Volodymyr Runchak

Volodymyr Runchak and Richard Johansson, Photo: Anders Flodin

The Ukrainian composer, conductor and Artistic Director of the contemporary series New Music in Ukraine, Volodymyr Runchak (born 1960), visited Örebro on the 9th of April. In a quickly arranged meeting I had the possibility to ask him a few questions. How come You visit Sweden? To participate in the Scandinavian Saxophone Festival, to which I was invited as a Composer in Residence. Yesterday [8th of April] a portrait of my music was held at Ingesund College of Music who hosts the festival this year. During the festival I have had the possibility to listen to many exciting new works from Scandinavia and I am impressed by the high technical and musical level of the artists. How do you think it is to work with Scandinavian musicians? I have collaborated with many Swedish and Scandinavian musicians, among others Ivo Nilsson and Stockholm Saxophone Quartet. The common impression has been that they are so incredibly skilful instrumentalists and possess a high artistic level. I have also had the possibility to make aquaintance with many other representatives in the Swedish music life such as musicologist Christer Bouij and composers Anders Flodin and Miklós Maros, both of which I also invited to festivals in Kiev and Odessa for premier performances of their music. Last year we managed to invite four Scandinavian composers, from Finland Jukka Tiensuu and Tapio Toumela and from Sweden Victoria Borisova-Ollas and Jenny Hettne. As an experienced composer and conductor with contemporary compositions, how do you regard that the artmusic changed in Europe the last decades? Earlier there was a quite obvious academic way to go. Basically it was anvantgarde or dodecaphony or nothing at all. Now I think I can see that there are many different ways to go and many parallel stylistic directions. The different styles seem to have their own audience and I can’t see a problem in such a development. At last, what do you think is important for a vital music stage in the future? I can’t make a prognosis. But earlier, during the Soviet era, we didn’t have the possibility to listen to or play West-European music in Ukraine. You here in Western countries, couldn’t listen to the music composed in the East. Therefore, I regard it important that we take care of the possibilities we have today. Now we can create long-term contacts and build collaborations that can wipe out the former polarization in East and West. Richard Johansson Örebro 2010-04-12