This ineffable title evokes a state of someone living an experience that, while overwhelming, does not allow itself to be verbalized. This state, however, is instantly recognizable — in the silence of a wordless walk with a beloved friend under the wailing air raid siren in Kyiv’s Podil neighborhood; in the voice of a colleague on a video call whose loved one was killed in action; or in the tear-filled eyes of a stranger in Berlin's S-Bahn carriage as she dabs at them with tissues bearing the Ukrainian flag on the packaging.

It’s about the interaction between 'I' and 'the Other' (tvvo). It’s about self-identification (id) — possible only through contact with another and the chasmic distance between the two of you (void). It’s about sending a signal into an abyss, not knowing if it will ever reach anyone, let alone its intended recipient. It’s about something you try to vocalize, only to lose your voice mid-word (:).

We recorded Nazarii Stets’s parts (double bass) on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, in Kyiv. Today, this recording will be transmitted as a video and audio signal, which travelled to Berlin over the course of 23 days, while Theo Nabicht (contrabass clarinet) performed live in Berlin.

On December 18, 2024, a similar concert took place at home in Kyiv, with Theo, whose signal reached Nazarii and the Kyiv audience.

Thus, the circle closed.

Now, 319 days after the recording, the signal will reach New York—the circle will become a spiral. Things have changed since, yet what one has grown numb to remains the same.

— Albert Saprykin 

ANNA ARKUSHYNA

Delivered for contrabass clarinet in B and double bass (tape)

«Delivered. explores the emotional tension and uncertainty that arises when a message shows the status «delivered,» but remains “unread”. In times of war, when many people are separated by distance, these simple messenger notifications take on profound meaning: if the message is read, it means the person is alive. However, when the second checkmark doesn't appear, the sender is left in a state of limbo, trapped in an anxious wait. Many people remain in this state during an indefinite period of time, as their loved ones go missing, are taken captive, or perish, with the only visible sign being the single word «Delivered.»

This piece captures the experience of waiting, the weight of uncertainty, and the emotional strain that has become an inherent part of everyday life for many.»

IHOR ZAVHORODNII

я тут, з тобою (I'm here, with you) for double bass (tape), contrabass clarinet and metronome (audio)

«This music is about love during wartime. A love that has begun to get accustomed to its existence without a future. Therefore, every tiny pulsation of this life is the pulsation of this love only.»

ALBERT SAPRYKIN

; for double bass (tape), contrabass clarinet and screen

«what is it to be the depths of an abyss that has received the signal, knowing the sender? knowing the sender will never know? no? oh.»

The work comprises three parts: i, ii, and iii.

NAZARII STETS

Nazarii Stets is a Ukrainian double bass player focused on contemporary music and the promotion of modern Ukrainian repertoire. Born in 1991 in Kopychyntsi, Ukraine, into a musical family, he began his musical journey on the violin before switching to double bass after seven years. He studied double bass at the Ternopil Music College under Vasyl Felenchak and then earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P. Tchaikovsky, studying with Oleksandr Melnyk from the National Opera of Ukraine.

He began his professional career early, securing a contract with the Galician Chamber Orchestra at age 16 and winning the solo double bass position with the national ensemble Kyiv Camerata at 20. By age 26, he became a professor at the National Music Academy of Ukraine. Stets has received the Levko Revutsky prize from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine for his concert performances of modern Ukrainian music.

He has studied with notable double bassists including Nicolas Crosse, Chi-Chi Nwanokue, Jeff Bradetich, Leon Bosch, Ruslan Lutsyk, Dan Styffe, and Hiroshi Ikematsu. Stets was the first performer of several new double bass concertos by composers such as Zoltan Almashi, Alisa Zaika, Oleksandr Levkovych, and others. His performance career spans over 25 countries and includes solo, chamber, and orchestral appearances at festivals like ManiFeste (IRCAM, Paris), Lucerne Festival, Kyiv Contemporary Music Days, Edinburgh International Festival, BBC Proms, and Warsaw Autumn, among many others.

His collaborations include ensembles such as Ensemble KNM Berlin, Ulysses Ensemble, Salzburg Sinfonietta, Ensemble Nostri Temporis, Sed Contra, New Era Orchestra, Kyiv Camerata, and the UKHO Ensemble. He actively contributes to the contemporary music scene in Ukraine and internationally, combining performance, teaching, and advocacy for new music.

GLEB KANASEVICH

Gleb Kanasevich is a clarinetist and composer based between Detroit and the East Coast. As of July, 2022, he is a permanent member of Detroit-based Hub New Music, with whom he tours regularly and performed at many of the country’s most renowned concert series, venues and festivals. He is an active soloist and session musician, having recently worked with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, Cleveland-based death metal band Noxis, and on soundtracks for Netflix and A24 films. He has been closely working with the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival in New York City since 2021, frequently covering the festival’s electronic and live sound needs, concert production, and clarinet duties.

As a composer, he is interested in exploring expressive possibilities in very simple electronic processing, stark sonic landscapes, and extremely fine microtonality. Most recently, he was commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain, Callithumpian Consort, Ah Young Hong, and No Exit New Music Ensemble. His newest solo record, “We Only Have But A Moment,” will be released in late fall 2025 on Flag Day Recordings.

Since 2013, he has been a core member of Ensemble Cantata Profana – a group based in New York City. After four years of co-directing Cantata Profana with Jacob Ashworth, he was named the ensemble's Acting Artistic Director in July 2022. From 2016 until Spring 2019, Kanasevich also worked as a curator/video maker for the online new music database and audio/video/score resource ScoreFollower/Incipitsify.

KYIV CONTEMPORARY MUSIC DAYS

Kyiv Contemporary Music Days (KCMD) is an NGO that functions as an educational and concert platform for new music. Founded in 2015, KCMD has organized more than 160 events in Ukraine, Portugal, Japan, Germany, and Lithuania to date with musicians from over 25 countries. Despite our projects' vast geography and scale, KCMD has essentially remained a grassroots initiative true to the spirit of solidarity, horizontality, and mutual help born out of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine.

KCMD produces festivals, concerts of chamber, orchestra, and electroacoustic music, live streams, masterclasses for composers and performers, and lectures for professional musicians and a wider audience. Since February 24, 2022, we also try to preserve the Ukrainian music community and make sure Ukrainian voices are heard internationally.

DOWN TO EARTH FESTIVAL

DOWN TO EARTH brings world-class international performance, theater, contemporary circus, an opera installation, and participatory events—absolutely free—directly to New York City’s vibrant, diverse communities.

An initiative that embraces global exchange and democratizes cultural expression, the inaugural festival runs from August 29 – September 7, 2025. Conceived and produced by The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at The CUNY Graduate Center.

The project was first realized in Berlin (8 November 2024) and Kyiv (18 December 2024) in partnership with Klangwerkstatt Berlin Festival for New Music and Goethe-Institut Ukraine. The works were commissioned by Kyiv Contemporary Music Days and Klangwerkstatt Berlin in 2024.