Double World Premiere Weekend for English composer Maddy Aldis

It was a very successful weekend for English composer Maddy Aldis, who is currently appointed as oboist at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, Germany.

No less than 2 world premieres of her works were given over the weekend: the first, a piece for children entitled The Witch's Cat Who Lost Her Spells, was premiered by members of the Anhaltische Philharmonie (orchestra) on Saturday the 20th of May as part of the African-German Initiative Dessau, an organisation dedicated to improving relations between African and German citizens of Dessau. The piece is a story with text and music by Ms Aldis that is performed by Wind Quintet and Narrator in which each of the instrumentalists also takes on a narrative role, telling the story of a black cat named Nadia and her first encounter with the not-so-fearsome dragon Hubertus. The performance was very well received by young and old. Ms. Aldis has said she has already begun a second installment of the tale.

The second world premiere of the weekend on a slightly more serious note was the horn quartet Reflected Fragments, written for, and performed by the Kurt Weill Horn Quartet on the 21st of May in the grounds of the historical Luisium stately home in Dessau. Despite adverse weather conditions and voracious mosquitos, the piece was also a great success, promising to be only the first of many.