Two New Works by Timo Andres

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 18, 2015, 10:02 a.m.

It's hard to claim a real achievement in the month of November. For many, surviving the transition to colder weather, the pressures of the work week, and the onslaught of holiday advertising is enough. But PSNY composer Timo Andres is different: on top of his performing career, which saw him perform Christopher Cerrone's Sonata for Violin and Piano with Tim Fain at LPR earlier this month, he'll also see two new compositions premiered by the Takács Quartet and Jonathan Biss with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. 

Andres' new string quartet Strong Language premiered on November 15th at Shriver Hall. The Baltimore Sun praised Andres' piece for creating "fascinating little journeys" in a "clear, vivid, and commanding" performance by the Takács Quartet. On November 19th, the piece will be performed again at Carnegie Hall, which co-commissioned the work. With three movements lasting roughly 23 minutes, Strong Language is a concise exploration of three musical ideas, one per movement. Get a taste with an excerpt from Andres's earlier string quartet, Thrive on Routine:

As Andres describes, The Blind Banister, his new piano concerto for Jonathan Biss and the SPCO, is a kind of "fraternal twin" to Strong Language; the pieces were written back-to-back, and share a 3-movement structure. However, Andres' piano concerto sees him writing for much larger forces— including, for the first time, timpani. In the meantime (and if you can't make it to Saint Paul for the premiere), check out a sample of Andres's recent completion of the Mozart "Coronation" Concerto:

Christopher Cerrone in New York and Los Angeles, New Work from Kate Soper, and More!

by Ted Gordon on April 19, 2013, 2:15 p.m.

Christopher Cerrone's music has quickly become a staple of New Music ensembles' repertoire across the country. From electro-acoustic works commissioned and premiered by NYC's Red Light New Music, to chamber operas performed in Virginia, Connecticut, and Oklahoma, Cerrone has gained a huge presence in the past few years. Little wonder, then, that pianist Vicky Chow and percussionist Owen Weaver will be performing his piece for piano and electronics, Hoyt-Schermerhorn, and percussion and electronics, Memory Palace, alongside the New York premiere of John Luther Adams' 2010 work, Four Thousand Holes, on April 22nd at Le Poisson Rouge. Chow and Weaver have been performing Cerrone's works together since 2012's Fast Forward Austin festival; Weaver commissioned and premiered Memory Palace in that same year.

Weaver comments: “We think John Luther Adams’ and Chris Cerrone’s works both compliment and contrast each other. Chris's music focuses on color and simple, elegant forms that allow time and space for ideas to shift and grow. John's music often provides stasis through complex layers of rhythm--so much happening that things blur together to give a slow moving picture with a long-minded trajectory. In different ways, they both draw the listener into their world with a patient, yet focused approach.”

Listeners on the West coast also have an opportunity to hear Cerrone's works this weekend during the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Brooklyn Festival." On April 18th, 20th, and 21st, Cerrone's Invisible Overture will be performed alongside Hannah Lash's Hush, a world premeire by Ted Hearne, and Aaron Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. Originally concieved as an overture for his opera, Invisible Cities, based on Italo Calvino's novel of the same name, Invisible Overture is a standalone piece, recalling the drama and interrogation of sonic experience which Cerrone explores in the opera. 

Cerrone writes, "My ideas for the overture began by listening to the resonance of decaying sounds on the piano. By holding down certain notes in the low register while playing, sympathetic vibrations create an unearthly halo of sound. The resonance is both beautiful and unstable, hovering just above silence." 

Check out recordings of these two works here:

 We at PSNY are also pleased to announce the availablity of Kate Soper's powerful work, Only The Words Themselves Mean What They Say. Soper's work, which often revolves around questions of expression, semiotics, vocality, and communication, sees its full manifestation in this work, for flute and voice, with a text by Lydia Davis. This is the first time that Soper's work is available to the public, and we don't doubt that it will hold an invaluable place in any contemporary singer's repertoire. 

And, last but not least, Katharina Rosenberger's Viva Voce project is finally completed! An interactive sound and video installation, Viva Voce involves compositions by Rosenberger for some of the most vital experimental vocal performers in the field, including Juliana Snapper, Shelley Hirsch, and Pamela Z. Keep your eyes out for more videos and documentation of this project at www.vivavoce.ch. 

The OPERA America Songbook is Here!

by Ted Gordon on Sept. 14, 2012, 12:10 p.m.

Good news for opera lovers across America: the OPERA America Songbook is here! The Songbook is a new publication by Schott Music, co-edited by Scott Wollschleger and fellow PSNY composer Christopher Cerrone, to commemorate the launch of OPERA America's National Opera Center. The Songbook is now available for sale, in advance of the opening of the Center, and contains songs by PSNY composers Christopher Cerrone, David T. Little, Gregory Spears, and Stewart Wallace, as well as other prominent composers such as David Lang, Nico Muhly, Tod Machover, Howard Shore, Derek Bermel, and many more.

And if you'd like a taste of what kind of music the Songbook contains, American Public Media has featured one of the songs on their weekly program, Performance Today: That Night With The Green Sky, by Christopher Cerrone. That Night is a setting of text by Tao Lin, featuring soprano Melissa Hughes with pianist Thomas Bagwell. (Yes, that Tao Lin.) Check out the archived recording here.

For those of you in the NYC area, be sure to check out Loadbang performing Cerrone's How to Breathe Underwater, as well as a work by Adrian Knight, at (Le) Poission Rouge on September 18th, 2012. Stick around for The Respect Sextet performing works by Rahsaan Roland Kirk!