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Emmanuel Berrido, Tyler Eschendal, Jiyoung Ko, and Daniel Leo chosen for September 2018 Readings in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
September 28-29, 2018 (Grand Rapids, MI)
Concerts open to the public:
Friday, September 28, 2018 – 7:00pm, 8:00pm, and 9:00pm [more info]
Saturday, September 29, 2018 – 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm, 7:00pm, 8:00pm, and 9:00pm [more info]
The Morton | 55 Ionia Ave NW | Grand Rapids, MI
Presented by EarShot (the National Orchestral Composition Discovery Network), ArtPrize, and the Grand Rapids Symphony
The New Music Readings are the culmination of a series of private readings, feedback sessions, and work with mentor composers Bright Sheng, David Biedenbender, and Margaret Brouwer. The selected composers, chosen from an international candidate pool of 159 applicants, are Emmanuel Berrido (Danza Ritual), Tyler Eschendal (Zarathustra Mixtape), Jiyoung Ko (Remembrances), and Daniel Leo (Blowing Mad Clouds).
SELECTED COMPOSERS
Emmanuel Berrido
Emmanuel Berrido (b. 1986) is a Dominican-American composer with a passion for telling stories through sound. His work has been performed by the Amernet String Quartet, cellists Jason Calloway, Megan Chartier, and Craig Mehler; violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved; and the FIU Wind Ensemble. Recent performances have been held at the Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival, the New Music Miami Festival, the Ball State University Festival of New Music, the SCI Student National Conference, the Ann Arbor Society of Musical Arts, and the Kendal Sound Arts Series. In May 2017, he was awarded the Louis Smadbeck Composition Prize in Ithaca, NY, for Bend the Knee for brass quintet, and in February 2018 he was awarded the Ithaca College Orchestral Composition Prize for Danza Ritual.
Emmanuel’s Sound: Miserere (Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin)
Emmanuel Berrido's Full Bio When he is not composing, performing, or practicing, Emmanuel Berrido creates websites for other musicians and small businesses, draws, and reads non-fiction books about any topic, from history, religion, and philosophy to communication and language. You can find him online at www.emmanuelberrido.com and @EmmanuelBerrido on Twitter. Danza Ritual “Danza Ritual is inspired by the Afro-Caribbean religious dances that can be found in the “bateyes” (villages next to sugar cane fields) in the Dominican Republic. These musical manifestations feature a heavy use of drums and ostinati that, more than serving a musical function, have the ritualistic purpose of getting participants into a trance of sorts, allowing the participants of these manifestations to come together in praise and celebrate parties dedicated to the saints.” Photo courtesy Emmanuel Berrido.
Berrido first began Danza Ritual in 2015, under another name. Recently, Berrido notes, “I was given the opportunity to look back at this piece and re-connect with the impulse that prompted the creation of this work – a need to establish and continue to search for my expression as a Dominican-American composer, and the exploration of elements that make the musical culture of the Dominican Republic beautiful.
Tyler Eschendal
Tyler Eschendal (b.1993) is a composer and percussionist originally from the suburbs of Detroit and now resides in Los Angeles, CA. A love for rhythm, pulse, and layering heavily influences his music, as well as an interest in introducing sample-based procedures found in electronic music to acoustic and live instrumentations. Tyler’s music has been performed at institutions across the U.S. including Indiana University, George Mason University, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University, and internationally at Soochow University in China. His compositions have also been showcased at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), Giovani Vecchi Concert Series, New Music Gathering, Nief-Norf Summer Festival, and Sō Percussion Summer Institute (SoSI) at Princeton University.
Tyler’s Sound: Scraptangle (Norfolk New Music Ensemble, recorded by Sean Tanguay)
Tyler Eschendal's Full Bio Zarathustra Mixtape Photo by Hannah Criswell.
Of his piece, Eschendal notes, “Zarathustra Mixtape is exactly how it sounds: taking fragments of Richard Strauss’s masterful tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra from 1896 and splicing, stretching, shifting, layering, reorganizing, and most importantly, re-contextualizing the remains into a condensed form similar to that of a broken playlist. The intent was to rediscover a dirtied and scratched recording of an extremely influential piece—reminiscent of a now defunct disk that was spun too times as a teenager—and further alter the source by means of contemporary sampling techniques. The objective was to toy with memory and assemblance, paying homage to Strauss’s uniquely dense orchestration and form.”
Jiyoung Ko
Jiyoung Ko (b. 1982) is a Michigan-based composer of orchestral, chamber, and vocal music. One of her compositions was described as a “brilliant study in timbre, tone, and color… a haunting piece.” (AB Newswire). Her music has been performed in the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Germany by various ensembles, including Ensemble Dal Niente, Del Sol String Quartet, New York New Music Ensemble, NEC Honors Ensemble, and KNUA Chamber Ensemble. Ko was selected for the 2018 Civic Orchestra of Chicago New Music Workshop with coaching by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) at Chicago’s Symphony Center. In 2017, her orchestral work, Spring Overture, was mentioned as an alternate for the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute.
Jiyoung’s Sound: Wayfinding, 2nd Movement (New England Conservatory Piano Quartet)
Jiyoung Ko's Full Bio She received her Master’s degree from The New England Conservatory and her Bachelor’s degree from Korea National University of Arts where she studied with Michael Gandolfi, Kati Agocs, and Geonyoug Lee. Read more about her online at www.jiyoungkomusic.com. Remembrances Photo by Hyewon Park.
“Sometimes my everyday life feels so unremarkable or routine that I may not remember what I did last week. However, in the midst of the ups and downs of life, there are notable moments. In this piece, I describe the emotions I feel when a new experience unexpectedly seizes me. I accomplish this by using two contrasting melodies that merge, yet maintain their individual identities. The second melody demonstrates my attempt to possess the experience as memory. As the piece progresses the memory ripens until it delightfully lingers. This memory is a treasured possession that will not be forgotten.”
Daniel Leo
Daniel Leo (b. 1991), began playing the violin at 5 and composing at 12. His music has been performed at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall; Symphony Space, New York; Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music; and others. His works have been read by the JACK Quartet, the New York Youth Symphony, and the Mannes Orchestra with performances by the Manhattan School of Music Symphony, the Alaria ensemble, and the Las Vegas Academy Symphony and Philharmonic orchestras. Daniel is also an avid conductor of his works as well as the works of other composers and colleagues. He is a recipient of the Carl Kanter Prize in Orchestral Composition, Presser Foundation Scholarship, Jean Schneider Goberman award in composition, winner of the CIRCE competition, and finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award 2014-16.
Daniel’s Sound: Start Over (Lina Bahn, violin; Mak Grgic, guitar)
Daniel Leo's Full Bio Blowing Mad Clouds Photo by Ron Cohen Mann.
Leo notes, “Blowing Mad Clouds was written in fulfillment of my master’s thesis at the Manhattan School of Music. My intent in writing the piece was to create a sound world that is both fantastical and bizarre – yet tangible and frighteningly real. This dichotomy resembles the internal struggle within us all. It can manifest itself in the form of desire versus indifference, the ideal versus flawed, or expectation versus reality. This piece ventures through both ends of the spectrum, sometimes unclear of itself, as musical material is developed, juxtaposed, and interrupted.”