COMPOSING WHILE BLACK

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White and Dead – That’s What Many Think of When Talking About Composers, that’s just one of the many clichés that need to be broken when discussing contemporary music in 2025. Enter Harald Kisiedu. The musicologist is known for his groundbreaking work on underexplored topics. As co-editor of the book Composing While Black (Wolke Verlag, 2023), he brings unique new perspectives on contemporary Afrodiasporic composers active from 1960 to today. This interdisciplinary collection of essays explores sound and conceptual art, digital intermedia, orchestral, chamber, instrumental, and electroacoustic music, as well as opera. It presents Afrodiasporic contemporary music as an intercultural, intergenerational space of innovation, stories, and identities. Let’s talk about it and listen to the music together. “Composing While Black helps us recognize a major gap: Why does contemporary music appear so white? This book offers a comprehensive look at distinguished Black composers, some of whom are based in Europe.” — Carola Bauckholt, Composer, Director of the Music Section at the Academy of Arts Berlin Positionen Contemporary is presented in collaboration with Positionen – Texte zur aktuellen Musik, the largest independent magazine in the German-speaking world, bridging academic discourse and cultural journalism. Moderation: Sebastian Reier (@mk__musik) Sidekick: Patrick Becker (Positionen)