Sound Off! Orchestra Underground: Traditions and Transmigrations

I know you've been waiting for it... Now is your chance to tell us what you thought about the concert!

Here are a few questions to get the ball rolling...

- What surprised you most about the concert?
- Do you think that composers write differently when they are the soloist? How so?
- Which piece did you think was the most convincing? Why?

See what other people are saying and let us know what you think!

(By the way, if you filled out a SoundAdvice survey at the concert, look for your answers in the comments section!)

Photo: Erin and Colin Gee in rehearsal with ACO's Orchestra Underground

Rehearsing...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Quick post just to put up a few pictures - we're rehearsing all weekend for our concert on Monday (tickets at the Carnegie Hall website), pretty exciting stuff going on! I feel like we say this every time, but it is really amazing to see everything coming together after months of anticipation and preparation.It is amazing watching this orchestra shift from piece to piece. First a Chinese folk singer, then a jazz pianist riffing on 'Now's the Time' and finishing off the day qith a work dedicated to the traditions of the Navajo Indians. No rest for ACO musicians and never a dull moment...

Conductor Stefan Lano rehearsing with Huang Ruo and the orchestra

Percussionist Jonathan Haas rehearses Huang Ruo's Leaving Sao

Stefan Lano and pianist Donal Fox rehearse Peace Out

Donal Fox and Creative Advisor Derek Bermel

The Brotherhood/Sister Sol and Curt Cacioppo

Just a few days ago on November 20th we had a fantastic program with Curt Cacioppo and an amazing group of kids from The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. Curt's brand new work When the Orchard Dances Ceased will be premiered next week (!) at Zankel Hall, when Curt will perform with the orchestra, singing in the Navajo Indian style and playing traditional Navajo instruments. At the event with Brotherhood/Sister Sol, Curt demonstrated some of the music and brought his instruments for the kids to try out. The kids had a great time, and we are very excited to be welcoming them to the concert next week!


















Photos by Lyn Liston.

We've been busy! - Colin and Erin collaborate for our season-opener....

Wow, the last few months have been really busy here at ACO! Between gearing up for our season opener concert at Zankel Hall, education programming, submissions for our New Music Readings programs, and our Composers OutFront! series, its hard to imagine that just a few months ago it was summertime and we were blissfully getting ahead on projects...

On October 30th we had our first Composers OutFront! concert of the season, featuring creative siblings Erin and Colin Gee at The Whitney Museum in a performance and discussion. ACO will be premiering Erin's new work Mouthpiece XVIII: Mathilde of Loci, Part 1 at our season opener concert on November 30th. (Psst - check out all of our season highlights here). For a "behind the scenes" look at Erin and Colin's collaboration process, as well as excerpts from the Composers OutFront performance, check out this video by our filmmaker Jeremy Robins:

Afterthoughts

Wanted to say a quick note of thank you to the experience in Denver with the Colorado Symphony and EarShot. It's been two weeks and I'm still replaying the learning experience and new ideas that stemmed up from the whole process. It was a valuable experience to see musicians, conductors and composers work together to give birth to something new and beautiful. It was very precious to see the communications and feedbacks between the different parties, and to learn to observe the creation and execution of a new artwork from different perspectives. There are many details involved and it is not easy, but all the hard work is well worth the result because one of the most valuable asset in a genre is what's upcoming, young and alive.

A big thank you to the composer mentors, Robert Beaser, Derek Bermel, and Roberto Sierra for their guidance and mentoring through the process, conductor Delta David Gier for his feedback and dedicated work in interpretation, and the CSO and artistic director Alberto Gutierrez for their support. What's also exciting is to see a pretty good turn out from the audience part. The audience were enthusiastic when they entered the Boettcher Concert Hall with their smiling faces, looking eager to found out what's in store for them in these new work-in-progress. That's a testament to their respect, interest and openness to discover new voices. Also wanted to thank Lyn Liston and Ed Harsh for coming out there to give us mentoring and a presentation. The business side of composing is very important and the conversations and morning breakfasts (those were refreshing starts and one of the best memories!) were rewarding and informational.

Lastly, I wanted to thank my composer colleagues--what a great group we had! We were very encouraging and helpful with each other throughout the whole process, and were open to share our artistic comments with each other. Something to admire working with such a positive group.

-Angel

A great experience

Just a quick note to say how much I learned from the Earshot readings with the CSO. I am still sorting through all of the feedback from the mentor composers, conductors, and orchestra musicians, and thinking hard about how to apply all of this information to my next orchestral piece!

I am so thankful for the amazing support we had at the readings. The organization of the readings was pretty much flawless, so special thanks to everyone who made that happen. Specifically, I'd like to thank the ACO folks (Michael Geller, John Glover, Jenny Kampmeier, and Lyn Liston), Ed Harsh from Meet the Composer, Alberto Gutierrez and Jessie Arian from the CSO, and of course the musicians of the CSO!

I thought Robert Beaser, Derek Bermel, and Roberto Sierra were really impressive - I knew they were very good composers, but I was grateful for their thoughtful analysis/criticism of the pieces, which is not always guaranteed with "well-known" composers.

I can hardly imagine more dedicated conductors than David Gier and Fergus Macleod. It was a pleasure working with Fergus on my piece, and I am still pondering some of the advice/comments that both conductors made about the four pieces, and about writing for the orchestra in general.

Finally, thanks to Angel, Jeremy and Yotam! Though all four of us seem to be quite different aesthetically, I also feel a "kinship" with you. I enjoyed getting to know your pieces, and am looking forward to hearing more of your music!

-Tim Sullivan

Intensity

So I think that I survived the Earshot readings with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. I made it to Chicago for some decompression (via a summer rock festival) and I feel lighter and heavier at the same time. The reason that I feel lighter is because the readings are over, but I feel heavier due to a sense of accomplishment and knowledge gained.

Firstly I want to thank (in no particular order) Lyn, Michael, John, Roberto, Robert, Derek, Ed, Delta David, Fergus, and the performers and staff of the CSO for such an immensely gratifying experience. Although my piece was completed two years ago, the reading sessions finally provided the necessary opportunity to learn what I needed to learn. I was successful with some of my ideas and visions, and others left me flat on my face. Ironically (or ironically not?), it was the adherence to my ideas with a ham fist and vise-grip that caused the most problems.

That leads to my assessment of the nature of what ACO and Earshot are trying to accomplish. The least successful elements of my piece were the result of relying too much on my mind's ear and my ideology. The orchestra is a living, breathing, imperfect organism, and writing for orchestra requires skill, preparedness, and efficiency. Although imagination, sincerity and humanity are what I value the most in art, I learned firsthand that these facets must be focused and distilled properly with such a large and varied ensemble. If modern orchestral music is to evolve, then composers must have room to grow through hearing their music. So hats off to Earshot: we need you now more than ever!

Lastly, I want to thank Angel Lam, Tim Sullivan and Yotam Haber for their support. It was quite humbling (after all, humble pie is the very best flavor) to be chosen to participate with three incredibly talented, kind, interesting and supportive people. I felt a strong kinship with them and am quite floored to be one of their peers.

Oh, and let's not forget Jessie for her selfless early morning airport runs. She deserves a medal.

Bye Denver!

-Jeremy Podgursky

caption:
1. Jeremy Podgursky applauds the orchestra at the close of reading his work Our Bliss, It Comes in Waves.

Feeling the Love

It all seemed to happen so fast once it got started. For some time now, the ACO staff has been getting ready for the EarShot/Colorado Symphony New Music Readings. First there were the 180 scores that arrived in the office. Then there was the announcement about the four winners, followed by all sorts of detailed preparatory activities, followed by packing and getting to the airport to come out here to Denver.

What is truly wonderful about this is just how much all the work was worth it. First of all, there is the Colorado Symphony Orchestra who took on this tremendous project. They are a fantastic ensemble, and to have them embrace this initiative and offer the Readings is another reason to have more hope for the future of new music. And when I hear conductors David Gier and Fergus Macleod, mentor composers Derek Bermel, Robert Beaser, Roberto Sierra, VP for Artistic Planning Alberto Gutierrez, and Meet The Composer’s president Ed Harsh all supporting the four composers and genuinely wanting to help, it feels like we are indeed a community.

On Wednesday, after we arrived, we held a session primarily about promoting one’s music. It turned out that the question “how do I promote my music without offending the people I’m promoting it to” is still a hurdle for composers. (It’s good to know that composers care.) All of the folks listed above and a few others in the room did their best to convince these four that they can do it and offered “insider” advice on how to go about it. And if the advice is something the composers feel they can follow through on, I look forward to seeing what these four creative minds come up with.

-Lyn Liston, Director of Marketing, Education, and Outreach, American Composers Orchestra

caption:

1. Tim Sullivan (composer) and Fergus Macleod (conductor) review Tim's score before the second reading of his piece Polychrome.

Mad Music Part 3: Angel Lam

Derek Bermel and Angel Lam take a break from the post-readings party hosted by Colorado Symphony to talk shop about Angel's work In Search of Seasons...

Reflections on a crazy day

Wow. What a long, exciting, stressful, and rewarding day. I thought all of the readings went pretty well, and the orchestra sounded simply fabulous! Working and talking through my piece with Fergus was great, and I am anxious to see if the small adjustments we made will be successful. The feedback on all of the pieces from conductors, players and mentor composers was really amazing - even if I didn't agree with everything that was said, it was great to hear so many different perspectives, and some things really resonated with me. I'm excited to hear all of the pieces again tomorrow!

-Tim Sullivan

caption:
1. Tim Sullivan making corrections and adjustments to his work following the first day of the reading.