News From Ann Cleare and Timothy Andres

by Ted Gordon on June 19, 2013, 12:11 p.m.

Ann Cleare, one of the more recently added composers on our PSNY roster, has recently been awarded the Staubach Honoraria for Composition, a prize awarded by the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music. Chosen from over 130 applications, Ann Cleare's works were selected for this prestigious prize, which commissions composers to write a new work for one of the Darmstadt's resident ensembles, as well as awarding them a full scholarship for the summer course. Cleare will be writing a new work for the Curious Chamber Players, an avant-garde ensemble from Stockholm, to be premiered in the summer of 2014. Cleare is already working on commissions for Ensemble Nikel and New York's own Yarn/Wire for the 2014 season, so we greatly look forward to her new work in the summer! For an idea of Cleare's ensemble writing, check out a recording of her 2007 work, Dorchadas: 

We're also excited to announce that Timo Andres has written a new string quartet - Early to Rise - which is now available here on PSNY. The most recent in a series of Schumann-inspired pieces, Early to Rise was commissioned by The Library of Congress Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music and premiered by the Attacca Quartet. 

Timo will also be releasing a new album on Nonesuch Records, entitled Home Stretch. The album will contain Timo's new work, Home Stretch, composed as a companion piece to Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12, as well as his re-invention of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 26 in D, "Coronation", and his Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno, all performed with the Metropolis Chamber Ensemble. Here's a short excerpt of Timo performing his Mozart re-invention with the Metropolis Ensemble in 2011:

Home Stretch will be Timo's second album with Nonesuch; the first, Shy and Mighty, contains pieces for two pianos, including a two-piano version of How Can I Live In Your World Of Ideas?, available on PSNY as a work for solo piano. Other solo piano works available on PSNY include At The River , Sorbet, and It Takes A Long Time To Become A Good Composer. 

Lei Liang and Anne Cleare in Boston and Berlin

by Ted Gordon on June 4, 2013, 5:34 p.m.

The Boston Early Music Festival might not be a place one would expect to hear contemporary works, but this year the festival is turning that notion on its head by including Lei Liang's 2001 composition, Some Empty Thoughts of a Person from Edo, performed by harpsichordist Takae Ohnishi, on June 11th at the First Lutheran Church in Boston. Ohnishi, who commissioned the work, premiered it in Osaka in 2001. Liang's Empty Thoughts are, of course, the opposite: the piece is based on a transcription from Liang's own improvisation at the keyboard, making this piece the embodiment of the fullness of Liang's creativity. Pianist Gloria Cheng recently gave a powerful performance of the work as part of the Piano Spheres series at The Colburn School. The striking instrument, seen in the video below, was built by Cheng's husband, Lefteris Padavos: a double-manual based on a model by the master 18th-century builder, Pascal Taskin. The instrument is a perfect complement to the contemporary canon - from its stylishly unique collapsible stand to its adjustable keyboard which allows for performance at both lower historical tuning standards and as well at modern pitch. 

Also in June is the premiere of Ann Cleare's work for brass quintet, mire|...|veins, by Ensemble Apparat. The performance, on June 27th, takes place in the heart of Berlin's Mitte district, in a 19th-century villa attached to St. Elizabeth's church. We look forward publishing mire|...|veins  following the premiere. In the meantime, have a listen below to Ann's string quartet, moil: 

More news is coming this week, so check back soon! 

Ann Cleare Featured in Symphony Magazine

by Ted Gordon on Feb. 5, 2013, 1:23 p.m.

PSNY Composer Ann Cleare has been featured on the cover of Symphony Magazine, published by the League of American Orchestras, in a feature article on Emerging Composers. Also mentioned in the article, written by NewMusicBox's Frank Oteri, are Timo Andres, Adrian Knight, Chris Cerrone, and Hannah Lash. 

The ELISION Ensemble and the Rté National Symphony Orchestra will premeire Ann's work for bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and orchestra, to another of that other, as well as phosphors (.of either), for orchestra, on February 12th at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. ELISION will perform a version of to another of that other for solo instruments following this performance. On the same day, Elision performs Ann's Paranoid Oneiroid at the Kevin Barry Room at the National Concert Hall. And two days later, February 14th, Ann will present a lecture on her recent works at University College Cork's Department of Music.

In addition to this exciting performance activity in Ireland, Ann will also see her composition on magnetic fields published by PSNY. This work divides a large ensemble into three chamber groups, which Cleare describes as "two different kinetic whirlwinds, and a box of light." Using the concept of the magnetic field to spatially arrange these miniature ensembles, this work explores a metaphor of "current" through its communication in melody, with a continuo solo violin channeling this piece's electric energy. Listen to a sample here: 

Employing a similarly spatial metaphor to other works such as phosphors (.of either), On Magnetic Fields encounters the orchestra as segmented groups, each enacting a different characterization of the piece's overall structure, each seemingly containing its own compositional will. In both works, each "island" of instrumentalists combines to form an archipelago of intricacy, a sonic exploration of texture, timbre, and motion.