“The emphasis is not on expectation itself, but on trust.”

As a young female composer, do you feel there are specific expectations placed on you in the industry? If so, how do they affect you?
As a composer, most of my work is done on my own, so I usually have to live up to my own expectations. But that depends largely on the scope of the projects and commissions. For example, if I have to write an opera, my expectations for the work will be completely different from when I’m composing a piece for an ensemble. When it comes to commissions for new works, I often feel that the commissioning musician, festival, or organizer is placing their trust in me. In my opinion, this implies that a certain standard is expected, but the emphasis is not on expectation itself, but on trust.

Where did you first come across the call for applications for the Mind the Gap project? What was it about the call that appealed to you the most, and what made you ultimately decide to apply?
I first heard about it through the Transparent Sound New Music Festival. That alone was enough to capture my interest. During my studies at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, I was actively involved in the festival as a composer, concert organizer, and, not least, as a member of the audience. However, once I continued my career abroad, that connection was severed. I had always followed the festival’s activities from afar and really longed to be part of it again someday. When I came across the call for submissions, I felt that if I were selected for the project, my return would be accompanied by a very exciting creative process.

The Cadavre Exquis collective composition form creates a unique creative situation from the outset. Is this your first time encountering this method, or do you already have experience with collective composition?
I’ve been involved in collaborative composition on several occasions, but so far I’ve always been able to hear the entire piece, not just the last 30 seconds.

You joined the production as the fourth member. How did what you had “inherited” from the piece by that point affect you? Did you prefer to continue a musical logic that was already underway, or did you consciously want to steer it in a new direction?
Perhaps the best way to describe it is that it was as if I had walked into a house that was already furnished, which I then had to adapt based on my understanding of the surroundings and the objects within it.

What inspired you most during the creative process: the other composers’ material, or the framework?
The instrumental ensemble itself. I really love writing for ensembles, and I’m lucky enough to often work with ensembles of different configurations. This time, too, I was working with a combination of instruments I had never used in this way before, so it was very inspiring.

How did you strike a balance between your own musical voice and fitting into the collective whole?
I think the reason a composer doesn’t write this piece as a single work but as a series of connected sections is precisely because its uniqueness lies in the absence of strict cohesion; instead, each person’s own voice and ideas come to the fore, like a mosaic for which we compose bridges at the beginning and end. That is why I made a conscious effort to let my own voice come through, not in isolation, but as a natural continuation of the preceding passage.

Was there a point during the composition process when you found the collaborative process particularly liberating?
The beginning. It was incredibly liberating not to have to start the piece myself; the beginning was already set, and all I had to do was continue from there.

Was there ever a time when thinking within a collective framework actually hindered your work rather than helping it?
It didn’t make my work particularly difficult, but I did have to take into account certain circumstances dictated by the details of the previous piece.

How was this project different from composing a “traditional,” standalone piece?
There was a very refreshing sense of mystery to it. Dramaturgy and formal thinking are very important to me, even if I don’t always work within strict formal constraints. However, since I wasn’t familiar with the previous parts of the series this time around, from a dramatic standpoint I was, in a sense, left hanging, and that presented a real challenge.

What have you taken away from this creative process: has it changed your perspective on composing or collaborative thinking today?
Perhaps that there are countless forms and methods of composition, including some that we don’t use every day. It’s worth keeping this in mind, because we may later discover similar, or even more exciting, artistic approaches that shake us out of our usual creative routines.