23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Wang A-Mao

SoundAdvice sits down with Wang A-Mao, one of the composers selected to participate in ACO's 23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings on June 6 and 7, part of this year's inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL celebration.  Her piece, Character in Theatre, is intended to inspire the audience to create their own art.

American Composers Orchestra: What was the inspiration for your piece that will be read by ACO at the Underwood New Music Readings?  How has that been incorporated into the work?

Wang A-Mao: The inspiration of Character in Theatre came from Beijing Opera. When I was in the middle school of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, one of the main requirements was to sing some important Beijing Opera repertoire, because it is an important component of the Chinese culture. That is why this piece is also a deep homage to my roots.

I like composing music with dramatic images, and Beijing Opera is a great source of inspiration for music characters, rhythmic ideas, pitch materials, and so on. To convey this dramatic music style, I believe that orchestra is the perfect medium: the vast choice of instruments, the various sonorities, and the colorful sounds were all great sources of inspiration for my piece. I also combined some western compositional techniques that I have learned through all these years, which helped me to develop this work more systematically and organically.

ACO: What were your first thoughts when you were chosen to participate in these Readings, which are part of the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL?

WA: Actually it was a totally unexpected surprise for me to be chosen. When Mr. Michael Geller, the president of ACO, called to tell me this good news, I almost fell off my chair. I thought it was a prank call! The only words I remember I was able to say when I was talking to Mr. Geller were something like: “wow…thank you…I don’t know what to say… thank you… thank you very much…”

ACO: During the Readings your work will be workshopped with George Manahan, mentor composers, and ACO musicians. What do you hope to gain from this experience?

WA: I hope not only to improve myself to be a better composer, but also to have the chance to work with those renowned composers, conductor, and great musicians, and be able to actually hear how this work sounds like. It is always difficult to find a professional orchestra to play our works, as this kind of pieces requires many people involved together. ACO gives young composers a fantastic opportunity to get our works performed, also it offers us an amazing stage to let people listen to our music and let us get in contact with each other. Maybe, through this experience, we could influence each other, and find new sources of inspiration.

ACO: Is there anything you'd like the audience to know about your piece in advance? Anything you hope they take away from hearing it?

WA: Beijing Opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre, which combines singing, reciting, performing, acrobatics, and instrumental accompanying, along with rich face make-up, costumes, and stage setting.

The majestic role is a male role, called “Jing”, who has a richly painted face. Depending on the repertoire of the troupe, he will play either primary or secondary roles. This type of role will entail a forceful character, so a Jing must have a strong voice and be able to exaggerate gestures.

The delicate female role is called “Dan”, and it can be divided into five categories: old women (laodan), martial women (wudan), young female warriors (daomadan), virtuous and elite women (qingyi), and beautiful maiden (huadan). I tried to present elegance and agility of the female role to contrast the strong and powerful male character.

23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Robert Honstein

SoundAdvice sits down with Robert Honstein, one of the composers selected to participate in ACO's 23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings on June 6 and 7, part of this year's inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL celebration.  His piece, Rise, is intended to inspire the audience to create their own art.

American Composers Orchestra: What was the inspiration for your piece that will be read by ACO at the Underwood New Music Readings?  How has that been incorporated into the work?

Robert Honstein: I was thinking about the idea of the pastoral, particularly the symphonic tradition of representing nature. It's a pretty old tradition that had a real flowering (pardon the pun) in the 19th century. You've got Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Berlioz, for example, writing orchestra music that expressed a distinctly romantic idea of nature. I love that music but feel like this way of representing nature isn't quite suited for the 21st century. We're still moved by the outdoors, of course, but it's complicated these days. What does it mean to romanticize nature in the post-industrial, climate-changing 21st century? Perhaps this explains the somewhat haunting mood of my piece, Rise. There is a celebration of the natural world, but also an unsettled feeling that never resolves.

ACO: What were your first thoughts when you were chosen to participate in these Readings, which are part of the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL?

RH: 1) Oh $&*!, time to make some parts.
2) Yay!!! How cool that I'll be able to hear my piece for real!
3) Time to order some nice paper. Am I out of toner?
4) What an honor to be selected. I can't wait to hear the other pieces.
5) This Biennal thing is awesome and I'm really excited the NY Phil is putting so much energy into celebrating new music! I hope I can catch some of the other concerts while I'm in town!
6) &%#* it, have to make those parts now.

(Thoughts basically in that order)

ACO: Since you were selected, have you further developed your piece? How have you been preparing yourself and your work for the Readings?

RH: I've made very minor changes, primarily with an eye towards clarifying notation and making sure everything is playable. I use a bunch of extended techniques in the strings and I wanted to make extra sure my notation clearly explained how to execute them. I know there will be very limited time at the readings so I'd hate to spend it all discussing the finer points of bowing a tailpiece.

For myself, I'm just trying to learn my piece really well. It seems like I should know it because I wrote it, right? But actually, those two things don't always go hand in hand. I sometimes feel like I use a totally different part of my brain writing a piece as opposed to performing a piece. I want to know my music well from a performing perspective so I can anticipate any potential hurdles and be ready to deal with rehearsal issues as quickly and effectively as possible.

I'm also trying to figure out the best way to talk about the piece. I'm sure this is different for other composers, but I find that while writing I rarely know what it is I'm actually doing. That sounds bad, but what I mean is that I'm living in a non-verbal music space where most of the work involves figuring out abstract things like sound and structure. Of course I have some idea what the piece is "doing" or what it's "about" but I'm not really focusing on that and I'm definitely not having coherent conversations with other people about it. This means that after the works is finished it's actually a real thing for me to figure out how to articulate what the hell is going on in my music. So yeah, I'm trying to get better at having that conversation in an articulate and engaging way.

ACO: During the Readings your work will be workshopped with George Manahan, mentor composers, and ACO musicians. What do you hope to gain from this experience?

RH: Knowledge, insight, wisdom. It's such a great opportunity to be in a room with this incredible cast of characters. Just watching them work will be a learning experience. The fact they'll be working on my music is an incredible bonus. I know I'll come away with a lot of new ideas and be better prepared for my next encounter with an orchestra.

ACO: Is there anything you'd like the the audience to know about your piece in advance? Anything you hope they take away from hearing it?

RH: The audience can take away whatever they'd like! I'm happy if my music leaves an impression, good or bad.

Check out Robert Honstein's piece, 200 OK:

New York Philharmonic EarShot Readings: Composer Spotlight - Jesse Jones

SoundAdvice sits down with Jesse Jones, one of the composers selected to participate in the New York Philharmonic EarShot Readings in June, part of the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL. His piece, innumerable stars, scattered in clusters, was read today, June 3, followed by feedback from the New York Philharmonic musicians, maestro Alan Gilbert, and mentor composers. 

American Composers Orchestra: What was the inspiration for your piece that will be read at the New York Philharmonic EarShot Readings?  How has that been incorporated into the work? 

Jesse Jones: In 1609, Galileo Galilei climbed the tallest hill in Rome and looked into the night sky through an instrument of his own invention: the telescope. His initial glimpse into the cosmos led him to record that the heavens were draped with “innumerable stars, scattered in clusters.” This was the first discovery of that vast, sidereal array we now know as the Milky Way.

Four hundred years later, I found myself on that same hilltop, writing music as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome. While there, I would often wake up before the sunrise and walk to my studio beneath the very same sky Galileo had observed so many centuries earlier. At these moments, when the city was still and the stars shone brightly, I would feel a deep connection to history, a special, timeless kinship with Galileo, and, above all, an urge to be productive with my allotted time. So, I decided to write an orchestra piece about the mysterious and expansive nature of both time and space, and found it fitting to use Galileo’s words as a title.

ACO: What were your first thoughts when you were chosen to participate in these Readings, which are part of the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL? 

JJ: Initially, I wondered if there had been some mistake—having a piece read by the New York Philharmonic was beyond any dream I ever had, and the news seemed very surreal. Once I became convinced that this was indeed real, I felt a rush of profound gratitude and excitement, mixed with passing thoughts of fear and inadequacy. Soon thereafter, my mind turned to the huge, all-consuming task of making orchestral parts, and to making my score look as clear and error-free as possible.

ACO: During the Readings your work will be workshopped with Alan Gilbert, mentor composers, and New York Philharmonic musicians. What do you hope to gain from this experience?
 
JJ: I see this reading and the workshops as an opportunity to learn from the experts: a rare chance to sit and learn at the feet of the masters. I am of course interested to hear how my music sounds in the hands of these great musicians, but mostly I’m just eager to learn how I can improve as an orchestral composer. I hope to glean as much as I can from everyone, including my fellow participants, and to come away with a deeper understanding of orchestra dynamics and colors, as well as a renewed enthusiasm for the orchestral medium.

23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Andy Akiho

SoundAdvice sits down with Andy Akiho, one of the composers selected to participate in ACO's 23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings on June 6 and 7, part of this year's inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL celebration.  His piece, Tarnished Mirrors, is intended to inspire the audience to create their own art.

Photo by Melody Eötvös

American Composers Orchestra: What was the inspiration for your piece that will be read by ACO at the Underwood New Music Readings?  How has that been incorporated into the work?

Andy Akiho: My inspiration was the possibility of having an orchestral work read by an awesome orchestra and conductor. I wanted to write my first orchestral piece with full instrumentation (woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, etc.). I've written a steel pan concerto for myself, and I've written works for large ensembles, but I've never had the experience of being able to listen to an orchestral work from the audience. It is my dream to have compositions and performances for large forces with infinite timbral colors, so I wanted to give it my best shot to write my first full orchestra piece without a soloist.

ACO: What were your first thoughts when you were chosen to participate in these Readings, which are part of the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL?
AA:  I was extremely happy when I got the phone call! My first thoughts were precisely, "Woohoo" and "Yay!"

ACO: Since you were selected, have you further developed your piece? How have you been preparing yourself and your work for the Readings?

AA: Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to revise my piece (I've written three new pieces since April). For this reading, I wanted to spend a lot of time with my copyist getting the score and parts to look great. We got great suggestions from Bill Holab - thanks! Now, I feel more confident that everything will look better for the musicians and conductor (page turns, notational clarity, etc). However, I know that I will want to revise the actual music after these readings with the inspiring advice from my mentors, colleagues and performers.

ACO: During the Readings your work will be workshopped with George Manahan, mentor composers, and ACO musicians. What do you hope to gain from this experience?

AA: I know that I will learn a tremendous amount from this experience because I will be positively influenced by the incredible musicians who are participating. I have always learned the most from workshops, residencies, and personal experiences with performers, conductors, and fellow composer colleagues. I am looking forward to positive inspiration from this experience to apply to my future compositions.

ACO: Is there anything you'd like the the audience to know about your piece in advance? Anything you hope they take away from hearing it?

AA: The piece is titled Tarnished Mirrors, and it is about... (I want the listener(s) to decide). My ultimate goal would be for the audience to be inspired to create art after hearing the premieres on the concert: write, paint, draw, compose, choreograph, cook, improvise, invent, and/or dream (but, without sleep - life's too short for that).

Tarnished Mirrors is currently in one short movement. I want to eventually make this into a three-movement work, where the end of this movement will be expanded into it's own 2nd movement, followed by a rhythmically intense finale.

Photo Credit: Nicole Jeong