Commissioning Music/USA 2005
*denotes lead commissioning organization in a consortium
Geri Allen · Upper Montclair, NJ
Geri Allen
|
Commissioning Organizations:
*Walt Whitman Arts Center · Camden, NJ
African American Museum in Philadelphia · Philadelphia, PA
Renowned pianist and composer Geri Allen will create a memorial work for the victims and families of the September 11 attacks.
The Walt Whitman Arts Center will present the premiere in September 2005 followed by performances in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC.
Links:
Geri Allen
Walt Whitman Center
Ashby Anderson · Richmond, VA
Ashby Anderson
|
Commissioning Organization:
Jazz Composers Alliance · Richmond, VA
Anderson will create four short works based on historical figures and places of the Richmond area. This new suite will premiere at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, in fall 2005.
Links:
Ashby Anderson
Jazz Composers Alliance
Eve Beglarian · New York, NY
Eve Beglarian
|
Commissioning Organizations:
Maya Beiser, cello · Riverdale, NY
*On The Boards · Seattle, WA
Walker Art Center · Minneapolis, MN
Carnegie Hall · New York, NY
Emory University · Atlanta, GA
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts · Urbana, IL
Washington Performing Arts Society · Washington, DC
Beglarian's new work for cellist Maya Beiser,
From a Far-Off Country, will incorporate live performance and sound design created from recordings of 12 women, each representing different vocal traditions from around the world.
The piece will premiere at Carnegie Hall in spring of 2006. Beiser and Beglarian will then tour the piece nationally and internationally.
Links:
Eve Beglarian
Maya Beiser
Jherek Bischoff · Seattle, WA
Joshua Kohl · Seattle, WA
Josh Stewart · Seattle, WA
Commissioning Organization:
Degenerate Art Ensemble · Seattle, WA
The composers of the Degenerate Art Ensemble will compose a new evening-length suite of compositions for the DAE ensemble.
The ensemble for this suite is a combination of traditional instruments and a battery of unique instruments of the group's own design. The suite will be premiered as part of On The Board's Northwest Artist Series in fall 2005.
Links:
Degenerate Art Ensemble
Martin Bresnick · New Haven, CT
Martin Bresnik
photo: ASCAP
|
Commissioning Organization:
So Percussion · Brooklyn, NY
Stunning newcomers So Percussion have commissioned a new work from internationally recognized composer Martin Bresnick based on Brecht's teaching play
The Exception and The Rule.
Joining forces with pianist Lisa Moore, So will premiere the work at Yale University followed by touring performances throughout the US.
Links:
Martin Bresnick
So Percussion
Mary Ellen Childs · Minneapolis, MN
Mary Ellen Childs
(photo: Warwick Green)
|
Commissioning Organization:
Kathleen Supové, pianist · Brooklyn, NY
Mary Ellen Childs will create a new work for acclaimed soloist Kathleen Supové entitled
Eye To Ivory. The new work will make use of innovative piano textures and also focus on the role that body movement and visual aspects play in its rendering.
It will exist in two forms: as a purely musical work that can be performed in any concert setting, and as a work that highlights the performer's movement by incorporating live video.
Supové will premiere the piece at New York's Flea Theater in early 2006 and tour the work nationally from there.
Links:
Mary Ellen Childs
Kathleen Supové
Anthony Cornicello · West Hartford, CT
Commissioning Organization:
ModernWorks! · New York, NY
ModernWorks' unique instrumentation of violin, cello and accordion will be the vehicle for a new electro-acoustic work by Anthony Cornicello.
ModernWorks will premiere the new piece at the Sonic Boom 12 festival in New York City, November 2005, and then tour the work throughout the North East.
Links:
Anthony Cornicello
ModernWorks
Robert Dick · Brooklyn, NY
Robert Dick
|
Commissioning Organizations:
*Sylvan Winds · New York, NY
Vento Chiaro · Cambridge, MA
Sierra Winds · Las Vegas, NV
Innovative flutist and composer Robert Dick will create a new work for wind quintet. Each movement will be based on a classic work of science fiction, a passion of the composer's, particularly given its unbridled imagination coupled with logical structure.
After its premiere at Carnegie Hall, each of the commissioning ensembles will make the new work part of their repertoire for the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Links:
Robert Dick
Kui Dong · Hanover, NH
Kui Dong
|
Commissioning Organization:
Melody of China · San Francisco, CA
Kui Dong will create a new work inspired by a combination of Vivaldi's
Four Seasons and the work of John Cage. The piece will be scored for an ensemble comprised of traditional Chinese instruments and string quartet.
It will be premiered by Melody of China and the Del Sol String Quartet in spring 2006 in San Francisco.
Links:
Kui Dong
Melody of China
Fred Frith · Oakland, CA
Fred Frith
|
Commissioning Organization:
Bang on a Can · Brooklyn, NY
Renowned composer and guitarist Fred Frith will create a new work for the Bang on a Can All-Stars. The All-Stars will premiere the piece in spring of 2006 and include it in their subsequent tour.
Links:
Fred Frith
Bang on a Can
Guillermo Galindo · Oakland, CA
Commissioning Organization:
Earplay · San Francisco, CA
Guillermo Galindo
|
This new work will feature MAIZ, a cybertotemic instrument created by Galindo that uses computers and abandoned machinery parts.
The piece will echo Galindo's search for an art form that weds contradictory concepts such as primal instincts, animism and mythology with science and technology.
Earplay and Galindo will premiere the work at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in spring 2006.
Links:
Guillermo Galindo
Earplay
Jimmy Heath · Corona, NY
Jimmy Heath
photo: Tom Pich
|
Commissioning Organization:
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra · Seattle, WA
The legendary Jimmy Heath will create a new work for the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. The work will premiere in Seattle's Benaroya Hall in March 2006 followed by performances and radio broadcasts throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Links:
Jimmy Heath
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
Fred Ho · Brooklyn, NY
Fred Ho
photo: Jack Mitchell
|
Commissioning Organization:
IIIZ+ · Juneau, AK
Composer and saxophonist Fred Ho will create a new work for the Alaska-based ensemble IIIZ+ which is comprised of musicians trained in three different East Asian musical traditions.
Ho will combine these traditions with his background in American Jazz to create a unique work for this one-of-a-kind ensemble. The piece will premiere late 2005 and be toured throughout Europe and North America in 2006.
Links:
Fred Ho
IIIZ+
Christopher Janney · Lexington, MA
Commissioning Organization:
Dancing in the Streets · New York, NY
Composer and architect Christopher Janney will create a new improvisatory work for three to five players based on Indian ragas and American jazz.
Accompanying the performers will be a five-story Aeolian harp also created by Janney. The strings of the harp will be activated by not only the wind but also radio and television signals in the air.
The sounds of the harp will be controlled by Janney during the performances and become part of the improvisations of the other musicians in the ensemble. The performances will take place at the World Financial Center, New York City, in early fall 2005.
Links:
Christopher Janney
Dancing in the Streets
Libby Larsen · Minneapolis, MN
Libby Larsen |
Commissioning Organization:
Cassatt Quartet · New York, NY
Renowned composer Libby Larsen will write a string quartet in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Cassatt Quartet. The work will premiere in November 2005 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and will then be performed at Minneapolis' Schubert Club, the Jocelyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE, and numerous other venues throughout North America.
Links:
Libby Larsen
Cassatt Quartet
John Lindberg · Kerhonkson, NY
Kevin Norton · Leonia, NJ
John Lindberg
|
Kevin Norton
photo: Anja Hitzenberger
|
Commissioning Organizations:
*Sound Directions · Warwick, NY
William Paterson University · Wayne, NJ
Puffin Foundation · Teaneck, NJ
Lindberg and Norton have been commissioned to write two new works for an ensemble of trumpet, woodwinds, bass, and percussion. Lindberg and Norton, along with J.D. Parran on winds and Dave Ballou on trumpet, will premiere the new pieces at William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, and then take them on the road, performing throughout the North East and Midwest.
Links:
John Lindberg
Kevin Norton
Pat Muchmore · New York, NY
Pat Muchmore
|
Commissioning Organization:
Jennifer Baker, trombonist · Oakland, CA
Muchmore will create a new work for solo trombone and interactive electronics for soloist Jennifer Baker. The new work will be premiered at Mills College, Oakland, CA, in fall 2005.
Links:
Pat Muchmore
James Newton · Covina, CA
Commissioning Organization:
Southwest Chamber Music · Pasadena, CA
James Newton
|
Jazz great James Newton will compose a full-length Mass using traditional Latin texts and scored for four solo singers and 12-person ensemble.
Southwest Chamber Music will premiere the work as part of their 20th anniversary season followed by numerous performances in southern California and a European premiere at Austria's Festwochen Gnumden in 2006.
Links:
James Newton
Southwest Chamber Music
Frederic Rzewski · Brussels, Belgium
Frederic Rzewski
|
Commissioning Organization:
Robert Satterlee, pianist · Ann Arbor, MI
Rzewski will create a new piano piece for soloist Robert Satterlee. The premiere will be presented by Chamber Music Quad Cities, Davenport, IA, as part of an all-Rzewski program.
Satterlee will then tour this program throughout the US and Europe in 2006 and 2007.
Links:
Frederic Rzewski
Steven Stucky · Ithaca, NY
Steven Stucky
photo: Betty Freeman
|
Commissioning Organizations:
*Kansas City Chorale · Kansas City, MO
Grinnell Singers · Grinnell, IA
Seattle Pro Musica · Seattle, WA
Phoenix Bach Choir · Phoenix, AZ
Steven Stucky will write a new a cappella work, 10-12 minutes in length. The new work will premiere at Kansas City's Folly Theater in fall 2005, followed by performances in Iowa, Arizona, and Washington State.
Links:
Steven Stucky
Kansas City Chorale
Ezequiel Viñao · New York, NY
Ezequiel Viñao
|
Commissioning Organizations:
*Chanticleer · San Francisco, CA
Chicago a cappella · Chicago, IL
Viñao's translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Wanderer" will be the basis of a new 12-part work for a cappella chorus. Chanticleer will premiere the work in 2007.
Links:
Ezequiel Viñao
Chanticleer
