Myrtó Nizami wint de ISCM Young Composer Award

De International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) reikte op 31 mei de Young Composer Award 2026 uit aan de Griekse componiste Myrtó Nizami (°1994), wiens compositie voor cello solo Gone in no time (2022) te horen was op de ISCM World New Music Days in Boekarest. Voor ons de perfecte aanleiding om een kort gesprek met Myrtó aan te knopen.  

Myrtó Nizami vindt inspiratie in poëzie, literatuur, schilderkunst, filosofie en politiek. Tegelijk onderzoekt ze in haar muziek de kneedbaarheid van klank. Gone in no time voor cello solo ontleent niet alleen zijn titel aan de ritmische slotregel uit het toneelstuk That Time (1975) van Samuel Beckett, de muziek refereert ook op verschillende manieren aan de taal en kerngedachte uit Becketts werk. Zo doen de gefragmenteerde herhalingen en afgebroken muzikale gedachten denken aan de manier waarop herinneringen zich aan het hoofdpersonage opdringen. Net als de ongrijpbare, onbetrouwbare en veranderlijke flarden uit het geheugen lijken Nizami’s muzikale zinnen zich nooit helemaal te ontplooien. Het werk bestaat uit drie delen, waarvan elk deel een ander licht laat schijnen op het idee van veranderend (muzikaal) materiaal in het verloop van tijd.  

“not a sound only the old breath and the leaves turning and then suddenly this dust whole place suddenly full of dust when you opened your eyes from floor to ceiling nothing only dust and not a sound only what was it it said come and gone was that it something like that come and gone come and gone no one come and gone in no time gone in no time” (Samuel Beckett, That Time, 1975) 

Congratulations on winning the ISCM Young Composer Award! What does this recognition mean to you?
Of course, the award also means receiving a new commission for the future, so it has a prospect of what comes after. But for me, it is even more a recognition of what came before. As a composer, it has been a challenging journey to find my own path and to keep believing in my own artistic voice. Sometimes other people’s opinions can seem louder, and with this piece, I really had to go through a path of hearing many voices around me. Now, four years later, I didn’t really expect to receive an award for this piece. So, it’s teaching me many lessons. For example, even when facing negative criticism, you can still go on doing what you believe in, which is hard, because we create in close relation to how others receive our work. Eventually, things can still find their way over time. That is really encouraging for my future compositions. 

Samuel Beckett’s work, too, had to grow on audiences before it gained recognition. His play That Time inspired you while writing Gone in No Time. What about this work resonated with you?
There were a few things. First, there is the language of the text, which is quite repetitive and very musical. It’s almost like a song: there are materials that return and are developed in a very musical way. When I read it, it felt as if the first part of the piece immediately interconnected with the first section of the cello piece. So, I was strongly inspired to build up the musical language based on Beckett’s language. But also in the way the text speaks about different forms of isolation. The main character is an old person, stuck in the situation of his age and its limitations. So basically, the concept of the piece came from the idea of how limitations can free us. For instance, in the first section there is one particular tone that vibrates differently each time and is colored differently. When you listen carefully, it might seem like the same tone at first, but then it keeps evolving. It challenged me to find my freedom within limitations. 

When you speak about your music, you mention exploring the fluid and airy plasticity of sound. Do you see this piece as an expression of that idea? 
Absolutely. I think I’m always looking for gestures that have movement inside them, gestures that take us from one place to another. This kind of plasticity is about material not being defined as something set in stone, but being more like water, moving, transforming and pulsing around its form. Of course, the piece is more or less defined by its three movements, and the way this applies in each of them is different, I think. 

As the winner of the ISCM Young Composer Award, you are invited to write a new piece that will be premiered at a future edition of the World New Music Days. It’s still super early, but are there already any ideas taking shape in your mind? 
Because every edition is a bit different, every country announces their own instrumental formations: saying there is no orchestra, or there is a choir, or no choir. It’s a bit early to predict what it will be, but whatever comes, I will always try to find something that brings me into this space of a certain limitation as a concept and try to be creative within it. 

Listen to Nizami’s Gone in no time, premiered by Marie Ythier in 2022