Up to Three - Elements

With the 10th edition of the Up to Three summer festival, ensemble mosaik turns its focus at Acker Stadt Palast to the concept of alloys—combinations of elements with artistic, sonic, and social connections. Since 2017, the festival has been dedicated to formations of up to three musicians; this year it explores the periodic table as an aesthetic and structural framework. At its core is the question of how musical, technical, and social elements can merge to generate new forms of sound and meaning.

Across two festival days, seven new works and existing pieces will be presented, complemented by a collective improvisation by the ensemble. The invited composers—Elena Mendoza, Parham Behzad, Ilona Perger, Alessandro Massobrio, Gebhard Ullmann, Macarena Rosmanich, and Marisol Jimenez—develop works inspired by the idea of alloying: combining up to three elements to create new musical materials. In doing so, the musicians and composers themselves also enter into new “alliances.”

The festival is conceived as a laboratory format. Through close collaboration between composers and performers, studies, experiments, and discussions emerge that can feed into future projects. In addition to the live concerts on site, the program will be broadcast internationally via web radio and hosted live by the vocal artist Nina Guo.

Up to Three brings together artistic research, a workshop atmosphere, and public presentation—offering a concentrated example of ensemble mosaik’s interdisciplinary and collaborative working practice.

Guest performers: Nina Guo, Esther Ropon, Angela Postweiler

Commissions: Elena Mendoza Lopez, Parham Behzad, Ilona Perger, Alessandro Massobrio, Gebhard Ullmann, Macarena Rosmanich, Marisol Jimenez

19:00 Uhr

Parham Behzad: Si (2026)
für Saxophon und zwei Synthesizer

Juliana Hodkinson: jounce (2016)
für Cello, ca. 4'

Love Carbin: il (2023)
für Streichtrio

Marisol Jimenez: What touch can yield (Ga) (2026)
für Klavier, Cello und Synthesizer

20:30 Uhr

Ilona Perger: Sn + Pb (2026)
für Flöte und zwei Synthesizer

Elena Mendoza: Immer/Never (Am, Eu, In) (UA 2026)
für B-Flöte, B-Klarinette und Tenorsaxophon, ca. 9'

Mathias Spahlinger: 128 erfüllte augenblicke systematisch geordnet, variabel zu spielen (1976)
für Singstimme, Klarinette und Cello

Kanajan, Neffe, Strasser: Improvisation (2026)
für Oboe, Percussion und Violine