The Swiss composer Dieter Ammann’s works will be published by Bärenreiter-Verlag from now onwards. Born in Aarau in 1962, Ammann first made his name as a performer (trumpet, keyboards and bass) in improvised music and jazz. After studying composition and theory at the Musikakademie Basel and attending master classes with Wolfgang Rihm and Witold Lutoslawski, he turned increasingly to composing orchestral and chamber music in the 1990s. His work also includes teaching at the Hochschulen in Lucerne and Berne. As well as winning several national and international prizes, Dieter Ammann was recently awarded the prize for the most promising composer by the Siemens Arts Program.

Superflumina is the title of Salvatore Sciarrino’s latest music theatre work, which receives its premiere on 20 May in the Mannheim Nationaltheater. It is set in the concourse of a large railway station: here, unnoticed by the anonymous masses passing by, the tragedy of a homeless woman unfolds. Andrea Schwalbach directs the production, and experienced Sciarrino interpreter Tito Ceccherini conducts the new score. Further performance dates: 28 May, 1 and 6 June and 1 July.

To coincide with Jonathan Harvey’s 70^th birthday, one of his major works is being performed: the church opera Passion and Resurrection is a musical form of venerating God, in the tradition of its medieval precursors, and also includes the audience or congregation.

Charlotte Seither who has has been awarded a scholarschip by the Villa Massimo for 2009 and is currently spending a year on a scholarship in Rome, presented her latest work for large orchestra in London and Krefeld. The first part of Essay on Shadow and Truth has been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London, under the direction of André de Ridder. The complete orchestral work was premiered in Krefeld.

Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini's new work Kassiopeia for ensemble has been premiered in Basel. The title Kassiopeia refers to the constellation of the same name: the five stars which form a distinctive "W" in the night sky are a symbol for Scartazzini's five-movement composition. The Collegium Novum Zürich gives the first performance of Kassiopeia on 22 January 2009 in the Gare du Nord Basel, and the following day in the Tonhalle Zurich.

The 47th Festival di Nuova Consonanza in Rome presents Beat Furrer as both composer and teacher: at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia he directs a composers’ workshop with concerts. The Ensemble Algoritmo will perform several works in a portrait concert on 17 December, including aria for soprano and ensemble, lotófagos for soprano and double bass and spur for piano and string quartet. The London Sinfonietta presents In Portrait: Beat Furrer on 18 January. This concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall conducted by the composer will include the British premiere of Xenos for ensemble, as well as Presto.

In the flame of the dream is the poetic-pictorial title of Vadim Karassikow’s new ensemble work, written for the Klangforum Wien. It consists of pieces for one instrument which can be performed individually, or can be combined into duos, trios, quartets or tutti in every possible combination, and performed together simultaneously. The first performance took place on 5 December 2009 in the Konzerthaus, Vienna.