Join us for an intensive, intimate composition masterclass with Benoît Sitzia, composer and Artistic Director of Ars Nova, and Katalin Koltai, internationally acclaimed guitarist, researcher and innovator of the Ligeti Guitar.
Picture: Stefanie Molter
This unique masterclass offers composers the opportunity to explore the creative possibilities of writing for a new and evolving instrument, with direct access to both its innovator and performer, alongside an active composer with an extensive international portfolio.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage with questions of contemporary composition, instrumental possibilities, extended techniques, notation and the creative dialogue between composer and performer. The small-group format will allow for an open, focused exchange, providing space to discuss ideas, approaches, and works in progress.
About Benoît Sitzia
Benoît Sitzia is a composer, cultural project leader and Artistic Director of the ensemble Ars Nova. Following studies in classical guitar and organ, he pursued studies in musicology and composition, receiving several distinctions in analysis, music history, aesthetics and composition. He subsequently studied composition for two years at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP).
His creative work is shaped by a strong interest in the relationships between sound, literature and context. His music explores listening, communication and intertextuality, resulting in a diverse catalogue of works that have been commissioned, premiered and performed in France and internationally by ensembles and artists including Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Rayuela, Trio Antara, the Maîtrise de Radio France, Ensemble Chromosphère, Collectif Fractales, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, UMZE Ensemble and Ars Nova.
His work has received recognition through a range of institutional and private awards, as well as artistic residencies in France and across Europe. In 2024, he was an artist-in-residence at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia. He has also been selected for a Villa Albertine residency in 2027.
Alongside his work as a composer, Benoît is active in cultural development and artistic management. He serves as General and Artistic Director of Ars Nova, and has contributed to the creation, organisation and programming of several festivals and cultural initiatives, including the Impérial Annecy Festival, Innovasound and Royan-Orgues.
He is also co-founder and President of Collège Contemporain, an organisation supporting composers, performers, ensembles and musicologists, and co-President of Rézo MUSA, a professional network bringing together organisations and practitioners working across heritage and contemporary music in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Benoît is deeply committed to education and professional development. He contributes to mentoring activities for the Peter Eötvös Foundation for Contemporary Music in Budapest, teaches applied musical analysis for performers at Pôle Supérieur Aliénor in Poitiers, and is involved in the development of the European Creative Academy for Music & Musicians in Annecy. He regularly participates in conferences, workshops and discussions on music history, creative musical practices and cultural development.
About Katalin Koltai
Katalin Koltai is an internationally established guitarist, chamber musician, researcher and innovator whose work explores the evolving possibilities of the guitar.
She studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Conservatorium Maastricht, working with renowned guitarists including József Eötvös, Antigoni Goni, Raphaella Smits, Carlo Marchione and José María Gallardo Del Rey. She completed her PhD research at the International Guitar Research Centre, University of Surrey, under the supervision of Stephen Goss.
Katalin is the developer of the Guitar Magnet Capo System and the Ligeti Guitar, an innovative instrument she developed in 2022. The Ligeti Guitar expands the harmonic and voicing possibilities of the instrument by enabling the rapid transformation of open strings, creating new possibilities for composers and performers.
A passionate advocate of contemporary music, Katalin has commissioned and premiered numerous new works and has collaborated with composers including György Kurtág, David Gorton and Gráinne Mulvey. She has also created an extensive body of transcriptions for solo guitar and ensemble, including works by Bartók, Ligeti, Chopin, Saariaho, Ravel and Kurtág.
Katalin has performed internationally at venues and festivals including the Royal Festival Hall, Kings Place, Budapest Music Center, Kuhmo Festival and the Guitar Foundation of America. She records for labels including North/South Recordings, Naxos, Hungaroton and Genuin, and her transcriptions have been published by Doblinger Austria. Her research and writing have appeared in Soundboard Scholar and publications by Bloomsbury Academic, and she has presented her work at leading international conferences.
Since 2009, Katalin has been guitar soloist with the Hungarian State Opera and UMZE Ensemble. She is also the artistic leader of the interdisciplinary new music ensemble Barefoot Musicians and has maintained a long-standing flute-guitar collaboration with Noemi Gyori.
Her work extends beyond performance and research into musical theatre, interdisciplinary projects and community music. She has led projects with organisations including Krétakör and Katona József Theatre, as well as cross-arts programmes for young people at the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest. Her work with marginalised communities, particularly children in segregated Roma settlements, was recognised with the Hungarian Junior Prima Prize in Education.
Katalin currently serves as Chair of the Banjo-Mandolin-Guitar Working Group of the American Musical Instrument Society and the Composer-Performer Collaboration Study Group of the Royal Musical Association.
Please register your interest by emailing us at info@hungary.org.uk