Eva-Maria Houben

"Together on the Way was commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival,  and I composed it especially for this festival. I already knew Siwan Rhys. We had met each other for the first time on the occasion of the world premiere of my piece ‘a peaceful silent place’ for organ and piano. This performance took place on 8th December 2019, at the University of Westminster in London as part of the London Contemporary Music Festival. Siwan and I came together mysteriously during our rehearsal: we never had seen each other before, so at first we planned to have several hours rehearsing. But as soon as we began to play we knew: our practice was coming into being on its own, and there was no need to worry about needing a lot of time for rehearsal. This was a wonderful experience, I think for both of us. As Siwan is George Barton’s duo partner in the GBRS Duo it was our aim to perform all together. And I am entirely happy with our performances in Huddersfield – there were many! Each performance had a value in itself. The last performance (with an audience) was only one element in a chain. I hope to continue our common practice in the future – with or without an audience." - Eva-Maria Houben