Commissioning Music/USA 2001
John Luther Adams; Fairbanks, AK
Commissioning Parties:
· Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Los Angeles, CA
· WNYC Radio; New York, NY
· South Florida Composers Alliance; Miami, FL
Composer JOHN LUTHER ADAMS will create a concert-length work of 60-75 minutes for solo percussion and electronic sounds. He will create the work in close collaboration with-and specifically for-percussionist Steven Schick. It will be completed in 2002 and performed during the 2003-2004 season at consortium member's sites as well as the University of California, San Diego, Manhattan School of Music, and American Originals Festival, Alaska.
Along with special exhibitions and education programs, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is committed to presenting a broad spectrum of music programming for the Los Angeles community. Originally founded in 1939, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Monday Evening Concerts series has been presented regularly at the museum since 1965. This exceptional concert series focuses on music of the 20th and 21st centuries, performed by some of the world's best artists specializing in this repertoire. LACMA's Music Department is a four time recipient of the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming.
Eve Beglarian; New York, NY; Phil Kline; New York, NY
Commissioning Parties:
· Flynn Center for the Performing Arts; Burlington, VT
· Diverse Works; Houston, TX
· Arts at St. Ann's; Brooklyn, NY
EVE BEGLARIAN and PHIL KLINE will compose The Bilitis Project, an evening-length song-cycle setting the notoriously erotic Chansons de Bilitis of fin-de-siècle French writer Pierre Louÿs. Beglarian and Kline will create an evening of songs that they will perform with musicians Nurit Tilles and Margaret Lancaster. The completed work will include visual elements in the form of slides and/or video, and the extensive low-and high-tech electronics the two composers are known for, as well as live acoustic instruments and voices. The composers plan to finish the work by summer 2002. The premiere will be at The Flynn Center in October of 2002, and they will tour the project to the consortium member's venues.
Through a wide diversity of programming, the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts links artists, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, area businesses, and the general public in supporting and experiencing the performing arts. Recognized as a leading national presenter, the Flynn builds model programs, spawns important national artist projects, and provides invaluable leadership in the field of performing arts presentation. The Flynn Center was a founding site of the Lila Wallace National Jazz Network (NJN), 1991-99; and founding hub site of the National Dance Project, 1994-99.
Carter Burwell; New York, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Mabou Mines; New York, NY
Noted composer, vocalist, accordionist, and synthesist CARTER BURWELL will write a full length, 90-minute work based on the life of Lucia Joyce in relation to her father, James Joyce, and his work (particularly "Finnegan's Wake"). This work will weave documentary essays and letters by Lucia together with Joyce's Issy character from "Finnegan's Wake" as a parallel to her struggles with identity. Burwell's music will weave together these two worlds, creating a continuity and place where the real and the fictional co-exist. The completed work will premiere April 2002 in New York City.
Mabou Mines' mission for the past 30 years has been to look at theater in fresh ways by re-exploring existing theatrical works and creating new ones. Today, Mabou Mines' work represents the forefront of experimentation in technology, international collaboration, and multi-disciplinary creations with visual artists, puppeteers, and composers. Over the past three decades Mabou has won over 50 major awards and created 64 original productions in English, Spanish, and French.
Vic Chesnutt; Athens, GA
Commissioning Party:
· The St. Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts; Brooklyn, NY
Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter VIC CHESNUTT will compose a full length song cycle, between 60-90 minutes long, for a new music theater work for puppets in collaboration with award-winning puppet theater director Janie Geiser. This work will highlight both artists' reputations for exquisite portraiture, combining live actors and musicians, miniature to life-size puppets, and 16-mm black and white film. The full production will be produced and premiered by Arts at St. Ann's (ASA), with additional performances at the Walker Art Center and the Cotsen Center for Puppetry, as well as the Arts at the California Institute of the Arts in 2002-2003.
Now in its 21st season, Arts at St. Ann's has been recognized by artists and audiences alike as a leading innovator for its consistently inventive concert and new music theater presentations. ASA's music series celebrates the panoramic traditions of American and world cultures, with contemporary forays into new music, "alternative" country, blues and jazz, world music, pop forms, and gospel.
John Corigliano; New York, NY
Commissioning Parties:
· San Francisco Ballet Association; San Francisco, CA
· Minnesota Orchestra; Minnesota, MN
Internationally celebrated as one of the leading composers of his generation, JOHN CORIGLIANO will write a work of approximately 20 to 25 minutes in length for the San Francisco Ballet and Minnesota Orchestra. The new composition will be created in the next year and performed by the Minnesota Orchestra during its 2002-2003 season and San Francisco Ballet in spring 2003.
As America's oldest professional ballet company founded in 1933, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic "firsts," performing the first American productions of Swan Lake, Nutcracker, and Coppélia. One of the premiere performing arts institutions in the nation, San Francisco Ballet is the third largest ballet company in the United States. The company performs annually to an audience of 250,000 in San Francisco and over 40,000 in national and international touring locations.
Now on the brink of its 100th anniversary, the 95-member Minnesota Orchestra performs more than 200 concerts each year. With numerous commissions in its history, the Orchestra nourishes a strong commitment to contemporary music and has earned a high ranking and a respected position in the roster of great American orchestras.
Dave Douglas; Brooklyn, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Extension Ensemble; New York, NY
Internationally known composer, improviser, and trumpeter DAVE DOUGLAS will create a 10-12 minute piece for brass quintet to be completed by September 2001 for concerts in the Extension Ensemble's 2001-2002 season. The piece will be an exciting addition to the brass quintet repertoire, representing the finest of the contemporary 'downtown' scene in New York City.
Since its inception in 1997, Extension Ensemble has been dedicated to the performance of contemporary works. It has quickly established itself as a promising and fresh force in New York's chamber music scene by performing a wide variety of contemporary and early music.
Gabriela Lena Frank; Ann Arbor, MI
Commissioning Party:
· Musicorda, Inc; South Hadley, MA
GABRIELA LENA FRANK will write two quartets for Musicorda. The first quartet, Mestiza: Letters from the Motherland for String Quartet, will be premiered by the Chiara String Quartet at the July 27, 2001 Musicorda Festival Series concert. The second is a shorter piece for string quartet, which will use Latin American folk music and be performed by Musicorda student quartets in several outreach programs in the Latino communities of the Pioneer Valley. A doctoral student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ms. Frank has been recognized with several awards and commissions from ASCAP, the Theodore Presser Music Foundation, the National Federation of Music Clubs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and others.
Musicorda, Inc., founded in 1987, offers professional training and performance experience to gifted students of strings and piano. Musicorda has enjoyed a history of successfully producing outstanding summer concerts and inspiring hundreds of gifted young musicians through a combination of artistic leadership and the organizational structure to plan, market, publicize, produce, and support this complex endeavor.
Janice Giteck, Seattle, WA;
Frank Hannaway, Atlanta, GA;
Pauline Oliveros; Kingston, NY;
Alvin Singleton; Atlanta, GA
Commissioning Party:
· THAMYRIS, new music ensemble, Decatur, GA
JANICE GITECK, PAULINE OLIVEROS, ALVIN SINGLETON, and FRANK HANNAWAY will each compose a solo percussion piece of 5 to 15 minutes to be performed as part of a new music theater piece which will be presented at venues from coast to coast beginning January 2002. This project explores the beauty and complexity of everyday life, from giving birth to the loss of a child, from celebrating life to losing dear friends. It will be recorded on CD by ACA Digital recordings with distribution by Albany Records.
Thamyris, new music ensemble was founded in 1987 for the purpose of commissioning, presenting, and recording new music. Since its inception, Thamyris has commissioned over 100 new works for chamber ensemble, presented hundreds of concerts of new music to diverse audiences, recorded the works of numerous American composers, and been recognized for creative programming.
Charles Griffin; Kew Gardens, NY
Commissioning Parties:
· New Music Marimba; New York, NY
· Joseph Gramley; New York, NY
· William Moersch; Champaign, IL
· Luanne Warner; Berkeley, CA
Composer, orchestrator, and arranger CHARLES GRIFFIN will create a 10-12 minute piece scored for solo percussion that will feature keyboard percussion instruments such as marimba, vibraphone, and crotales. The piece was initiated by New York-based solo multi-percussionist Joseph Gramley, who will perform the work a minimum of two or three times. Three soloists representing a diverse geographical spread will perform the work. In addition to Mr. Gramley's performances in New York, Texas and Florida, world renowned marimba soloist William Moersch will perform the work twice at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, IL. Bay Area percussionist Luanne Warner will also present the work on the Old First Church Concerts series in San Francisco and also at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA.
Graham Haynes; New York, NY
Commissioning Party:
· The Kitchen; New York, NY
Regarded as an innovator on cornet and flugelhorn, GRAHAM HAYNES is an extraordinary composer of contemporary electronic music and World Beat. Haynes will write a new 90-minute work that will be presented by The Kitchen in spring 2002. He will work in collaboration with multi-media poet/writer Tracie Morris and choreographer Maia Claire Garrison on a score for small ensemble that will include cornet, trombone, bass, guitar, electronic and acousic drums and percussion, additional stringed instruments, tape and electronics.
The Kitchen has been a powerful force in shaping the cultural landscape of this country for almost three decades. It was founded in 1971 by a group of video artists, and incorporated in 1973. In its infancy it was an artists' collective-a hotbed of experimentation where artists could share their creative forays and collaborations with colleagues. Today, The Kitchen is an internationally acclaimed presenting institution and media center. It is widely known for its commitment to experimental art, and has helped launch the careers of many artists who have defined the American avant-garde.
Mark Izu; San Francisco, CA
Commissioning Parties:
· First Voice; San Francisco, CA
· Asia Society; New York, NY
· Contemporary Art Museum; Chicago, IL
MARK IZU will compose a 90-minute production which will explore East/West musical fusion, combining elements of western classical music, American Jazz/New Music, North Indian Classical music, traditional Persian musical instruments, and Gagaku (Japanese court music). Mr. Izu has been the Artistic Director of the Asian American Jazz Festival for the past 18 years and has gained international attention for developing the new musical genre Asian American Jazz.
The mission of First Voice is to develop new works expressing the music and stories of people caught between worlds by drawing upon Eastern and Western performing art traditions, and to engage and inspire contemporary audiences.
Jin Hi Kim; Black Rock, CT
Commissioning Party:
· Zeitgeist; St. Paul, MN
Korean-born composer JIN HI KIM, who is highly acclaimed as a komungo virtuoso and is known for her cross-cultural compositions, will create a 20-minute new work for Zeitgeist. This piece will be written for Zeitgeist's instrumentation of percussion, piano, and woodwinds with an optional Komungo part. Kim's new work will be completed by March 2002 and will be premiered at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in spring 2002.
Founded in 1977, Zeitgeist's mission is to enliven today's music and expand its audiences with performances that absorb, stimulate, and hearten. Dedicated to contemporary music, in particular the music of the last 20 years, Zeitgeist has commissioned more than 70 works by both emerging composers and some of the finest established composers of our time.
John King; New York, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Kronos Quartet; San Francisco, CA
JOHN KING, known for his compositional virtuosity and musical vision, will compose a new score for the Kronos Quartet. This 15-20 minute work will be for string quartet and is set to be completed by fall 2001. The world premiere is scheduled for March 2002 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.
Since its founding in 1973, Kronos has focused on the creation of a repertoire by commissioning and premiering 400 new string quartets from composers spanning six continents and at least four generations. They believe that by commissioning and performing new music, collaborating with artists of different aesthetic and cultural points of view, and redefining musical elements that can constitute a string quartet piece, the string quartet can be an exciting and limitless medium for 21st century artistic expression.
Yusef Lateef; Amherst, MA
Commissioning Parties:
· World Music Institute; New York, NY
· Felipe Hall; New York, NY
YUSEF LATEEF, composer/musician, will write a new 35-minute concerto for piano and orchestra that will require a 60-piece orchestra. The commission is at the request of pianist and musicologist Professor Felipe Hall, who will perform the premiere and subsequent performances accompanied by a new orchestra to be established under the auspices of the World Music Institute. Upon completion of the concerto, the work will be premiered in concert and recorded at Carnegie Hall in November 2001. In addition, half of the soloist's proceeds will be contributed to the Therapeutic Music Workshop Foundation for Children and Adolescents with AIDS.
The World Music Institute is a not-for-profit concert-presenting organization dedicated to the research and presentation of the finest in traditional and contemporary music and dance from around the world. WMI supports and encourages musicians from immigrant communities and collaborates with universities, cultural organizations, and other organizations that have similar goals.
Jon Magnussen; Princeton, NJ
Commissioning Parties:
· Limón Dance Company; New York, NY
· Weber State University; Ogden , UT
· Texas International Theatrical Arts Society; Dallas, TX
· University of Texas at Austin; Austin, TX
JON MAGNUSSEN, winner of the prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Martin E. Segal Award in 1998, will compose a 30-minute ballet score for the José Limón Dance Company's remounting of the Limón classic, "Psalm," in collaboration with Artistic Director Carla Maxwell. The work will be scored for large chorus with tenor solo and chamber ensemble, consisting of bass trombone, 2 percussion, piano, harp, and string quartet. The work will take place during the 2001-2002 season and is part of the "Limón and Jazz Project," an evening that highlights the affinities between contemporary music and dance. It will premiere at the Cultural Olympics in Salt Lake City during February of 2002.
Limón Dance Company shares a commitment to making classic American modern dance come alive for new generations. This mission is pursued through self-produced performance seasons, national and international tours, professional workshops, in-school programs, exhibitions, publications, and the staging of Limón dances for other companies.
James Mobberley; Liberty, MO;
Paul Rudy; Kansas City, MO
Commissioning Party:
· Music From China; New York, NY
Music From China has commissioned JAMES MOBBERLEY and PAUL RUDY to compose a work for their ensemble. The composition is intended to expand its repertoire with music that contemplates the meeting of the cultures of East and West by American composers. The two composers aim to capture the idiomatic expression of traditional Chinese instruments, using new technologies, 20th century composition techniques, and Western sensibilities in their efforts to add a fresh and exciting voice to Chinese new music. Mobberley's proposed work, to be from 7 to 24 minutes in length, is an expansion in length and instrumentation of his initiation piece for Chinese instruments called Dim Sum. Paul Rudy's piece will be 18 minutes in length and will be written for erhu, yangqin (hammered dulcimer) and dizi, with a recorded electronic component. Music From China plans to premiere both pieces in Fall 2001 in their Premiere Works XI concert at Merkin Hall. Both works will subsequently be performed at Temple University in Philadelphia, the University of Missouri in Kansas City, and at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio.
Founded in 1984, Music From China has been praised by the New York Times for the "grace and virtuosity" of its performance. The organization is distinguished as the only Chinese ensemble with a long-standing program of new music commissioning and performance.
Meredith Monk; New York, NY
Commissioning Parties:
· The House Foundation for the Arts; New York, NY
· On Stage at Connecticut College; New London, CT
· Performing Arts Chicago; Chicago, IL
· The American Dance Festival; Durham, NC
· Miami-University of Ohio; Oxford, OH
· University of California at Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA
· Wexner Center for the Arts / OSU; Columbus, OH
MEREDITH MONK, pioneering composer in what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance," will create music for a new opera/musical theater production. The piece will feature an ensemble of eight singer/performers and will use a wide range of instruments, instrumental settings, and musical forms. Themes of the work will include art as devotion; art as healer; invention; and the study of phenomena. It will premiere at the American Dance Festival in July 2001 and tour throughout 2002 with presentations at the Wexner Center, Performing Arts Chicago, Connecticut College, University of California Los Angeles, and the Miami-University of Ohio.
Since its inception in 1968, The House Foundation has been dedicated to developing, producing, touring, recording, and exhibiting the works of contemporary performing artist Meredith Monk. The House Foundation has grown from a fledgling operation founded on a shoestring nearly 30 years ago into a seasoned production company that has continued to support Monk's works.
Diedre L. Murray; Jamaica, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Vineyard Theatre; New York, NY
Obie winner and master musician DIEDRE MURRAY will create a new music theatre piece titled Brutal Imagination for the Vineyard Theatre. The piece will run approximately 60-90 minutes and will require two actor/singers, three actors, four musicians (guitar, piano, cello, and violin), and a musical director/conductor. The work will premiere during Vineyard's 2001-2002 season in the spring of 2002.
The Vineyard Theatre is dedicated to nurturing, developing, and producing distinctive new plays and musicals. Their productions have been honored with two Pulitzer Prizes, two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, 12 Obie Awards, eight Lucille Lortel Awards, three Outer Circle Awards, The Oppenheimer Award, and five Drama Desk Awards.
Mark Dresser; Brooklyn, NY;
Jon Raskin; Oakland, CA
Commissioning Party:
· Rova:Arts; San Francisco, CA
Composer and saxophonist JON RASKIN will write a 15 to 20 minute composition titled "Juke Box Suite," that will include notated passages as well as structures for improvisation for the Rova Saxophone Quartet. Composer MARK DRESSER will create a 12-17 minute piece for the ensemble. The piece, titled "Remudadero," will emphasize transforming parameter-specific improvisational instruction integrated with traditional notation.
Incorporated in 1985, Rova:Arts, the non-profit umbrella organization of the Rova Saxophone Quartet, is devoted to extending the leading edge of musical expression and related artistic disciplines. Inspired and informed by the work of the Rova Saxophone Quartet, Rova:Arts administers the ensemble's activities, presents work by other forward-looking artists, commissions new works by established and emerging composers, and furthers the public's understanding of adventurous art through education and outreach.
Rob Reddy; Brooklyn, NY
Commissioning Parties:
· Incubator, Inc./The Honor System; Brooklyn, NY
· Erie Art Museum; Erie, PA
· Hallwalls; Buffalo, NY
· Fourth World; South Euclid, OH
· Knitting Factory; New York, NY
Rapidly emerging composer ROB REDDY will create a 50-60 minute, four-movement suite for The Honor System. Instrumentation will include saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, and percussion. The suite will draw heavily from American and African-American music, including gospel, marching music, Appalachian folk music, blues and jazz. The premiere performance is scheduled for early fall 2001 at the Erie Art Museum. The Honor System will perform the suite several times during its fall 2001 tour of Canada and the American Midwest.
The Honor System was founded in 1991. Although this group highlights a three-horn front line with rhythm section, its book expands the instrumental roles of traditional jazz.
Omar Sosa; Oakland, CA
Commissioning Party:
· Dimensions Dance Theater; Oakland, CA
Cuban-born American pianist/composer OMAR SOSA will create a score for "From Africa to America" that will run 45 minutes. The work will be written for a mixed piano ensemble of jazz and traditional African instruments, involving four musicians. The goal is to create a large-scale evening-length multi-disciplinary work for 16-20 artists in the African format, with music, dance, and theater woven into a single art form that expresses both the diversity and commonality of culture in the African Diaspora. The piece will premiere as part of Dimensions Dance Theater's 30th Anniversary Season in Spring 2002.
Dimensions is a professional dance company and school founded in 1972 that promotes the knowledge and appreciation of African-derived dance. Dimensions has garnered national and international acclaim for its performances and has also become known for its cross-cultural and issues-oriented collaborations, bridging cultural, racial, and ethnic differences through the arts.
Carl Stone; San Francisco, CA
Commissioning Party:
· American Baroque; Emeryville, CA
Hailed by the Village Voice as "one of the best composers working in the country today," CARL STONE will compose a new work for baroque violin, baroque flute, baroque oboe, harpsichord, and viola da gamba. It will be 9-14 minutes and will premiere in February 2002. At least four additional performances are planned during the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons.
Founded in San Francisco in 1986, American Baroque brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th century music with new American works that are composed for the group through collaborations and commissions.
Ezequiel Viñao; New York, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Absolute Ensemble; New York, NY
One of today's most engaging and exciting composers, EZEQUIEL VIÑAO has been commissioned by Absolute Ensemble to write a 50-60 minute piece scored for solo violin, solo piano, and large ensemble. This piece will be based on a series of readings on the subjects of love and war from the Middle Ages. It will comprise several movements, each inspired by a specific reading, as though they were a series of paintings.
Since 1993, Absolute Ensemble has been a catalyst for change, choosing to integrate, rather than segregate music. Its uniqueness manifests itself in performance style, appearance, and scope of programming. Playing music of classical and jazz masters, rock arrangements, and original contemporary music, it promotes "classics" of a different kind like the Beatles, Frank Zappa, John Adams, and Michael Daugherty. Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Jimi Hendrix have previously found a place on the bill along with Bach, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg, and with works by new composers whom the band is often first to promote. It has premiered over 80 works to date.
Julia Wolfe; New York, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Bang on a Can; New York, NY
JULIA WOLFE will create a new 60-minute work scored for six musicians with the instrumentation of cello, clarinet/saxophone, piano/keyboards, electric guitar, bass, and percussion interwoven with spoken material drawn from interviews. Wolfe, whose background includes theater, dance, and vocal training, approaches music composition with a sensibility that combines the best of all of these art forms. The premiere is scheduled to take place in October 2002 with further performances in 2003.
Bang on a Can was founded to create a forum for the most innovative and adventurous music of our time. It aims to discover emerging composers and ensembles who are exploring new musical territories and reaching for a musical expression beyond the status quo. In 13 years, Bang on a Can has grown from a one-day festival to a multi-faceted organization.
Randall Woolf; Brooklyn, NY
Commissioning Party:
· Northern Kentucky Symphony; Newport, KY
RANDALL WOOLF, a 1999-2000 Guggenheim Fellow, will write a 10-15 minute work scored for orchestra with triple winds for the Northern Kentucky Symphony (NKS). The composition will explore a fusion of blues music and song form with a traditional orchestra and is to be completed in October 2001.
As it begins its ninth season, Northern Kentucky Symphony (NKS) has enjoyed tremendous advances in terms of artistry, audience development, budget, community recognition, and support. NKS is the only orchestra located in Northern Kentucky, and is unique in the Greater Cincinnati area in its efforts to provide high-quality classical music concerts at no cost to schools or students.
COMMISSIONING MUSIC/USA 2001 is a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and is made possible by generous support from the Helen F. Whitaker Fund, the Catherine Filene Shouse Foundation (a funding source for emerging composers), and the Target Foundation.
