HCMF - Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

HCMF - Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from HCMF - Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Festival, Room RS1/10, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield.

The UK’s largest international festival of new and experimental music, taking place over 10 days each November and featuring 50+ events including performances, exhibitions, talks and workshops, plus a year-round Learning & Participation programme. hcmf// is an annual, international festival of contemporary and new music, taking place over 10 days and consisting of approximately 50 events – including concerts, music-theatre, dance, multi-media, talks and film – with a related Learning & Participation programme devised and implemented to reflect the artistic programme and respond to regional need. hcmf// aims to provide life-changing and unique artistic experiences to as wide an audience as possible; to be an international platform for new music and related contemporary art forms in Britain; to enthuse existing audiences and draw in new ones through adventurous programming and informed, stylish presentation, and to be an active cultural partner within the region.

Artist Profile: Michael Finnissy‘All Finnissy’s music is in a sense autobiographical.’As Michael Finnissy celebrates his...
14/09/2026

Artist Profile: Michael Finnissy

‘All Finnissy’s music is in a sense autobiographical.’

As Michael Finnissy celebrates his 80th birthday, Tim Rutherford-Johnson explores the life, work and Political Agendas of one of Britain’s most distinctive composers.

From his first compositions at the age of four to his Ninth and Tenth Political Agendas, Finnissy’s music brings together the personal and political, drawing on folk traditions, musical history, identity, place and the world around him.

Read the full artist profile to discover more about Michael Finnissy, his remarkable body of work and the ideas behind his music here: hcmf.co.uk/timeless-agendas-michael-finnissy/

🎟️ See Rob Hao perform 3 works by Finnissy at hcmf// 2026 — tickets via the link in our bio.

Profile by Tim Rutherford-Johnson
Photo © Philip Adams

Only a handful of Weekend 1 Savers remain for hcmf// 2026! 👀If you’re planning to join us for the opening weekend, now’s...
13/09/2026

Only a handful of Weekend 1 Savers remain for hcmf// 2026! 👀

If you’re planning to join us for the opening weekend, now’s the time to grab yours before they’re gone.

There are also just two Full Festival Savers left — so don’t miss your chance to save on your hcmf// 2026 experience.

🎟️ Weekend 1 Saver Ticket link: hcmf.co.uk/programme/hcmf-2026-weekend-1-saver/

🎟️ Full Saver Ticket link: hcmf.co.uk/programme/hcmf-2026-full-festival-saver/

Photo © Graham Hardy

Open Call: X perimental N counters hcmf// & moers festival are offering 4 UK-based musicians the chance to join a 3-day ...
11/09/2026

Open Call: X perimental N counters

hcmf// & moers festival are offering 4 UK-based musicians the chance to join a 3-day workshop residency with Simon Rummel, culminating in a performance at hcmf// 2026!

Workshop: 19 – 21 November 2026
Performance: 21 November 2026
Fee: £1,400 (travel & accommodation covered)

Led by musician and visual artist Simon Rummel, this residency invites adventurous, genre-crossing musicians to come together and create something new. Over three days, participants will co-create a new suite or series of pieces that showcase their individual voices while fusing into a collective sound.

This is your chance to collaborate with like-minded artists, create a unique ensemble sound, and push boundaries in experimental music.

To apply:
Send your bio, a personal statement (300 words), up to 3 work examples, and completed monitoring form to Nathan Bragg-Beck [email protected] by 5pm, on 1 October 2026.

More details: hcmf.co.uk/open-call-x-perimental-n-counters-2026/

Image credit: Richard Mullany

Artist Spotlight: DEAR, DEAR .dear.duo Making their UK debut, Lithuanian duo DEAR, DEAR bring an intimate performance fo...
10/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: DEAR, DEAR .dear.duo

Making their UK debut, Lithuanian duo DEAR, DEAR bring an intimate performance for piano and analogue synthesisers exploring friendship, influence and artistic connection through sound.

Formed by composer and synthesist Agnė Matulevičiūtė 𝄐 and pianist Marta Finkelštein Marta Finkelštein, the duo’s acclaimed project ‘DEAR, DEAR’ takes the form of a musical love letter — paying tribute to the artists and music that have shaped them, from John Cage and Meredith Monk Meredith Monk to Ryuichi Sakamoto Ryuichi Sakamoto, Suzanne Ciani Suzanne Ciani and Nicolas Jaar Nicolás Jaar

Beloved works become starting points for a conversation between two artists, two instruments and the sounds that have influenced them. At the same time, the performance becomes something more personal: a love letter from Matulevičiūtė and Finkelštein to each other, and to the shared experience of creating together.

📅 Saturday 28 November, 10pm
📍 Bates Mill Blending Shed
🎟️ Standard £20 // Solidarity £26 // Kirklees Resident £18 // Under 30 £6

Link in bio

Photos: Agnė Matulevičiūtė and Marta Finkelštein © Donata Šiaudvytytė

Artist Spotlight: DEAR, DEARMaking their UK debut, Lithuanian duo DEAR, DEAR bring an intimate performance for piano and...
10/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: DEAR, DEAR

Making their UK debut, Lithuanian duo DEAR, DEAR bring an intimate performance for piano and analogue synthesisers exploring friendship, influence and artistic connection through sound.

Formed by composer and synthesist Agnė Matulevičiūtė and pianist Marta Finkelštein, the duo’s acclaimed project ‘DEAR, DEAR’ takes the form of a musical love letter — paying tribute to the artists and music that have shaped them, from John Cage and Meredith Monk to Ryuichi Sakamoto, Suzanne Ciani and Nicolas Jaar.

Beloved works become starting points for a conversation between two artists, two instruments and the sounds that have influenced them. At the same time, the performance becomes something more personal: a love letter from Matulevičiūtė and Finkelštein to each other, and to the shared experience of creating together.

📅 Saturday 28 November, 10pm
📍 Bates Mill Blending Shed
🎟️ Standard £20 // Solidarity £26 // Kirklees Resident £18 // Under 30 £6

Get your tickets here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/dear-dear/

Photos: Agnė Matulevičiūtė and Marta Finkelštein © Donata Šiaudvytytė

Artist Spotlight: Marie Schreer Violinist and curator Marie Schreer returns to hcmf// with a solo programme exploring i...
09/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: Marie Schreer

Violinist and curator Marie Schreer returns to hcmf// with a solo programme exploring identity, voice and the relationship between performer and instrument.

At its centre is Composer in Residence Lauri Supponen’s ‘Picea’, receiving its UK Premiere. For violin, electronics and projection, the work traces connections between spruce trees, instrument making and performance, imagining the violin’s journey from tree to instrument through references to early Venetian Baroque violin music.

Schreer also premieres two new works from her ongoing ‘until between’ project. Jocelyn Campbell transforms recordings of Schreer’s own instrument into an expanded sonic portrait, while yuniya edi kwon explores voice, embodiment and selfhood through the expressive possibilities of the solo performer.

Across three works, the violin becomes more than an instrument — becoming a voice, a body and a connection to the material world around us.

📅 Saturday 28 November, 12pm
📍 Huddersfield Town Hall
🎟️ Standard £18 // Solidarity £23.40 // Kirklees Resident £16 // Under 30 £6

Get your tickets here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/marie-schreer-picea/

Photo Credit:
Marie Schreer © Sam Walton
Lauri Supponen © Tuomas Tenkanen
Jocelyn Campbell
yuniya edi kwon

Artist Spotlight: Kari Watson + Rosie Middleton How do we come to understand and negotiate intimacy, vulnerability, an...
08/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: Kari Watson + Rosie Middleton

How do we come to understand and negotiate intimacy, vulnerability, and inter/personal distance?

Kari Watson’s ‘A Grammar of Distance’ explores these questions through voice, performance and electronic sound, moving between fragments of interior and exterior worlds as it explores the idea of relationality. Created in close collaboration with mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton, the work is driven by shared experiences related to identity, embodiment and the politics of performance on marginalised bodies.

Through electronic intervention, Watson and Middleton explore how the body can be recontextualised — and how this can shift ideas of power and agency within performance.

Presented in the industrial surroundings of Bates Mill Blending Shed, this World Premiere brings together two highly collaborative artists in a work that sits at the intersection of contemporary music, performance and electronic sound.

📅 Saturday 21 November, 3pm
📍 Bates Mill Blending Shed
🎟️ Standard £20 // Solidarity £26 // Kirklees Resident £18 // Under 30 £6

Buy your tickets here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/a-grammar-of-distance/

Photo Credit:
A Grammer of Distance (still)
Kari Watson © Ashleigh Dye
Rosie Middleton
A Grammer of Distance (still)

Artist Spotlight: Riot Ensemble Riot Ensemble returns to hcmf// with two UK premieres that move between virtuosic conte...
04/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: Riot Ensemble

Riot Ensemble returns to hcmf// with two UK premieres that move between virtuosic contemporary music, theatrical storytelling and surreal comedy.

The programme opens with a new work by Finnish composer , exploring musical energy through fragile, densely packed textures, eruptive sound masses, pressure, accumulation and release.

Then comes the UK premiere of Jonah Haven’s ‘naomi’, a 40-minute music-theatre work for 11 musicians, tape and soprano Juliet Fraser. Set in a world where apocalypses are marketed and sold by a multinational corporation, it follows a top salesperson whose encounter with a talking fox sparks an unexpected search for identity and meaning.

With satire and sincerity side by side, ‘naomi’ takes aim at consumer culture while asking what remains when everything — even the end of the world — is for sale.

Expect a performance that is humorous, unsettling and moving, from an ensemble renowned for championing ambitious new work and emerging voices.

📅 Friday 27 November, 7:30pm
📍 St Paul’s Hall
🎟️ Standard £35 // Solidarity £45.50 // Kirklees £33 // Under 30 £10

Buy your tickets here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/riot-ensemble-3/

Photo Credit:
Riot Ensemble © Matthew Johnson
Maija Hynninen © Maarit Kytöharju
Jonah Haven © Daniele Molajoli

Artist Spotlight: + Schola Heidelberghcmf// 2026 opens with two UK premieres as Ensemble Proton Bern and Schola Heidel...
03/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: + Schola Heidelberg

hcmf// 2026 opens with two UK premieres as Ensemble Proton Bern and Schola Heidelberg join forces for new works by Pinnock and James Dillon.

'In broken place, opening', Pinnock explores erosion as a musical force, translating the gradual processes of abrasion, corrosion and weathering into sound.

Dillon’s 'Lamentations :' centres on a crucifixion scene, combining vocal, instrumental and electronic forces. Drawing on chants that speak of grief, protest and solidarity, the work transforms ancient resonances into a powerful contemporary statement.

Two internationally acclaimed ensembles. Two contrasting works exploring time and human experience. A striking way to begin ten days of hcmf//.

📅 Friday 20 November, 6pm
📍 St Paul’s Hall
🎟️ Standard £35 // Solidarity £45.50 // Kirklees Resident £33 // Under 30 £10

Buy your tickets here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/ensemble-proton-schola-heidelberg-james-dillon-naomi-pinnock/

Photo Credit:
Ensemble Proton Berg © Mahdi Hosseingholi
Schola Heidelberg © Christine Funk
James Dillon
Naomi Pinnock © Rui Camilo

Artist Spotlight: Arturas Bumšteinas, Lora Kmieliauskaite + Julija Bagdonavičiūtė What happens when a forgotten weather ...
02/09/2026

Artist Spotlight: Arturas Bumšteinas, Lora Kmieliauskaite + Julija Bagdonavičiūtė

What happens when a forgotten weather diary becomes the score for a new musical work?

In the UK premiere of ‘Rainfair’, Lithuanian composer Arturas Bumšteinas transforms the daily observations of an 1868 weather diary into a remarkable exploration of repetition, chance and musical harmony.

Kept by Boston land surveyor and wood mill operator Peter M. Horn, the diary was discovered more than a century later in a Berlin flea market. Bumšteinas waited until 2026, when the calendar once again aligned with the original dates and weekdays, to transform its observations into sound.

Performers Lora Kmieliauskaitė and Julija Bagdonavičiūtė appear without their instruments, listening to recordings of themselves playing through loudspeakers while vocalising selected texts from the diary. Their music, recitations and songs are organised using random numbers generated from meteorological data.

With field recordings from music-school corridors woven into the work, 'Rainfair' explores ideas of repetition, interpretation and the relationship between musical notation and performance.

📅 Sunday 22 November, 1pm
📍 Huddersfield Town Hall
🎟️ Standard £20 // Solidarity £26 // Kirklees Resident £18 // Under 30 £6

Buy your tickets here: hcmf.co.uk/programme/rainfair/

Photo Credit:
Arturas Bumšteinas © Laura Vanceviciene
Julija Bagdonavičiūtė © Jonas Šopa
Lora Kmieliauskaitė © Artūras Morozovas
Rainfair

Address

Room RS1/10, University Of Huddersfield
Huddersfield
HD13DH

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+441484430528

Website

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