The ULYSSES Network supports young composers with co-commissions. In 2022, the Russian composer Elena Rykova is co-commissioned by IEMA (DE) and MIXTUR (ES).

                   © Miri Davidovitz

Ensemble Schallfeld premieres Rykova’s In the Presence of Absence at Klang Festival, in June 2022.  The work was performed again end of June in Paris (FR)  at ManiFeste 2022 by the IEMA Ensemble, and in October in Barcelona (ES) at the Mixtur Festival by the Schallfeld Ensemble. The work was also presented in February 2023, with Schallfeld Ensemble in Frankfurt (DE) during the Cresc…Festival, and again in July 2023 at open music.

Composer and artist Elena Rykova, explores a wide variety of genres in music and visual art, ranging from interdisciplinary and performance art to chamber and electroacoustic music. She brings together instruments and found objects, extending one through another and creating performative musical situations, often with a strong visual aspect. Her scores are characterized by innovative use of nontraditional notation, having been exhibited in art museums in her native Russia and abroad. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Music Composition at Harvard University.