After 4 grants awarded in the fields of Visual Arts to Vera Kox, Eric Schumacher, Yann Annicchiarico and Anne-Mareike Hess for performing arts, the selection committees of Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg met in October to study the applications received for the Porfolio Grant. From the 5 applications received, the committees selected the projects of Elisabeth Schilling and Albena Petrovic.

Elisabeth Schilling, Choreographer
In 2020 the choreographer Elisabeth Schilling created the show “HEAR EYES MOVE. Dances with Ligeti“, a dialogue between dance and music. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Ligeti’s death in 2023, the show will be performed internationally again. The choreographer wanted to accompany this tour with a publication that analyses her creative work from a scientific perspective.
The book will be published in spring 2023.

Statement by the selection committee
This publication will provide an in-depth look at Elisabeth Schilling’s overall artistic approach, detailing the relationship she develops between music and dance through the expert analysis of Univ. Prof.in Dr.in habil. Stephanie Schroedter. The publication will look at the creative process of Hear Eyes Move as well as at the future of Elisabeth Schilling’s work on the perception of sound and movement.

Biography of the artist
Elisabeth Schilling creates dances beyond dance. Together with an international team and through various collaborations, she creates transdisciplinary projects between movement, design, visual arts and music, making disciplines dance with each other. In this way, contemporary dance is performed in established dance spaces as well as in unusual locations. Productions tour in European metropolises as well as in more rural areas, in underground theatres, museums, galleries, concert halls, historical buildings and public spaces. In this way, dance is made accessible to a new audience, almost as a matter of course. At the same time, an important part of her work consists of various creative learning formats. For each production she develops a programme for different audiences, ranging from specially designed discussions with the audience after the performances to accompanying workshops, symposia and catalogues.

Albena Petrovic, Composer
MY OPERA WORLD / BEYOND THE NOTES (working title) is a retrospective of the work of the composer Albena Petrovic, providing a detailed look at her creative process and the richness of her repertoire for opera.
The book will be published in autumn 2023.

Statement from the selection committee
The comprehensive dossier presented by Albena Petrovic shows great relevance to the development of her artistic career. The Selection Committee believes that this book will enable her to continue to develop her career and will be a valuable tool for highlighting her operatic works.

Biography
Bulgarian-born Albena Petrovic has a place among Luxembourg’s composers with more than six hundred works in different musical genres in her repertoire. Deciding to start playing the piano at the age of ten (too late for the Eastern European educational system), Albena was already composing at the age of eleven… (too early for the same system…). A brilliant student, she never had any obstacles and mastered the skills in all areas of music. Following the example of her grandfather, the composer Andrey Vratchansky, she decided to become a professional composer. Albena created her first public work in 1979 at the age of 14, for the International Children’s Assembly. This event was followed by numerous concerts, which were a real laboratory for creative research and a source of motivation. After completing her general and musical studies at the National School of Music “P.Pipkov”, Albena continued her studies in composition, conducting and music writing at the National Academy of Music “Pancho Vladigerev” in Sofia. She is a student of composition teachers Plamen Djouroff and Alexander Raychev. Albena holds the position of musicologist and Music Manager for the International Festival “Apollonia”, and at the National Music Agency in Sofia. Like many musicians of the Berlin Wall generation, she was forced to move abroad to pursue her profession as a pianist. Since 1996, Albena has lived and worked in Luxembourg. There she perfected her skills in contemporary composition, analysis and computer music with Mr. Claude Lenners, adopting and developing a style strongly influenced by his “Cult of Research”.

The next call will be launched in 2023.