Klangspuren Schwaz

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One would have scarcely recognized Friedrich Cerha among the group of mushroom hunters. In a suit and moccasins, the renowned Austrian composer stomps unperturbed through the undergrowth and talks about his passion for mushrooming and music. After sufficient mushrooms have been found for lunch, the group heads for Hotel Grafenast to hear the zither virtuoso Martin Malaun. The mushroom outing is only one of the unusual events of the Klangspuren Festival of Contemporary Music, in Schwaz, Tirol.
Another honoured tradition is the “pilgrimage” to Innsbruck Cathedral, while contemporary sounds ring from village and parish churches. Traditionally, the festival is a movable feast itself. And no less flexible is the festival’s programming, which includes new, independent, and experimental works from the broad field of contemporary music. The fact that the Klangspuren festival has become an indispensible fixture on the international contemporary-music scene can be attributed in large part to the ten-day International Ensemble Modern Academy, which is always held in Schwaz.

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