Biennale Music  52nd International Festival of Contemporary Music 

Roots / Future 

77 composers and 34 concerts performed by 13 leading ensembles –instrumental and vocal– 3 orchestras, 8 soloists, meetings, seminars and workshops formed a rich program for the 52nd International Festival of Contemporary Music, that ran in Venice between 2nd and 18th October, 2008.

Roots / Future, the title chosen for the Festival by the director, Luca Francesconi, is the underlying theme of the “tale” that unfolded through the concerts. In each of them, the roots co-existed with the future: young composers or from the mid-generation, whether newcomers or established, appeared alongside some great masters who have left their mark on 20th-century music and beyond, in a series of references multiplying the meanings and offering new significance to the works presented.

To Francesconi, Roots / Future means “reflecting about that which has left a trace, starting with the young who have noted and been inspired by it and have nourished our possible future, linking up in this process also with the tradition of Venice and the Biennale”.