Q2 Music to broadcast 2016 NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute concert | Oct 18 at 9 pm
Tue, Oct 18, at 9 pm at www.q2music.org
- Concert features Institute Director Steven Mackey’s Turn the Key, new works from four Institute composers
- David Robertson conducts the NJSO in performance recorded live in July
- Broadcast will be available on demand at www.q2music.org
NEWARK, NJ (October 12, 2016)—WQXR’s online new-music station Q2 Music will broadcast the 2016 NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute concert, “Scores: New Orchestral Works,” on Tuesday, October 18, at 9 pm. The program—a live NJSO performance under the baton of David Robertson, recorded on July 16 at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton—features new works by the four composers of the 2016 NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, as well as a work from Institute Director Steven Mackey. The broadcast, which will include interviews with the Institute composers, will become available for on-demand listening in the archives at www.q2music.org.
Mackey says that the 2016 Institute’s four emerging composers, selected from an international applicant pool, impressed with “their dynamic works and strong individual voices.” The composers drew inspiration for their works from different sources. Matthew Browne’s Farthest South imagines an unusual encounter on Ernest Shackleton’s “Nimrod Expedition” to Antarctica; James Anderson’s Places with Pillars is about the extraordinary events upon which people place meaning in their lives. Jung Yoon Wie’s Water Prism for Orchestra illustrates the phenomenon of light passing through a prism and forming a rainbow; Will Stackpole was moved to write ... Ask Questions Later as a reaction to gun violence headlines. Mackey wrote his celebratory, rhythmic Turn the Key for the 2006 opening of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.
At the six-day Institute, the composers participated in masterclasses with Mackey, heard their works rehearsed and performed by the NJSO and received feedback from guest conductor David Robertson and NJSO musicians. They also enjoyed career-enriching sessions with music-industry leaders, including Q2 Music; Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.; New Music USA and Subito Music Corporation, as well as executive speech coach, author and Inc.com columnist Sims Wyeth. During a visit to Q2 Music’s studios, the composers participated in the interviews that will air during the concert broadcast.
The Institute is presented in collaboration with the Princeton University Department of Music and generously funded in part by the Edward T. Cone Foundation and Princeton University. Additional information is available at www.njsymphony.org/institute.
Program notes are available at www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/scores-new-orchestral-works#discover-more.
Scores: New Orchestral Works
Recorded July 16, 2016 | Richardson Auditorium in Princeton
David Robertson, conductor
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
BROWNE Farthest South
ANDERSON Places with Pillars
WIE Water Prism for Orchestra
STACKPOLE … Ask Questions Later
MACKEY Turn the Key
Learn more at www.njsymphony.org/scores.
THE ARTISTS
James Anderson, composer
James Anderson is a composer in both acoustic and electroacoustic media, as well as a guitarist. He is pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at the University of Michigan, studying with Michael Daugherty and Evan Chambers. In 2014, he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition at Western Washington University, studying with Roger Briggs and Bruce Hamilton. His music has been featured in the 2014 Electroacoustic InterExchange in Seattle and the 2014 Midwest Composers Symposium. He also is involved with building community as a member of the University of Michigan residential staff. In his spare time, he enjoys kayaking and hiking through the Cascades.
Matthew Browne, composer
Composer Matthew Browne incorporates into his music such eclectic influences as the timbral imagination and playfulness of György Ligeti, the shocking and humorous eclecticism of Alfred Schnittke and the relentless rhythmic energy of Igor Stravinsky. His music has been called “compelling” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) and “beautifully crafted and considered” (What’s On London). The Burlington, Vermont, native has collaborated with the Minnesota Orchestra, Albany and Milwaukee symphonies, Alarm Will Sound, New England Philharmonic, PUBLIQuartet, SEVEN)SUNS and the Villiers String Quartet and Donald Sinta and Tesla quartets.
His music has received honors such as an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award, BMI Student Composer Award and Special Distinction in the ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize; he won the New England Philharmonic Call for Scores and the American Viola Society’s Maurice Gardner Composition Award, and he has had residencies at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s MSO Composer Institute. He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Composition from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Previous teachers include Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, Carter Pann and Daniel Kellogg.
Will Stackpole, composer
Originally from Goffstown, New Hampshire, Will Stackpole’s works have been played across the country. Stackpole began his musical career as an electric guitarist and recording engineer, primarily performing in rock bands in his home state and later in Hoboken, New Jersey. While attending Stevens Institute of Technology for his undergraduate studies, Stackpole began writing concert music and quickly developed a unique compositional voice. He spent the next two years studying composition with Justin Dello Joio while working in New York as a freelance composer and orchestrator for theater, film and television. Stackpole has since refocused his efforts on creating conceptually innovative concert music. His work is made up of an eclectic blend of styles and influences ranging across a wide spectrum, from opera to rock, from Miles Davis to Igor Stravinsky. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in composition at The Juilliard School in the studio of Robert Beaser.
Jung Yoon Wie, composer
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jung Yoon Wie’s works have been performed by leading ensembles in notable venues. Her chamber orchestra work Flying in Winter was performed by the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony in 2012. Her Chung-sung-gok for piano trio received an Honorable Mention at the 2012 International Sejong Music Composition Competition and was premiered at Charles E. Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music at the 2013 Bowdoin International Music Festival. Her choral work, How Beautiful is Night, was performed numerous times by the Wooster Chorus and Lisa Wong, Assistant Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. In 2015, Telephone, for string ensemble and percussion, was premiered by Avanti! String Ensemble and Magnus Lindberg in Helsinki, Finland.
An avid performer, she premiered her piano concerto, Jindo Arirang Concerto, with the Wooster Symphony Orchestra in 2014; the work received First Prize at the 2014 Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Collegiate Composers Competition and was a finalist at the 2014 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. In 2016, Wie performed the concerto again with the Wooster Symphony for the 100th-anniversary celebration of the orchestra at Symphony Space in New York City. Wie is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition/Theory under the guidance of Jack Gallagher at the College of Wooster.
Steven Mackey, Institute Director and William Shubael Conant Professor of Music at Princeton University
Steven Mackey was born in 1956 to American parents stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. He is regarded as one of the leading composers of his generation and has composed for orchestra, chamber ensemble, dance and opera. His first musical passion was playing the electric guitar in rock bands based in northern California. He blazed a trail in the 1980s and 90s by including the electric guitar and vernacular music influence in his concert music, and he regularly performs his own works, including two electric guitar concertos and numerous solo and chamber works. He is also active as an improvising musician and performs with his band Big Farm.
Mackey’s music has been performed by leading musical institutions throughout the world, including the Los Angeles, BBC and New York philharmonics; San Francisco and Chicago symphonies; Philadelphia and Concertgebouw orchestras and Brentano, Kronos and Arditti string quartets, among others. He has received numerous awards, including a Grammy Award in 2012 for his album Lonely Motel: Music From Slide.
David Robertson, conductor
A consummate musician, masterful programmer and dynamic presence, American maestro David Robertson has established himself as one of today’s most sought-after conductors. A passionate and compelling communicator with an extensive orchestral and operatic repertoire, he has forged close relationships with major orchestras around the world through his exhilarating music-making and stimulating ideas. In fall 2016, Robertson launched his 12th season as music director of the 136-year-old St. Louis Symphony. In January 2014, Robertson assumed the post of chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Australia.
Born in Santa Monica, California, Robertson was educated at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he studied horn and composition before turning to orchestral conducting. Robertson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He and his wife, pianist Orli Shaham, are parents of twin boys. Robertson also has two older sons.
Q2 MUSIC
Q2 Music is WQXR’s online music channel dedicated to contemporary classical composers, innovative ensembles and musical discovery. Its programming includes immersive festivals, insightful commentary from hosts such as composer Phil Kline and vocalist Helga Davis, full-length album streams, live webcasts and exclusive concert audio from local and national venues, and special events in front of live audiences at The Greene Space at WQXR. Q2 Music produces Meet the Composer with host Nadia Sirota, the Peabody Award-winning podcast which mines the brains of today’s leading composers, as well as LPR Live, a podcast which shares dynamic new-music performances from Greenwich Village’s Le Poisson Rouge. Q2 Music is streamed live 24/7 at www.wqxr.org/q2music and is also available via the free WQXR App.
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Named “a vital, artistically significant musical organization” by The Wall Street Journal, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra embodies that vitality through its statewide presence and critically acclaimed performances, education partnerships and unparalleled access to music and the Orchestra’s superb musicians.
The NJSO welcomes new Music Director Xian Zhang in the 2016–17 season. The Orchestra presents classical, pops and family programs, as well as outdoor summer concerts and special events. Embracing its legacy as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and regularly performs at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. Partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, universities and civic organizations remain a key element of the Orchestra’s statewide identity.
In addition to its lauded artistic programming, the NJSO presents a suite of education and community engagement programs that promote meaningful, lifelong engagement with live music. Programs include school-time Concerts for Young People performances, NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project). The NJSO’s REACH (Resources for Education and Community Harmony) chamber music program annually brings original programs—designed and performed by NJSO musicians—to a variety of settings. In the 2015–16 season, Orchestra musicians performed at nearly 200 events, reaching more than 34,000 people in nearly all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
For more information about the NJSO, visit www.njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org. Tickets are available for purchase by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or on the Orchestra’s website.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.
PRESS CONTACT
Victoria McCabe, NJSO Senior Manager of Public Relations & Communications | 973.735.1715 | vmccabe@njsymphony.org
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