me to Poltergeist Theatre’s Lights Over Tesco Automobile Park: a singular participatory play about aliens that’s each absurd and genuinely heartfelt. This idea of self-aware but honest artwork resonates with me, and it’s a course I’m starting to discover in my instrumental items, together with IN THE EVENT THAT YOU STAY.

What do you suppose the brand new music world might do to make itself extra accessible to neurodiverse musicians and composers?

I acknowledge that I communicate from a place of privilege, as I’m lucky sufficient to not dwell in a scenario the place my very existence is threatened. Nevertheless, I imagine there are necessary factors to contemplate.

At first, after we categorical entry wants, please hear. Though it is commendable that music organizations have begun accommodating us, assuming our wants with out consulting us can usually be counterproductive and even condescending.

It’s essential for these organizations to create an setting the place we really feel assured in articulating our wants with out concern of judgment. I’ve usually hesitated to voice my very own necessities attributable to issues of being perceived as “tough.” But, as my pal Rylan Gleave correctly acknowledged, it is extra constructive to easily attain out and ask, even when the outcomes aren’t good. Inclusivity entails equipping us with the assets and assist to thrive, similar to anybody else.

These are turbulent instances for people who share my experiences and traits—comparable to being autistic, queer, or an individual of coloration. I sincerely respect organizations like Paraorchestra, Drake Music, and in my case, each the RPS and Wigmore Corridor Studying, for fostering an inclusive inventive neighborhood. It’s crucial that their dedication to our well-being and authenticity strengthens throughout these difficult instances.

I CARE IF YOU LISTEN is an editorially-independent program of the American Composers Discussion board, made doable due to beneficiant donor and institutional assist. The views expressed herein are solely these of the creator and will not signify the opinions of ICIYL or ACF.

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