Harald Muenz

Why did you decide to take part in this project? What is your interest within the engagement with the „reading format“?

A reading doesn’t necessarily need to limit itself to a presentation of word semantics, but can become anything from an acoustic to a half-staged presentation. Through that on the one hand, the acoustic nature of the text can be experienced more clearly than it would be through the inner prosody of a silent reading. On the other hand the sound, rhythm, accentuation, intonation can support the word semantic of the text, as well as comment and counteract on it. The musical perspective must be tuned in to the template individually each time; to be able to access that, there is no passe-partout.

Born 1965 in Schwäbisch Hall / Germany, Harald Muenz studied under Helmut Lachenmann (1994-97), Krzysztof Meyer (1988-93), and Clarence Barlow, as well as in the Electronic Studio of Hochschule für Musik Cologne, and Cologne University’s Phonetic Institute (Georg Heike).

Harald’s music has been performed by important musicians throughout Europe, in South Korea and the US, among many others by KNM Berlin, hand werk (Cologne), Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), ensemble mosaik (Berlin), Apartment House (London), Alter Ego (Rome), Neue Vocalsolisten (Stuttgart), Black Jackets (Brussels), the Fromm Players (Harvard University), and the Berlin Philharmonic. His works have been heard at many festivals (among others at Ultraschall Berlin, Acht Brücken Köln and at Donaueschinger Musiktage) and have been broadcast nationally and internationally. He has received many bursaries and prizes, including the Research Grant NRW, Förderpreis Musik NRW, Bernd-AloisZimmermann-Stipendium Köln, and Villa Aurora Los Angeles. CDs with his music were published at Cybele records and WERGO. The music magazine MusikTexte (vol. 103) focused on his work.

He is a member of sprechbohrer, a unique vocal trio performing speech sound art in various formats (2 CDs with works by Schwitters and Helms @ Wergo). Harald is also active as lecturer and author, and edited a book about Italian composer Franco Evangelisti. He was module leader for Aesthetic Phonetics at Cologne University from 2001–2005. 2005–2016 he was active as a full-time permanent Lecturer in Music (Composition) at Brunel University London, 2006–2011 he was also the Artistic Director of the Electronic Studio at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck. Harald is a finalist of the Music Biennale Zagreb’s most recent composition competition and will have his piano concerto ciascuno avrà i suoi cinque minuti premiered at their 29th edition in April 2017.

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