May 23, 2016 – 5:30 PM
Dodge Hall, Columbia University (Room 112)
Admission is free but seating is limited. Reservation required.
RSVP to: kevin@americancomposers.org
ACO’s Compose Yourself! education program will feature a reading session/performance of the newest works by nine talented high school composers. Each of the young composers will have a new a cappella vocal work performed during this session. The program takes place in an open-reherasal format intended to encourage interaction between the composers and performers.
Compose Yourself! is focused on helping the students to develop positive approaches to creativity, learning professional standards of preparation, and developing basic compositional skills in a supportive, hands-on environment. This semester, these young composers have been working in small group lessons and coaching with ACO education director Kevin James. The May 23 session is a pivotal moment in this process, when the students not only hear their ideas realized by respected singers, but also learn to interact with those musicians in a professional setting.
We proudly announce the 25th edition of ACO’s annual roundup of the country’s brightest young and emerging composers.
Sessions will take place under the baton of Music Director George Manahan with a recorded reading open to the public on June 14, 2016. Up to seven emerging composers will be selected to participate from a national candidate pool. The selected participants will have their pieces read by ACO in two reading sessions. Composers will receive artistic and career guidance from the Symphony artistic staff, orchestra musicians, and renowned mentor-composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke.
A recorded reading will be open to the public on June 14, 2016 at Miller Theatre, Columbia University beginning at 7:30pm. Tickets are free but please reserve seats through the link on the left of this text.
The Underwood Readings are the core of ACO’s ongoing professional training programs for emerging American composers. At the Readings, composers will meet with ACO artistic staff, orchestra members — including the conductor and mentor composers. Members of ACO’s composer advisory panel and guest composers participate in preliminary reviews of scores, provide critical commentary and feedback, post-Reading evaluations and selection of the composer to receive the commission award.
The Readings include two sessions with the orchestra, a working-rehearsal and a run-through performance. The performances are professionally recorded, and each composer is given a high-quality audio recording to be used for archival, study and portfolio purposes. Composers also participate in a series of professional development workshops covering such topics as promotion, score preparation and publishing, copyright and commissioning agreements, and other career essentials. Transportation and meals are provided for all participants.
A Career Development Seminar will be offered to composers, students, or anyone interested in learning more about the business of being a composer on Tuesday, June 14th from 10am-4pm at Columbia University. These invaluable talks, led by leaders in the industry, provide information ranging from copyright and commission agreements, to music preparation, to promotion, and fundraising.
The workshops are a practical guide for any composer wishing to gain a better understanding of these critical aspects to success as a composer today. Previously only available to participants in the Readings, ACO has made a limited number of spaces available to aspiring composers from the community for a small registration fee.
Topics to include:
Copyright and Commissioning Basics
James Kendrick Esq., Alter & Kendrick LLP
Engraving and Self-Publishing
Bill Holab, Bill Holab Music Publishing
Support Structures for Composers
Scott Winship, New Music USA
Career Inspiration for Composers: How To Share Your Best Self Through Branding
Astrid Baumgardner, President, Astrid Baumgardener Coaching + Training
Publicity and Promotion
Christina Jensen, Principal, Christina Jensen PR
Panel Discussion: The Real Path to Programming
Hosts:
Frank J. Oteri, Composer Advocate, New Music USA
Christina Jensen, Principal, Christina Jensen PR
(additional panel participants to be determined)
Registration fee $20 (lunch provided)
The Underwood New Music Readings are part of EarShot, the national orchestral composition discovery network. EarShot activities include new music readings and other composer development programs with orchestras around the country. EarShot is coordinated by ACO in collaboration with American Composers Forum, the League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA (formerly American Music Center and Meet The Composer).
Lead support for the Underwood New Music Readings comes from Mr. Paul Underwood, The Fromm Music Foundation and The Helen F. Whitaker Fund. ACO’s emerging composers programs are made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and with the support of Jerome Foundation and the Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust.
Zankel Hall @ Carnegie Hall Friday April 1, 2016 at 7:30 pm
ACO looks East, capping-off ACO’s Underground Season with a program, which includes three world premieres, drawing on Indian and Middle Eastern music. Mehmet Ali Sanlikol (“colorful, fanciful, full of rhythmic life” The Boston Globe) sings and plays the Ud (Turkish lute) in a premiere using classical Ottoman composition techniques, with long rhythmic cycles, and a poem by Sufi dervish Edib Harabi. Reena Esmail, who is Indian-American, explores her Hindustani roots in a multimedia premiere that focuses on first impressions and Indian rhythmic cycles. Iranian-American composer Gity Razaz (“limpid Impressionist timbres, ravishing and engulfing throughout” New York Times) explores the internal and psychological stages of Narcissus’ metamorphosis. Matthias Pintscher reflects on his time spent in Israel as he creates a musical dialogue of the voices in Solomon’s Song of Songs, with mixed emotions of love found and love lost and features baritone Steven LaBrie. Saad Haddad, a first generation Arab-American, premieres his piece combining electronics and traditional performance practices of Arabic musicians, with antiphonal trumpets serving as musical “beacons” for the orchestra.
Saad Haddad‘s Manarah (“beacon” in Arabic), commissioned by ACO, is scored for two digitally processed antiphonal trumpets and orchestra, and borrows from the performance practices of Arabic musicians, particularly Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum. Harabat – The Intoxicated by Mehmet Ali Sanlikol was commissioned by ACO and Carnegie Hall, is inspired by the classical Ottoman/Turkish music tradition and features a poem by a late 19th/early 20th century Sufi dervish. Reena Esmail‘s Avartan, also commissioned by ACO, is inspired by the “avartan,” a rhythmic cycle featured in Hindustani music and is paired with video by Neeraj Jain. The Metamorphosis of Narcissus by Gity Razaz is based on Salvador Dali’s portrayal of the Greek myth. The work is a musical drama reflecting on the internal and psychological transformation of Narcissus, beginning with his obsessive self-infatuation, moving through his drowning in the pond that reflected his image, and ending with his rebirth as the narcissus flower. Matthias Pintscher‘s songs from Solomon’s garden is based around the Biblical Song of Songs, and draws on the Hebrew language for rhythmic patterns and gestures.
The Program:
SAAD HADDAD: Manarah (World Premiere. ACO Commission.) GITY RAZAZ:The Metamorphosis of Narcissus MEHMET ALI SANLIKOL: Harabat / The Intoxicated (World Premiere. ACO/Carnegie Hall Commission.) – intermission – REENA ESMAIL: Avartan (World Premiere. ACO Commission.)
MATTHIAS PINTSCHER: Songs from Solomon’s Garden
THIS OPPORTUNITY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE THE TEXT BELOW IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY:
EarShot: China – U.S. Composers Project Emerging Composers Competition
May 31 – June 3, 2016
Beijing Concert Hall, Beijing China
Eos Repertoire Orchestra
Yong Yan Hu, conductor
Submission Deadline:
Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 11:59pm (U.S. Eastern Daylight Time)
Friday, April 1, 2016 at 11:59am (Beijing Time)
The Beijing Modern Music Festival, American Composers Orchestra, and EarShot announce the first China – U.S. Composers Project Emerging Composers Competition. The Competition will be held at Beijing Concert Hall, May 31 – June 3, 2016 with Eos Repertoire Orchestra, Yong Yan Hu, conductor.
The Competition is open to composers who are Chinese citizens residing anywhere in the world, and composers of Chinese-American descent who are U.S. citizens or non-citizens lawfully and permanently residing or studying full-time in the United States. Up to six composers will be selected. Applicants must apply online.
The Competition includes four days of intensive readings, rehearsals and workshop sessions, and culminates in a free public performance of the selected works. Feedback will be provided by the conductor and principal musicians from the orchestra, as well as a distinguished panel of mentor-composers including Xiaogang Ye, Sola Liu, John Corigliano, Robert Beaser (ACO Artistic Director Laureate & Chair of Composition at The Juilliard School) and Chen Yi (ACO Artistic Advisor & Distinguished Professor of Composition, University of Missouri-Kansas City). Danbu Chen (Director of YCP Beijing Modern Program), Xia Guan (Director, China National Symphony Orchestra), Liguang Wang (President, China Conservatory) will also be present as contributors.
One composer will be selected for the Competition Grand Prize, an honor that includes the U.S. premiere performance of the winning piece by American Composers Orchestra in New York City as part of a major festival of Chinese and Chinese-American composers music. The selected composer will be invited to New York as part of a delegation of composers participating in the festival.
All composers selected to participate in the Competition are responsible for delivering professional-quality score and parts. Composers will receive a recording of their work for archival and study purposes. Travel and accommodations will be provided.
The Competition coincides with the China-US People-to-People Exchange (CPE), and is part of the China-U.S. Composers Project, a multi-year initiative to develop mutual understanding and international friendships. The Project includes a series of Readings and Composer Competitions for emerging composers in China and the U.S. to introduce talented young composers from both countries and promote their work and careers; A major festival in New York City that brings together delegations of Chinese and American composers for performances and professional exchange; and concerts by American Composers Orchestra at the Beijing Modern Music Festival to introduce American composers to Chinese audiences.
About EOS Repertoire Orchestra
China’s Orchestra Academy at the Central Conservatory of Music, EOS Repertoire Orchestra was established in 2006. Its members have primarily been instructors and graduate students from the Orchestra Academy, musicians from professional orchestras in China and overseas and selected graduate students from the Orchestral Instruments Department of the Central Conservatory of Music. The EOS Repertoire Orchestra has performed ten seasons at the Beijing Concert Hall and four-six annual weekend concerts at Beijing’s National Centre of the Performing Arts. EOS has performed more than 70 works, including all the Mahler symphonies, film soundtracks, Peking Opera excerpts, rock music, multimedia concerts, and many compositions by contemporary composers.
About Beijing Modern Music Festival
The Beijing Modern Music Festival (BMMF) is regarded as the most influential modern musical event in China, and one of the most important modern music festivals in the world. BMMF is committed to disseminating modern music, promoting an international artistic and cultural communication as well as building a platform for young musicians. The Festival has organized over 400 concerts, nearly 100 lectures and master classes, and published a large number of academic books, scores, audio and video discs. Initiated by artistic director Mr. Xiaogang Ye, BMMF reinforces the bonds between art and society through music while retain its academic originality. Beijing Modern Music Festival is supported and sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture of the China.
About American Composers Orchestra & EarShot
American Composers Orchestra is the only orchestra in the world dedicated to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. ACO also promotes exchange between the U.S. and other musical cultures. To date, ACO has performed music by 700 American composers, including over 300 world premieres and newly commissioned works. EarShot is a program of the American Composers Orchestra in collaboration with the American Composers Forum, League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA. EarShot helps orchestras around the U.S. and the world to identify and support promising composers in the early stages of their careers. EarShot has produced dozens of Readings and Competitions, providing career-building exposure for over 100 composers.
Readings, Workshops & Performances by Three Orchestras in 2016
16 jazz artists from around the country have been selected to participate in the third Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute (JCOI) Readings in 2016. Three orchestras — the Naples Philharmonic (May 25 & 26), American Composers Orchestra (June 15 & 16), and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (September 20 & 21) — will workshop, rehearse, and give public readings of new works for symphony orchestra, providing audiences the opportunity to hear exciting new works by a diverse array of composers that break down stylistic barriers and update the orchestral repertory.
“the potential to shift the course of concert music”
– National Public Radio
The 2016 JCOI Readings are the culmination of a process that began in August 2015, when 36 jazz composers of all ages were selected from a national pool of applicants to attend the weeklong JCOI Intensive, a series of workshops and seminars devoted to orchestral composition held at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. After completing the Intensive, sixteen composers were given the opportunity to put what they learned into practice by composing a new symphonic work. The composers, working in jazz, improvised, and creative music, were chosen based on their excellent musicianship, originality, and potential for future growth in orchestral composition. While many jazz composers seek to write for the symphony orchestra, opportunities for hands-on experience are few. JCOI aims to provide new resources for both jazz and classical music, promoting the emergence of composers trained in both jazz and new orchestral techniques. James Newton directs the Institute.
Listen online here Read the Wall Street Journal feature here
Read Howard Mandel’s Essay and Interview “Jazz and the Future of the Symphony Orchestra” here
The composers selected for the JCOI Readings are:
Amina Figarova (b. 1965), an Azerbaijan-born, New York-based pianist and composer who studied classical piano performance at the Baku Conservatory as well as jazz performance at the Rotterdam Conservatory, Netherlands, and attended the Thelonious Monk Institute’s summer jazz colony in Aspen;
Jonathan Finlayson (b. 1982), a New York-based, disciple of the saxophonist/composer Steve Coleman who has performed alongside notables including Mary Halvorson, Henry Threadgill, Von Freeman, Jason Moran, Dafnis Prieto and Vijay Iyer;
Brian Friedland (b. 1982), a Boston-based whose music is rooted in jazz piano traditions but also shows his love of genres ranging from Balkan Folk to classical minimalism
Gene Knific (b. 1992) a pianist, composer, and arranger based in Kalamazoo, Michigan who has performed all over the world including at The St. Petersburg Conservatory, Copenhagen Opera House, Montmartre Jazzhus, Amelia Island Jazz Festival, Mozambique International Festival of Music, and more and has won seven Down Beat Music Awards for his performances and compositions
Ethan Helm (b. 1990), a New York-based saxophonist and composer, who co-leads the jazz quintet Cowboys & Frenchmen and whose latest quartet album, The Spoon, was released last summer
Robin Holcomb (b. 1954), a Seattle-based composer and singer/songwriter recording for Nonesuch, Songlines, and Tzadik, whose music draws on both her childhood in Georgia and her stints working among avant-garde musicians in New York and California
Yvette Jackson (b. 1973), a composer, sound designer and installation artist focused on radio opera and narrative soundscape composition from La Solla, California who holds degrees from Columbia University and the Colburn School for the Performing Arts
Sonia Jacobsen (b. 1967), a much-awarded composer, jazz saxophonist, and founding director of the New York Symphonic Jazz Orchestra who grew up splitting her time between Australia and Denmark and is now based in Chapin, South Carolina
John La Barbera (b. 1945) who is a renowned composer/arranger working in the jazz world for over four decades whose music has been performed by Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme’, Chaka Khan, Harry James, Bill Watrous, Phil Woods, and many more
Guy Mintus (b. 1991), Israeli-born, New York-based jazz pianist and composer, who focuses on music as a gateway to cross-cultural understanding and has collaborated with master musicians from Turkey, Greece, Iran, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India and Mali
Ben Morris (b. 1993) who graduated from the University of Miami, who is currently pursuing his masters’ at Rice University and has won the ASCAP Morton Gould Award, two Klezmer Company Orchestra Composers’ Prizes, and three Festival Miami Composers’ Awards
Dawn Norfleet (b. 1965) a jazz flutist, vocalist, and composer residing in Los Angeles, who is on the faculty at the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County and the Colburn School of Performing Arts
Hitomi Oba (b. 1984), a Los Angeles-based saxophonist and composer, who holds an MA from UCLA in Music Composition and whose second jazz album, Negai, released on the Japanese label M&I received a prestigious Swing Journal 42nd Annual Jazz Disc Award
Nathan Smith (b. 1983), a Brooklyn-based performer and composer who leads the Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble which performs throughout New York City
Emilio Solla (b. 1962), a Buenos Aires-born, Brooklyn-based artist, who has recorded more than 40 albums performing with Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, Cristina Pato, Billy Hart, Ryan Keberle and many more, and whose latest album, Second Half (2014), was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album
Anthony Tidd (b. 1972) who was born in London but is based in Philadelphia, and has performed with Steve Coleman, The Roots, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Wayne Krantz, Meshell Ndegeocello, Common, Jill Scott, and many more and has produced albums by such well-known artists such as The Roots, Macy Grey, Zap Mama, The Black Eyed Peas, and more.
The Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute is a program of American Composers Orchestra in partnership with the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The program is made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Continuing Innovation Program, and the Herb Alpert Foundation, with additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Fromm Music Foundation and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Buffalo Philharmonic and Naples Philharmonic are members of EarShot, the national orchestral composition discovery network, a partnership with the League of American Orchestras, New Music USA, and American Composers Forum, made possible with the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support of women composers provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
ACO’s Annual Round Up Of Up-And-Coming Jazz Composers
June 15 & 16, 2016, Miller Theatre, New York, NY
16 composers will participate in JCOI’s public readings and performance. Sessions will take place under the baton of Music Director George Manahan on June 15 & 16, 2016. The selected participants will have their pieces read by ACO in two reading sessions. During the JCOI Readings, the new works will be heard in rehearsal, open public readings, and a public performance. Composers will receive coaching from mentor composers during the period they are writing their pieces; and feedback from orchestra principal musicians, conductors, librarians, and mentor composers.
February 3, 2016 – 7PM at National Sawdust
Tickets: $25
Preview of the new song cycle “El Colapso” by composer & multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón. A collection of ambient influenced songs about escapism, delusion, longing and mortality written for voice, electronics, custom made instruments and Latin American folk instruments. This evening will mark the premiere performance of this collection of songs as a whole and will feature performances by the composer accompanied by Bayoán Ríos on Andean instruments, Shayna Dunkelman on xylosynth and percussion, robotic instruments designed by Nick Yulman, and other surprise collaborators.
American Composers Orchestra’s Composers OutFront! puts composers onstage, bringing audiences closer to the creative process. Angélica Negrón is ACO’s Van Lier Emerging Composer Fellow and this event represents the culmination of Negrón’s fellowship.
Angélica Negrón will be previewing her new song “El Colapso” February 3,2016 as part of ACO’s Composers OutFront program. Click here for more details.
Inside and Outside the Orchestra Some Thoughts About My Experience as ACO’s 2014-2015 Van Lier Fellow By: Angélica Negrón
I grew up playing in orchestras never even remotely thinking that I would one day write for one. As a violin student in the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico I spent an extensive amount of time playing music from the Classical and Romantic period without realizing there were living people amongst us writing music as well. I remember vividly the moment when a colleague mentioned he was planning on learning Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto for a violin competition at the Conservatory. I didn’t know anything about this composer but from the
moment I heard him practicing I quickly fell in love with the piece. He ended up winning the competition and part of his prize was to play the Concerto with the orchestra I was a part of. This was my first experience connecting with a work of art in a way that I strongly felt I wanted to do something similar with my own art. This was also my entry point to the world of contemporary music, even though Shostakovich was a long-gone composer by then, which opened my eyes and ears to the endless possibilities of new sounds. From then I started digging at the small library at the Conservatory looking for scores of living composers (I was successful in finding George Crumb’s Black Angels) as well as music/book stores looking for music that was being written at that moment. I encountered the work of Steve Reich, Luciano Berio, John Cage and Bang on a Can and my life completely changed.
At the end of my undergraduate studies I was very lucky to have the
opportunity to write a piece for a young composers workshop from the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. I wrote my first orchestra piece titled “Pequeño Sueño en Rojo” (Small Dream in Red) inspired by a Kandinsky painting of the same name. It was a terrifying, exciting, overwhelming and transformative experience to say the least. Needless to say I learned a great deal of things about orchestration with this first piece but mostly I learned that writing for orchestra is a particularly intense process in which you devote an immense amount of time to something that will then be given a microscopic fraction of that time in rehearsals to bring it to life. This is part of why makes it so exciting and terrifying at the same time, the limited amount of time that you’ll get for rehearsals and the intimidating instrumental force juxtaposed with the vast possibilities of this massive medium.
I loved writing for orchestra so much that I ended up writing two more orchestra works,
another one for the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and one more for the NYU Symphony Orchestra as part of my graduate studies there, as well a ballet for large ensemble. After this (around 2008) I experienced a pivotal transitional year between my masters and doctoral studies in which I had a revelation that significantly change the course of my music. Essentially I started to write the music I wanted to listen to, which I know sounds like an obvious choice for a composer, but in my case it’s something I struggled with a lot while being at school. For the past seven years I’ve been on this path exploring this direction mostly in the context of small ensembles with electronics as well as solo pieces (often times with electronics as well).
When I heard last year that I was selected as the Van Lier Fellow at the American Composers Orchestra I was ecstatic about re-encountering this great medium at this point in my life and also honored about the opportunity to work with such an outstanding orchestra that focuses on working with living composers. I saw this as an amazing opportunity to not only immerse myself in the professional environment of ACO and its guest artists but also as an open window to start thinking about how my recent compositional ideas could translate into the orchestral medium. This being said, I was very clear that writing a piece for ACO was not part of the fellowship but I knew that being around the orchestra so much as well as attending many rehearsals and listening to the incredibly diverse programming of ACO’s season would inevitably start giving me ideas on how I would want to write for the orchestra when the opportunity arose (little did I knew this would come sooner rather than later!).
Attending many ACO rehearsals and being literally inside the orchestra, hearing everything so close, gave me a different perspective on the music being played as well as on the dynamic of the musicians and composers during the rehearsal process. It’s really interesting seeing how each composer has their own unique way of communicating both verbally and musically what they’re looking for in their pieces and to see how the conductor and the performers interpret this and help bring the pieces to life. Attending and observing the ACO’s Underwood New Music Readings was incredibly insightful and gave me a lot of important and practical information not only about the business of composing but also about the importance of effective and direct communication between the composer and the conductor as well as the musicians. It was also the best orchestration lesson I’ve ever had having the opportunity to see how the pieces by the seven emerging composers evolved throughout the week as well as observing the revisions they made and how those decisions and changes affected the piece. Another great experience as part of my fellowship was meeting Meredith Monk who’s one of my main inspirations as a composer and also the subject of my doctoral dissertation. Observing Meredith work with the orchestra was particularly enthralling, as she’s a composer that often works with her performers for extended periods of time and this case it was quite the opposite. Having the chance to witness the rehearsal process of one of her rare orchestral works was something exceptional that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
I was pleasantly surprised at an ACO rehearsal when President Michael
Geller and Artistic Director Derek Bermel mentioned that they wanted to commission me to write a new piece for the orchestra as part of the SONiC Festival. Naturally I was overjoyed with this amazing opportunity and I immediately started thinking about some pretty ambitious ideas. When I heard that the premiere would take place at the Winter Garden I decided to write a piece, which used the performance space as a compositional element. I thought this would be a great occasion to bring in a collaborator I’ve been working recently with: instrument builder Nick Yulman. We talked about some ideas and choose to incorporate for the piece an ensemble of mechanical instruments, which would be placed in different locations in the space interacting with the orchestra to create an immersive sonic landscape that surrounds the audience. This was a bit of a risky idea as I would have no way of trying it out before the day of the performance but I was elated with the results as it all came together like magic during the day of the concert. The space’s reverberation blended in like another instrument and Nick’s gorgeous instruments resonated throughout the space in an entrancing way. After 7 years of writing my latest orchestra piece and an intensive year of being immersed in this wonderful orchestra, it was an incredible experience to be able to explore my current voice through this medium and to put into practice all that I’ve learned as well as put out there all that I’ve yet to learn.
Needless to say it was still terrifying, still exciting, still overwhelming and still very much
transformative.
January 10, 2016 – 11:00 AM
Mannes School of Music – Recital Hall (Room 750)
Admission is free but seating is limited. Reservation required.
RSVP to: kevin@americancomposers.org
ACO’s Compose Yourself! education program will feature a reading session/performance of the newest works by six talented high school composers.
The students presented on this program are working to become a driving force of creativity in the music of tomorrow. They’ve all participated in regular classes since September, and a few have been a part of Compose Yourself! since its inception, two years ago. Compose Yourself! is focused on helping the students to develop positive approaches to creativity, learning professional standards of preparation, and developing basic compositional skills in a supportive, hands-on environment. The Jan. 10 session is a pivotal moment in this process, when the students not only hear their ideas from the lens of great musicians, but also learn to interact with those musicians in a professional setting.
The program features the Concert Artist Guild award-winning PUBLIQuartet.
Dubbed “independent-minded” by The New YOrker, PUBLIQuartet’s creative programming lends a fresh perspective to the Classical music scene. PQ’s innovative programs span the classical canon, contemporary works, original compositions, and open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet.
With their passion for music education, PUBLIQuartet is sought after for their creative and energetic workshops. Their mission to enrich and inspire students of diverse backgrounds has led them to hold residencies with the American Composers Orchestra, Deer Valley Music Festival’s “Emerging Quartets and Composers” program, Kanack School in Rochester, NY, and across the Northeast.
Friday, October 23, 2015 at 7:30 PM Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA
GEORGE MANAHAN, Music Director & Conductor
HANNAH LASH, harp
CAROLINE SHAW, vocals
PAUL LIEBER, projections
All World Premieres
MICHAEL-THOMAS FOUMAI: The Spider Thread
JUDAH ADASHI: Sestina MELODY EÖTVÖS: Red Dirt | Silver Rain HANNAH LASH: Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra
CONRAD WINSLOW: Joint Account
ACO brings SONiC to a rousing grand finale with an ALL-WORLD-PREMIERE concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, with diverse composer-alumni from ACO’s national new music readings programs. Conrad Winslow creates a multimedia essay built on Baroque techniques described by 18th-century theorist Johann Mattheson. Melody Eötvös relives her Australian childhood, recreating the earth and sky in music. Hannah Lash, as both composer and soloist, devises music in which the harp takes over an entire orchestra. Inspired by a Japanese tale of morality, Michael-Thomas Foumai recounts a rapturous and frantic dash for spiritual salvation—an orchestral high-wire climb, before the thread snaps.
The 2015-2016 season marks ACO’s 39th season as as a catalyst for the creation of new orchestral music, creating new opportunities for American composers and for audiences. The beginning of the season includes an Orchestra Underground concert at Zankel Hall – and a concert at Arts Brookfield’s Winter Garden to be broadcast on WQXR’s New Sounds Live hosted by John Schaefer.
Our first two orchestra concerts this season serve as the start and finish of our SONiC FESTiVAL which highlights new music of composers under forty written in the 21st century. Through these 12 chamber and two orchestral concerts, we explore the boundaries of the imagination in the music of today’s creative generation.
The season also includes our 25th Underwood New Music Readings, our annual round-up of the nation’s top young composers, as well as emerging composers readings around the country through ACO’s EarShot network. We also return for the third round of readings of participants in the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute which just finished its third series of week-long workshops at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.
Friday, October 16, 2015, 8 pm
The Winter Garden at Brookfield Place
ACO: New York Stories (New Sounds Live – an all world premiere concert) George Manahan, Music Director & Conductor
JACK Quartet
DM Stith, vocals
The Crossing, Donald Nally, director
ANGELICA NEGRON: Me He Perdido (I’ve Gotten Lost) (World Premiere. ACO Commission) ANDY AKIHO: Tarnished Mirrors (World Premiere. ACO/Underwood Commission) ALEX MINCEK: Continuo, Concerto for JACK Quartet (World Premiere. ACO/NYSCA Commission) JUDD GREENSTEIN: My City (World Premiere. ACO Co-Commission)
Friday, October 23, 2015, at 7:30pm – Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
Orchestra Underground: 21st Firsts (an all world premiere concert) American Composers Orchestra
George Manahan, Music Director & Conductor
Hannah Lash, harp
David Tinervia, baritone
Paul Lieber, projections
MICHAEL-THOMAS FOUMAI:The Spider Thread (World Premiere) NINA C. YOUNG:Out of whose womb came the ice (World Premiere. ACO/Jerome commission) MELODY EOTVOS: Red Dirt | Silver Rain (World Premiere. ACO/Toulmin commission) HANNAH LASH: Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra (World Premiere. ACO/Carnegie Hall/Cheswatyr commission) CONRAD WINSLOW: Joint Account (World Premiere. ACO/Carnegie Hall commission)
Friday, April 1, 2016 at 7:30 pm –Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall Orchestra Underground: Eastern Wind George Manahan, Music Director & Conductor
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, vocals & ud
Evan Hughes, bass-baritone
SAAD HADDAD: Manarah (World Premiere. ACO Commission.) REENA ESMAIL: New Work for orchestra and video
(World Premiere. ACO Commission.) MEHMET ALI SANLIKOL: Harabat (The Intoxicated)
(World Premiere. ACO/Carnegie Hall Commission.) GITY RAZAZ: The Metamorphosis of Narcissus MATTHIAS PINTSCHER: Songs from Solomon’s Garden
Mid June, 2016 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings George Manahan, Music Director & Conductor Derek Bermel, Artistic Director
ACO’s annual roundup of the country’s brightest young and emerging composers.
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