Past Forward: Composer Spotlight - David Hertzberg

David Hertzberg is currently Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia and Music Theatre Group and has been honored with the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards, the Fromm Commission from Harvard University, and the Aaron Copland Award from Copland House. Past residencies include Tanglewood, Yaddo, IC Hong Kong, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Young Concert Artists.

David's Spectre of the Spheres was selected for our 2015 Underwood New Music Readings, where it earned him the $15,000 Underwood Commission to write a new orchestral work. David's Chamber Symphony is this new work, and will be premiered by Maestro George Manahan and the American Composers Orchestra at “Past Forward” on Friday, March 24, 2017 at 7:30pm in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. David was kind enough to talk with us about the piece.

Composer David Hertzberg

American Composers Orchestra: Your description of Chamber Symphony, which is very poetic, says, "voices speak to one other across vistas, from different sides of time, finding resonances both sympathetic and volatile." Can you expand upon this? What do you mean by these "voices," "different sides of time," and "resonances both sympathetic and volatile"?

David Hertzberg: When I was awarded the Underwood Commission I knew that I wanted to write something for Maestro Manahan and the ACO that was different from, more rhetorically involved than my other orchestra pieces. I had this vague idea that I wanted it to be a symphony of sorts, whatever that means. The orchestra pieces that I have written up to this point all have flowing, organic forms, in which listeners are brought into a space in which they coexist with a musical organism, breathing and acting of its own accord. My Chamber Symphony, I think, shares this quality, but I feel there is more rhetorical depth in its argument, a gradual unraveling and coalescing of musical dualities - maybe that’s what made me feel the need to call it a symphony.

ACO: Chamber Symphony is your Underwood Commission which you won after participating in the Underwood New Music Readings and Workshops in 2015. Can you talk about anything you learned in the readings and workshops that you applied when composing your commission?

DH: The Underwood readings and the opportunity to work with Mo. Manahan and the ACO have served as an invaluable tool for me as an orchestral composer. In addition to the more pragmatic insights about instrumentation and the orchestra world, hearing them interpret my Spectre of the Spheres in 2015 helped me arrive at the musical conclusions described above, to dig deeper into my own orchestral ethos, and to find the place there wherein a more dynamic musical grammar can blossom.

David at the 2015 Underwood New Music Readings, rehearsing his piece Spectre of the Spheres with Maestro Manahan and the ACO

ACO: Can you talk about your composing process for Chamber Symphony? How long have you been working on it? What have been the milestones and challenges throughout the process?

DH: I generally compose by letting the music gestate internally for a long (or not so long) time. When ideas start to congeal, the actual writing part comes quickly, as was the case with this piece, though I had been living with the material for quite some time. I also feel this piece bears the influence of an opera I was (and still am) writing for Opera Philadelphia, freely inspired by the work of the British occultist Aleister Crowley, as well as the poetry of Wallace Stevens, whose deeply human voice has always been a wellspring of inspiration for me. 

ACO: How do you hope the audience will feel, and what do you hope they'll notice while listening to Chamber Symphony at its premiere?

DH: It is my hope that listeners will let themselves live in the metaphysical space of this music, and perhaps, feel a certain wholeness, oneness, in the arc of its form.

ACO: What are you most looking forward to at the premiere?

DH: Hearing these notes and sounds that I’ve dreamed up in these past months come to life, and be interpreted in the hands of such sensitive and intrepid (!) artists.

Follow David on Twitter and Soundcloud

www.davidhertzbergmusic.com

Hear the world premiere of David’s Chamber Symphony at “Past Forward” on Friday, March 24, 2017 at 7:30pm in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

EarShot Alumni: Composer Spotlight - Kristin Kuster

Composer Kristin Kuster is the earliest EarShot participant we are catching up with to commemorate 25 years of new music readings. ACO awarded Kristin the Underwood Commission for which she wrote Myrrha, a work for choral singers and orchestra praised by The New York Times as being written "commandingly for the orchestra."

We caught up with Kristin to talk about her experience at ACO's Readings in 2004 and see what advice she has for this year's participants.

Composer Kristin Kuster

American Composers Orchestra: What impact did your experience at the Whitaker New Music Readings in 2004, and the resulting Underwood commission which you won, have on your career and your voice as a composer?
Kristin Kuster: Both my experience at the Whitaker Readings and the subsequent writing of the Underwood commission had an enormous impact on my compositional voice and my career. The Readings sessions were an intensely fun, and thrilling, learn-about-orchestration boot camp. I knew while preparing to apply to the Readings that--and this is the most valuable thing about the Readings--composers come out of it with recordings of their pieces, to which they can return in the future to improve their orchestration skills. Because of this, the piece I submitted for the Readings had a handful of overall sections that varied significantly in their orchestration. My goal for the piece was to lay out a menu of wildly different orchestral textures, in order to hear what worked well and what sounded like scrambled eggs.

And WOW, some bits of that piece sounded yucky and didn't work at all, which was great because I got to try it out! The most awesome gift from the Readings session was that I learned, from the mentor composers and ACO's musicians, precisely why certain passages didn't work. In addition, it was tremendous fun, interesting, and informative to hear the new pieces written by my peers--all of which were cool in unique ways. Also, a magical and unexpected bi-product of my Whitaker Readings participation was that it was at these sessions that I met and had the initial connection with one of my most cherished composer-friends, (you know who you are).

Now, ten years later, I can see that having Myrrha premiered by the ACO for the Underwood commission was a significant catalyst for my future. However, what I love and find most interesting about this outcome is that the catalyst wasn't solely due to the reception and/or publicity that surrounded the premiere, as that stuff is often fleeting. Primarily, it is the recording of the premiere that has served as a huge, yet not for public use, behind-the-scenes tool for me. I've turned to this recording often in the decade since Myrrha's premiere: to keep learning and to continue to draw upon the orchestration techniques I find most beautiful in the piece, and I am forever grateful to the ACO for the personal mileage this piece has provided since 2006.

ACO: The New York Times described you as writing "commandingly for the orchestra" in its review of Myrrha, the Underwood commission premiered by the ACO in 2006. Trying to summarize what can be a lifetime's work, what do you think it takes to write "commandingly" for an orchestra?
KK: It takes writing buckets of scrambled eggs. The best way to learn how to write "commandingly" for any instrumentation is to DO IT, and to do it a lot. Keep doing it. Do it well, and do it poorly. Write sounds that sound awesome, and write sounds that turn out to be nothing more than merely serviceable or terrible. Produce gorgeous scores, and make glaring errors on those scores. The more we do it and hear where things are not as clear as we want them to be, the better we learn how to improve our writing.

The figuring-out of how to unscramble all the musical eggs is the primary reason services like the ACO Readings are imperative for our field. Composers need to hear, both in real time and in retrospection with a recording, what it is in the nuts and bolts of our music that is of best use in expressing whatever it is we wish to express.

ACO: What do you think is most beneficial about the Readings for up-and-coming composers?
KK: All of it. Literally, every moment of the Readings is beneficial. I wish there were enough space for every composer interested in writing for orchestra to participate. The mentors' feedback is invaluable and useful. The ACO's musicians' and staff's and administration's feedback are invaluable and useful. All of the participating composers' feedback is invaluable and useful. Hearing what one's peers are doing in their music is invaluable and useful. The Readings are a giant buffet of beneficial information, all of which the composers can draw from in every second of their future writing.

ACO: What advice would you give this year's seven participants, both for the readings and beyond?
KK: Congratulations! You are about to hear your terrific piece! Yay!!!

Now, calm down. Relax. Chill your self. Going into an experience such as this, while carrying the notion that it's going to "make or break" your "career" is not only silly, it is untrue. The experience of these Readings will impact and have significance for your artistry and your music in ways you cannot yet identify, so leave your ego on a subway platform or in a cab en route to the gig--it is not useful to you in this experience. There is zero need to be nervous or worry, your music is in fabulous hands with the ACO, and it's going to go great!

The Readings do go by quickly. If you drink coffee, pace yourself, as going over the Coffee Edge is a Real Thing, people. It's a total rush of excitement, and a flurry of creative and sonic input while you hear your piece. At the same time, hearing this amount of new and equally-terrific orchestral music by your peers, in this compact and intense amount of time, is both invigorating and taxing on the musical brain. Having cookies available for snacks = invaluable and useful.

Listen to every single ounce of feedback: read the answer to question #3 above, again. For real, read it again.

Even if some feedback doesn't resonate with you right away, it is still useful information. Listen. Take notes. Then go have another cookie snack.

Most importantly: connect and engage thoughtfully with your peers, and remember to ENJOY YOURSELF.

After the readings, you will in fact come down off your amazing ACO-Readings buzz. The good news is: now you have your recording, to which you can refer and from which you can learn if ever you decide to, or are asked to, cook up some fresh eggs.

Learn more about Kristin at www.kristinkuster.com

EarShot Alumni: Composer Spotlight - Saad Haddad

Composer Saad Haddad participated in the 2013 Underwood New Music Readings with his piece Maelstrom, as well as the 2015 Columbus Symphony Readings with his piece Kaman Fantasy. During the 2015 SONiC Festival, ACO premiered Saad's Manarah, about which New York Classical Review wrote, "Haddad’s intriguing textures made the night’s most arresting listening."

Saad spoke to SoundAdvice about his EarShot experience, with some words of advice.

Composer Saad Haddad

American Composers Orchestra: What impact did your experience at the Underwood New Music Readings have on your career and voice as a composer?
Saad Haddad: My year of Underwood Readings seems like such a long time ago, although they took place just three years ago. Those readings were my first taste of what life might be like as a 'professional' composer. At the time, I was just elated to be in the room with established composers like Joan Tower and Christopher Theofanidis, while experiencing the week with composer colleagues that were all older and more experienced than I was. I was the baby in the room at 20 years old workshopping Maelstrom, a 7-minute raunch of an opener that I wrote at 19 while studying at USC. More than anything else, that workshop gave me the confidence to keep going on my path of orchestral writing, that I do belong in the room and that continued hard work will keep me there.

ACO: Just this spring, your ACO commission, Manarah, was premiered by George Manahan and Orchestra Underground at Carnegie Hall. What knowledge from the Underwood Readings were you able to take with you to rehearsals for the premiere?
SH: I knew from the Underwood Readings that the musicians themselves picked up the music quickly, as long as it was notated in an absolutely clear way. There were some things I could have done better at the readings that I think I executed with much more care during the process of preparing Manarah for rehearsal. First off, the parts were meticulously edited, sometimes reprinted up to ten times, especially the strings. There's nothing that I loathe more than musicians asking me what I meant in their parts -- to me, that just simply means I didn't work hard enough to take the necessary steps to ensure that those questions don't arise. The less confusion there is, the smoother the rehearsals will go. Of course, everything is a learning experience, so I make sure immediately after a performance of a work, including Manarah, that the necessary edits are made while the piece is still fresh in my mind.

ACO: Kaman Fantasy was workshopped and premiered at the Columbus Symphony Readings in 2015 and recently won the Palmer Dixon Award for best composition written at the Juilliard School. Congratulations! Do you think the workshops helped bring the piece to the level needed to win the award?
SH: It was just a thrill to hear Kaman Fantasy under the leadership of a conductor like Rossen Milanov, who I can tell understood my music and delved into it like it was a work that he has always known. EarShot, along with the Columbus Symphony, were able to fashion me a recording of the work, which was part of the requirement of entering this piece into the Palmer Dixon contest at Juilliard. They definitely brought it to a level that I never dreamed possible. ACO's ambitious EarShot program makes it a reality for orchestras around the country to feel how music by living composers can be integrated into their communities and invigorate the art form in their own halls, forming a lasting impact on how orchestras fit this new repertoire into future seasons.

ACO: What do you think is most beneficial about the Readings for up-and-coming composers?
SH: The chance to hear your music played by an orchestra of this caliber is always a special occasion, no matter where a composer might be in his or her career. For these readings in particular, the chance to hear your music performed alongside colleagues (that quickly become friends!) from all around the country is what sets this program apart. In a sense, you learn more from the other participating composers than just about anyone else simply because you'll be spending the most time with these new friends who are all just as driven to learn the ropes as you are.

ACO: What advice would you give this year's seven participants, both for the readings and beyond?
SH: Take all the advice you hear at these readings, make lots of notes on your scores, and remember that if you want to make revisions, do not wait. This is your chance to hear your music played live by a professional orchestra. Not many composers have an opportunity like this so take advantage of it while you are there. There's nothing more disheartening than feeling like you could have done more the week after it's all over! Be bold, be yourself, and never stop learning.

Learn more about Saad at www.saadnhaddad.com

EarShot Alumni: Composer Spotlight - Michael-Thomas Foumai

Native Hawaiian violinist, violist, conductor and composer Michael-Thomas Foumai participated in the 2012 Underwood New Music Readings with his Concerto for Orchestra. ACO premiered Michael-Thomas' The Spider Thread at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall as part of the 2015 SONiC Festival, which I Care If You Listen called "a quick and calculated piece filled with measured cacophony that never seemed to stay somewhere for too long."

To help celebrate 25 years of New Music Readings organized by the ACO, Michael-Thomas answered these questions about his Underwood experience and what advice he gives currently participating composers.

Violinist, violist, conductor and composer Michael-Thomas Foumai

American Composers Orchestra: What impact did your experience at the Underwood New Music Readings have on your career and voice as a composer?
Michael-Thomas Foumai: Having the orchestra read through my piece was just the tip of a larger learning experience. It was the first time I had a performance in New York City and it was remarkable to have a platform for introduction to the great music makers of our time. How everyone seemed to know everyone with the eagerness to meet other fellow musicians was extraordinary. Music survived and existed in these bonds of friendship and it very much oriented my perspective of music as a profession.

The experience was also a proverbial turning point in thinking about and defining what I wanted to say and how I wanted say it. Three movements of my Concerto for Orchestra were read and it was piece that shared some semblance of language to Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. In the discussions on aesthetics after the reading, mentor composer Steven Stucky preferred the middle movement because the outer movements were too close to Bartók. They were akin to a “space ship” flying very near a large sun, likely to be burned or be sucked into by its gravity and be burned. Suffice it to say, I took that to heart and have continued to strive for a careful pruning of the influences that comprise my voice.

ACO: Since your Concerto for Orchestra was performed as part of Underwood in 2012, you have had more than a dozen other orchestral works performed across the country. What skills have become second nature as far as the process of getting a piece performed by an orchestra or symphony?
MTF: The careful preparation of score and parts for orchestral performance has become second nature that I apportion a descent amount of time for part engraving, extraction, proofing and printing.

After the readings and session with Bill Holab on music engraving, I completely overhauled my formatting layouts so that the music would be clearer, legible, printed on quality paper, properly bound and proof read, re-proofed and many times again. Most orchestras do not have time to rehearse new pieces with the time they deserve, so the parts should aid the musicians with cues and other notations that eliminate the possibility of questions. It is tedious work that I admit is near drudgery, but I prefer to do my own parts since I can see what the musicians see.

It might have been Bill who equated good part preparation to defensive driving or auto-insurance. Orchestras are an expensive enterprise so time really is money; errors in the parts eat up rehearsal time and lead to poor performance.

ACO: What do you think is most beneficial about the Readings for up-and-coming composers?
MTF: The working experience of being a composer with a professional orchestra; there is no substitute for being in the “hot seat.” I implicitly remember being in an initial state of shock and awe at hearing the music for the first time and how difficult it was to focus on iterating any meaningful comments to the conductor. Many unthought-of questions and concerns arise from being present in a real-time situation, such as understanding how to evaluate the reading, prioritizing your feedback and navigating orchestral etiquette. The reading provides this experience and with the help of the mentor composers, one is enabled to take away answers and/or to formulate a way to work with an orchestra.

ACO: What advice would you give this year's seven participants, both for the readings and beyond?
MTF: Keep an open mind. The musicians and mentor composers come with a combined experience of centuries of music making. Welcome their suggestions, criticism and praise, but especially their suggestions and criticism. I eventually find myself in total agreement down the road and reciprocating them to my students.

Learn more about Michael-Thomas at www.michaelfoumai.com

EarShot Alumni: Composer Spotlight - Wang Jie

To commemorate the 25th Annual EarShot Underwood New Music Readings, taking place on Tuesday, July 14, 7:30pm at Miller Theatre, Columbia University, SoundAdvice is catching up with a few of our many notable EarShot alumni. Wang Jie participated in the 18th Underwood Readings and won the $15,000 commission to write a piece for the ACO. Her commission, From the Other Sky, was premiered at Carnegie Hall in December 2010 and was described by The New York Times as "clear, lucid and evocative music." The piece, a 15-minute concert opera, has since been expanded into a full-length production, which will premiere at Festival Opera in Fall 2017 in collaboration with American Opera Projects!

Composer and Underwood alumna Wang Jie

American Composers Orchestra What impact did your experience at the Underwood New Music Readings have on your career and voice as a composer?

Wang Jie: Being chosen for the Underwood Reading was like the Greek Gods nodding from behind the big table saying: “yeah kid, you are onto something.” I didn't know what that "something" was and in the end, it wasn't as important as what the Underwood experience taught me. 

I’ll never forget the magical hour during the debriefing when I was seated inches away from the very Greek Gods who had done me some previous nodding. As a conversation unfolded over the open scores of my music, I immediately recognized myself in them. They are no Gods. These were clearly real people who cared. They heard something in my music that I did not hear myself. Perhaps they recognized themselves in my music. It was humbling. I remember thinking to myself: “Gee, I want to grow up and be just like them!” I walked away knowing it was somehow all possible, and I’ll eventually get there.

ACO: You describe yourself as "part cartoon character, part virtuoso, musical whiz kid" and humor is undoubtedly a prominent element in many of your works. The classical world is perhaps known for taking itself quite seriously – when did you realize your music and performances wouldn't be conformed by this? Did the Underwood Readings allow you to further flex or develop these comedic muscles?

WJ: According to legend, the last words of tragic acting star Edmund Kean were: "Dying is easy; comedy is hard.” I share his feeling that comedy is a difficult matter and frequently the best way to make a serious point. The Underwood Reading not only led me to a commission by ACO, it also enabled me to tackle the difficult comedy form. At all times during the process, ACO was hospitable to my eccentric perspectives and took great risks in terms of characterization, scenic design and performance. Since the ACO premiere of my crazy work, it has gained traction from the opera world. The 15-minute concert opera has been expanded into a full evening, slated for a new production by Festival Opera in Fall 2017. The piece may be comedic, but the world of Classical music and opera is taking it as seriously as it does ACO and the Underwood Readings. 

ACO: What do you think is most beneficial about the Readings for up-and-coming composers?

WJ: Composition as a profession is a true testament of one’s resilience. While the rest of the music world locks its embarrassing mistakes behind practice rooms doors, young composers risk public humiliation each time they desire a hearing of their creations. Fighter pilots get to safely crash in the flight simulator numerous times before they operate a real aircraft. The Underwood Readings are flight simulators for up and coming composers, complete with the musical equivalent of a real-deal, top-caliber jet. The bad news is….there isn’t any. Even if you discover composing for a large orchestra doesn’t speak to your instinct, finding it out in a labetory environment is in itself good news. 

ACO: What advice would you give this year's seven participants, both for the readings and beyond?

WJ: Know where you have said it clearly. Know where you could have said it more clearly. Start a new piece.

Learn more about Wang Jie at www.wangjiemusic.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Lembit Beecher

Lembit Beecher strives to create intimate, heartfelt, quirky and dramatically potent musical experiences. Many of Lembit’s projects involve the incorporation of untraditional elements into operatic form, working with baroque instruments, animation, electronics, new technologies, and devised theatre actors. Lembit recently received a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage to develop a new chamber opera with librettist Hannah Moscovitch, featuring soprano, string quartet, and a large music-generating sculpture.

His selected piece for the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings (Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm Miller Theatre, Columbia University), titled Chopin's Ocean, takes inspiration from your grandmother's coming-to-America story.

Composer Lembit Beecher

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?
Lembit Beecher: I was an outward pillar of calm and an inner dance of joy!

ACO: Your piece, Chopin's Ocean, takes inspiration from your grandmother's coming-to-America story, where as a concert pianist she played Chopin on the ship as it made its way across the Atlantic. Will the audience recognize any of Chopin's melodies in the piece, or will this sentiment be conveyed more stylistically?
LB: I use mostly literal quotes of Chopin’s third Etude in the piece, but with the exception of one very clear moment of quotation, the bits I use are generally quite short or buried in the textures, so they may not be recognizable. I’ll be really curious how clear they seem. (I think these sorts of things are always more clear for the composer as s/he is writing than they end up being for the audience!) But I do think the audience will recognize that there are bits of material floating in the waves of the piece that come from somewhere else. I think of it like bits of plastic in the ocean (hopefully a more poetic form of plastic!) Our plastic waste gets broken up by waves into tiny pieces that have no relation to the original objects, but it is still recognizable as inorganic material.

ACO: What have you done with your piece, score, and parts in preparation for the Underwood New Music Readings?
LB: This is a piece that has gone through a series of revisions - I initially wrote it very quickly, and then revised it before the submission deadline for these readings. But after finding out it was selected for the readings, and after talking with Derek Bermel about the piece over the phone, I did more significant rethinking and re-orchestrating.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, and the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?
LB: I think I’m most excited for feedback that totally surprises me or catches me off guard. I have always loved those moments when someone with a fresh set of ears will bring up something about my music that I hadn’t thought of at all, perhaps an idea that suggests a totally different way of thinking about a problem, musical moment, or shape for the piece.

Follow Lembit on Twitter
www.lembitbeecher.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Sarah Gibson

Los Angeles-based composer, pianist, and educator Sarah Gibson has received the Victor Herbert ASCAP award, NFMC Marion Richter American Music Composition Award, and first place in the 2010 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest. eighth blackbird, the What’s Next? Ensemble, the University of Southern California (USC) Symphony, and USC Thornton Edge, and many other groups have performed her music. She is a lecturer at the University of Southern California and is the Teaching Artist for the esteemed Composer Fellowship Program and Associate Composer Program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Artistic Director, Andrew Norman.

Sarah will participate in 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings (Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm Miller Theatre, Columbia University) with her piece Talking to the Time, inspired by the way her grandmother tells stories.

Composer Sarah Gibson

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?
Sarah Gibson: ACO and Underwood have such a strong and positive reputation in our field; I was so honored to learn I would get to work with them this June. I've had a couple friends who have participated in the Underwood New Music Readings and the feedback and mentorship they received was invaluable. Working with an orchestra and conductor, George Manahan, who have their thumb on the pulse of modern orchestral music is a one-of-a-kind experience. Combined with the incredible mentors and workshops we will be involved with, I know it will help shape how I think about my compositional voice and technique moving forward. I cannot wait to hear my piece come to life and to learn from the expertise of this orchestra and these mentors.

ACO: Your piece Talking to the Time reflects the way your grandmother would use each antique, trinket, or piece of furniture in her home to tell the story of her life. Are there any particular objects from your life or hers that are represented in the piece? If so, how?
SG: I approached this piece more from visualizing my grandmother walking around her house, telling stories that dovetailed and built on each other and less about particular pieces of furniture. It really was the technique by which she wove her stories that I was drawn to in the form of my piece. That being said, one of her favorite antiques in her home is her grandfather clock. When I heard the Punch Brothers' song "Julep" which references a grandfather clock and the passing of time, I derived the title of my piece from its lyrics: "You and me rocking, grandfather clock is tick tick talking to the time we used to wind it."

ACO: What have you done with your piece, score, and parts in preparation for the Underwood New Music Readings?
SG: I've gone through the piece very carefully and reworked voicings, orchestrational colors, and amped up important melodies that I want to come through more strongly in performance. I've also notated a fair amount of passages differently and played with different meters in order to depict what I’m after most effectively. I’m excited to see how these alterations affect the reading!

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, and the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?
SG: I’ve already learned so much about making my orchestrational argument clearer after a phone conversation with Derek Bermel. All three of these composers – Bermel, Snider, and Hartke – are such powerhouses in their field. I’m looking forward to hearing their feedback not only on my own piece, but also on the six other young composers’ pieces. Constantly, I am inspired by what my colleagues are doing and it will be such a treat to get to watch the other young composers in the rehearsal process and to see what these phenomenal mentors will offer each of us. We all have different voices and it will be so exciting to see the different techniques each of these mentors use with all seven of us. It will be thrilling to learn from these reading sessions and see how the composers, mentors, conductor, and orchestra respond to various aspects of our compositions.

Follow Sarah on Twitter, Instagram, and Soundcloud
www.sarahgibson-music.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Paul Frucht

Composer Paul Frucht is currently a D.M.A candidate at Juilliard, studying with Robert Beaser, and an adjunct faculty member at NYU. He has had performances by the San Diego Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Orchestra, the Chelsea Symphony, American Modern Ensemble, and many others ensembles. Paul received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2015 and is artistic director of the Danbury Chamber Music Intensive, a music festival and concert series he founded in Danbury, CT that champions the work of Danbury native, Charles Ives, as well as today’s living American composers.

Paul's piece Dawn was selected for the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings (Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm Miller Theatre, Columbia University). The work is dedicated to Dawn Hochsprung, a teacher who Paul knew from middle school, and the other twenty-five victims of the Sandy Hook shooting and their families.

Paul spoke to SoundAdvice about the upcoming readings and his piece.

Composer Paul Frucht

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?
Paul Frucht: My immediate reaction was, of course, one of excitement, but also gratitude. This is such a fantastic opportunity for composers to hear their work performed by an orchestra, especially the ACO. When I found out, I felt and still do feel very fortunate to have been selected.

ACO: You founded and are artistic director of the Danbury Chamber Music Intensive in your hometown in Danbury, CT, which champions the work of another Danbury native, Charles Ives and today’s living American composers. Can you talk about what influence the music of Ives has had on your own voice as a composer?
PF: Ives has had an extraordinary influence on certain guiding philosophies I’ve grown to believe in over the years. His use of the music that surrounded him to create art that really resonates with people on a deep cultural level is something I find particularly inspiring. When I was writing Dawn, I was thinking about this a lot. Growing up in Danbury and listening to Ives’ music, I just get this sense he felt he was indebted to his community in some way, since his music really tells their story. After the Sandy Hook shooting, I went home for the holidays early to attend Dawn Hochsprung’s memorial service, during which I waited in line for six hours with two close friends whom I’d gone to school with in Danbury. That was a truly moving experience and in the days that followed, Ives’ way of telling the story of his community was on my mind. This felt like a story that I needed to tell.

ACO: Dawn was originally written for a 5-piece ensemble. Why did you choose to expand the piece for full orchestra? Can you talk about how you translated the parts for alto flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and harp into an orchestral setting?
PF: The reason I chose to expand the piece for full orchestra is very much related to my answer above. Sandy Hook has become a flash point in what has become a national movement to reduce gun violence. I think that’s in part because of how many of the families of those who were lost have become national leaders on this issue, including Dawn’s daughter, Erica. Their relentless and passionate push in the face of unimaginable grief inspired me and motivated me, from a musical standpoint, to improve the piece and re-create it for orchestra, to continue to tell Dawn’s story through music. While there was some translation involved from the smaller version to the larger version, I re-wrote most of the piece and for the parts that weren't re-written, I used the smaller version as a short score. The biggest challenge was taking moments of intimacy in the smaller version, which I thought were the best moments of that version, and re-creating those moments in a large orchestra.

ACO: Your piece is dedicated to Dawn Hochsprung, the other twenty-five victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, and their families. Can you talk about any of the musical elements which you feel particularly reflect Dawn's legacy of selflessness, positivity, and courage?
PF: I wanted to create a bright sound world with a lot of percussion that reflects hopefulness, especially in the first part of the piece. The thematic material is often jubilant and cautiously optimistic. At the same time, I also felt it was necessary to reconcile with the inherent pain of this tragedy. The music reflects that in how these themes progress and evolve throughout the piece and in what new contexts they appear, many of which are darker as the piece progresses to a climax, at which point the brighter musical forces and the darker musical forces come to terms with each other.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, and the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?
PF: As always, I’m looking for constructive criticism, particularly in the areas of orchestration and writing for the orchestra in general. It’s a wonderful opportunity to receive feedback from composers such as those. I’m also looking forward to learning from my fellow participating composers. Environments such as these always provide a great and truly inspiring experience.

For more information on Paul, visit www.paulfrucht.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Joel Rust

Music by composer Joel Rust has been performed internationally and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio France Musique, and Radio 4 (Netherlands). In March 2014, Discantus released his work for six female voices, sunt etenim pennae volucres mihi, on their CD ‘Music for a King’ and chamber piece, an awakening voice, received an Honorable Mention in the ASCAP Foundation 2016 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Joel is currently studying for a Doctorate at New York University and was selected for the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings (Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm Miller Theatre, Columbia University) for his piece Beyond the Heart, which was commissioned by Melos Sinfonia and premiered in 2014.

Joel was kind enough to answer these questions for SoundAdvice.

Composer Joel Rust

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?
Joel Rust: I was really thrilled! I'm looking forward to an intense and exhilarating three days. I've been in the USA less than two years, and I'm especially delighted to have a chance to be working with so many great performers and composers in New York; it's vital to build those relationships.

ACO: Beyond the Heart was premiered in 2014 by its commissioner, the Melos Sinfonia, alongside Sibelius' Seventh Symphony, and draws on the Romantic gestures of Sibelius' work. Why did you choose these "Romantic gestures" to inform and influence your piece? Do they speak to your personal voice as a composer?
JR: Orchestral music is one of the hardest media to get practical experience working with, even as it requires different and particular technical skills. So, I wanted Beyond the Heart – my first piece for full orchestra – to start from somewhere where the I felt the orchestra was at home, and it's the orchestral music of the Romantic era that means that to me. I was very happy it was going to be premiered alongside Sibelius' Seventh; it has those characteristics in a particularly rich and condensed form.

The more time I've spent with my piece, the less I think you can hear anything of Sibeilus in it. I think it's a sign my approach worked; it gave me a strong foundation, which I built something very different on.

ACO: What have you done with your piece, score, and parts in preparation for the Underwood New Music Readings?
JR: Beyond the Heart had been performed before, and there were many changes I'd wanted to make after that; I didn't want to alter the overall sweep of the piece, but there were many details I added or changed to make that sweep richer and more effective. I had very helpful advice from the ACO's Derek Bermel, but also from the professors I've been working with at NYU – Louis Karchin and Jaime Oliver La Rosa.

I'd made enough changes that I needed to make the performing materials more or less from scratch. It was great to have comments on them from Bill Holab (ACO's Orchestral Librarian); when they're as clear as possible, you can spend the rehearsal time getting stuck into the musical content, rather than working on practical details.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, and the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?
JR: I love how open so many composers are with sharing guidance on matters from the very practical to the highly abstract. This piece has already grown from various people's input; and as I work on new pieces, what people have said about previous works – what works or doesn't work, and what feel like the truest and most important aspects of them – do influence me as I'm working out how to say what I want to say. In this case, I'm excited to have input from three composers working at the top of different fields; the broader the perspectives you can get, the better.

Find out more about Joel at www.joelrust.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Michael Small

Composer Michael Small’s works often draw on visual or literary sources. Michael studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and with David Horne, before moving the United States to study with Steven Stucky at Cornell University. He was recently named one of the six Fellows chosen to participate the Copland House's esteemed CULTIVATE program. Eastern Point is Michael's orchestral work selected for the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings, Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm Miller Theatre, Columbia University.

Michael answered these questions about what he looks forward to at the readings, and gave some insight into his new work.

Composer Michael Small

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?
Michael Small: I was absolutely delighted to find out - several of my friends and colleagues have done these readings before, and they all had great things to say about the experience. The ACO's readings and Minnesota's are regarded as the best professional ones out there for young composers!

ACO: Your piece is based on two paintings by Winslow Homer: West Point, Prout’s Neck and Eastern Point. Given the choice, would you like the audience to see the paintings before or after they hear the piece, or perhaps while they listen?
MS: I think that either before or after the performance would be preferable, but probably not during the performance. I wouldn't want the audience to feel like they have to hunt for clues in the painting to explain what they're hearing, and I certainly want to leave listeners to form their own impressions and images. Though this piece (for me) is "about" water and the sea, it will probably not sound at all that way to others. For this reason, I'd probably lean more towards showing the painting afterwards, perhaps during applause (if it wouldn't be awkward) and not so much in the direction of showing it before, since I'd be uncomfortable with "priming" the audience's listening. A fourth option might be to have it printed in a program note, so that the listener can refer to it as they want. I'm very passionate about trying to communicate and excite listeners, especially for those who are new to contemporary music, and I've found that some really appreciate being given an "anchor" or a little concept of some sort to guide them through the piece, something very open and poetic. For me, that is the function which the title performs - but I also believe that a composer should make themselves available to questions. Sometimes I like to briefly introduce a piece before a performance, but another part of me believes that diving straight in without any pre-amble can actually have a greater impact. A lot of my fondest memories of discovering new music in my teenage years are when I simply allowed the music to shock me, without knowing anything about it ahead of time. I'm never quite sure which is the better method, but I always assume that the audience will form their own view anyway. That brings me to my next answer:

ACO: Why did you find Winslow Homer's paintings to be good basis for your orchestral study? Do you believe that all artwork, in one way or another, can be suited with a worthwhile musical interpretation?
MS: I've always tried to broaden my knowledge of other art forms - even if I had never become a composer, it would still be one of my favorite hobbies to go to museums, read books, watch films and listen to music. I always loved art in particular, and for a while, (like many composers, it seems!) I was even considering studying architecture. As such, I certainly don't just explore the arts to look for good ideas for pieces - and I don't believe that anything can be interpreted through music. Many ideas don't survive translation, and moreover, not everything needs to be related to music. The abstract contemporary works that I love are appealing purely on the basis of their sound, architecture, and sense of conversation, surprise, drama and logic playing out in time, and while that may have many resonances in other art forms, sometimes music is best left standing on its own terms. There's an enormous richness in the listening experience which is quite unique.

For my own process, I only sometimes start a piece knowing it will have a certain non-musical association or source. Most of the time, deciding to use a painting, or a book, or a poem is because of a central idea or impression for which I seek a musical analogue. As such, my use of these sources is often an aid to me in figuring out what the "world" of a piece might be; anything from it's general mood and atmosphere, to the behavior of the tiniest ideas and fragments. I find it helpful to have a wealth of material to which I can respond, even if the way I respond is very esoteric and personal to me. It often kicks me off the blank page. That said, sometimes I will be halfway through, or nearly finished with a piece which has no pre-decided association, and I'll suddenly find myself thinking of an artwork or book which seems close to what I'm trying to achieve. This was the way with a string quartet called Memory Palce I wrote about 18 months ago, a concept which came from my favorite Salman Rushdie novel. Eastern Point was written as the last in a series of works responding to paintings. I saw both paintings I mentioned in the Clark Museum in Massachusetts in October 2014, and though they made a great impression on me, my first thought was certainly not about using my response in my music. As the orchestral piece progressed, I thought that the sense of gravity and weight I was trying to evoke with the orchestra was akin to giant ocean waves, and the paintings came to mind. The first version of the piece was read at Aspen with the AACA Orchestra - which brings me to my revision:

ACO: What have you done with your piece, score, and parts in preparation for the Underwood New Music Readings?
MS: I actually rarely do major re-writes of pieces. After a premiere, I almost always make minor changes and tweaks in the light of conclusions gleaned from that performance. But those are rarely more than changing a measure here, or a few notes there. Most of all I focus on issues of timing and pacing which I didn't quite get right the first time around. With this version of Eastern Point, I would say about 60% of the piece is newly written in preparation for these readings. The first version was about 4 minutes, and this one is just shy of 7. When reviewing the score, there were many problems with pacing, and too many logical non-sequiturs between sections. What I did like was that I'd written a smooth transition out of the climax, which featured a very blended textural shift. I decided that the whole piece needed to function like that, and that the climactic moment (where stacks of chords pile up and overlap with one another) should be set up right from the beginning. In one sense, this whole piece is about large textures made of overlapping parts, in a manner not unlike Ligeti's micropolyphonic technique. It took a while to figure out that that was the real story of the piece, which was originally occluded by other aural junk, but I think it now represents a much more coherent statement.

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, and the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?
MS: I'm very much looking forward to working with these other composers - though this is technically my eighth time writing an orchestral piece, the others were all wonderful experiences working with very good student orchestras. I'm looking forward to seeing what I will learn in a professional context, under the guidance of experienced composers and players. Thank you for the opportunity!

Follow Michael on Twitter, Soundcloud, and Issuu
www.michaelsmallcomposer.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Carlos Simon

Composer, film scorer, and performer Carlos Simon combines the influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism in his music. Simon was named the winner of the 2015 Marvin Hamlisch Film Scoring Contest and has performed with the Boston Pops Symphony, Jackson Symphony, and the St. Louis Symphony. For the 2015-2016 season, Carlos Simon served as the young composer in-residence for the Detroit Chamber Strings and Winds. His selected piece for the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings, Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm Miller Theatre, Columbia University, is titled Plagues of Egypt, and is the first of several pieces that he says will be apart of a larger work called Bible Stories.

Carlos spoke with SoundAdvice about his piece and preparations for the upcoming readings.

Composer, film scorer, and performer Carlos Simon

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?

Carlos Simon: As young composers, it is a habit to apply to every competition, new music reading and festival possible. More often than not, you receive so many "no's" before you actually get a "yes". So to actually have been chosen for one of the most prestigious orchestral readings in the country has been one sheer amazement. I'm still pinching myself.

ACO: You are an accomplished film composer and winner of the 2015 Marvin Hamlisch Film Scoring Contest. Plagues of Egypt from the Book of Exodus, from the point of view of the enslaving Pharaoh, is the story you are telling with your piece. Can you talk about which musical elements evoke this narrative? 

CS: Out of the many stories from the Bible, I found the Plagues of Egypt to be the most terrifying. It is packed with pure horror. There's nothing more terrifying than imagining a swarm of frogs, lice and other pestilence invading your personal space. Bassoons and contrabasses playing short and fast lines in their lower register represent the masses of frogs or violins playing high, shrill notes chaotically illustrate the pestilence. However, the most important element in this piece is Pharaoh's reaction to these events. I wanted to show his stubbornness and the gradual break down of his pride. 

ACO: Suppose you were writing this work as a film score instead of a stand-alone orchestral work, what differences would there be?

CS: Ironically, I compose most of my pieces like this. I am a very visual person. While there may not be a film associated with what I'm writing, I try to imagine a film being played with my music. One of my teachers, Michael Daugherty, taught me that dialogue, sound, and visual effects could all be a part of my music without actually being present. Given that, if I were writing this work as a film score I would imagine that the piece would not change much.

ACO: What have you done with your piece, score, and parts in preparation for the Underwood New Music Readings?

CS: It is such an privilege to be working with an amazing orchestra. It is one that I do not take lightly. I have dedicated many countless hours (and sleepless nights) to making sure that the score and parts are as clear and concise as possible. That means a lot of proofreading, editing and revising. 

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, and the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?

CS: I'm extremely excited to work with such well established composers as well Maestro Manahan. I'm looking forward to gaining insight as to how I can make Plagues of Egypt a better piece. My hope is to compose five more pieces inspired by biblical stories such as David and Goliath, the Battle of Jericho etc. Gaining mentorship and fostering a professional relationship with such well skilled composers will hopefully help to create better music .

Follow Carlos on Twitter, Soundcloud

www.coliversimon.com

Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Katherine Balch

Composer Katherine Balch writes music that explores lyricism through textural soundscapes, with performances by esteemed groups such as the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Yale Camerata, among many others. She currently studies with David Lang, pursuing her Master’s at the Yale School of Music. Her piece Leaf Catalog will be read by Music Director George Manahan and the ACO on Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm at the 25th Annual Underwood New Music Readings at Miller Theatre, Columbia University.

Katherine was kind enough to answer a few questions about her piece and the upcoming workshops and readings.

Composer Katherine Balch

American Composers Orchestra: What was your reaction to finding out your piece had been selected for the Underwood New Music Readings?
Katherine Balch: I was very excited! I have heard wonderful things from past participants about the program and I’m grateful to get to experience it.

ACO: Your piece Leaf Catalog is an "ode to little netted veins," "emerald epidermi," "viridian curves and fern-green webs," which you describe quite poetically in your program note. What is your process for translating those ideas into music?
KB: I spend a lot of time drawing, sketching, and mapping out gestures and large-scale formal architecture before I start through-composing a piece. For Leaf Catalogue, I knew I wanted the first half to be built on simple, rhythmically charged motivic cells, and the second half to be a single, slow, continuous line. In this way, my piece loosely follows a process of zooming out onto a larger picture, where details gradually dissolve into the whole.

ACO: Leaf Catalogue was first performed in 2015 by the Yale Philharmonia and conductor Heejung Park. What changes, if any, have you made to the piece since then?
KB: I’ve adjusted a lot of tiny things, like dynamics, phrasing, and some registers in the brass writing, but the overall shape of the piece is the same.

Excerpt from Leaf Catalogue score

ACO: What do you hope to gain from the workshops, especially the feedback and guidance of mentor composers Derek Bermel, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Stephen Hartke?

KB: I’m looking forward to the feedback from these experienced composers, particularly with regards to orchestration and the orchestral rehearsal process. I hope to learn more about the orchestra and be inspired by my fellow colleagues and the mentor composers!

Find out more about Katherine at www.katherinebalch.com

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:

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

23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Kyle Peter Rotolo

SoundAdvice sits down with Kyle Peter Rotolo, 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, Apophis, is based on the Earth-bound asteroid of the same name. Rotolo assures us, it "is very unlikely to collide with us."

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

Kyle Peter Rotolo: Hang up the phone before they change their minds! I was thrilled that Apophis would be given new life.  As my first significant effort in writing for the orchestra, I did not expect much to happen after I put a double bar on it.  There was no commission involved or performances booked. While I was studying at Brevard Music Center in summer 2012, students had an opportunity to sketch some ideas for the orchestra to read, so I took advantage of that and put some thoughts down.  I decided to finish the process at the end of my Master’s work, but it was all up in the air after graduation.  The Underwood Readings acceptance was the best kind of surprise.

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

KPR:  For better or worse, I have the habit of being a chronic reviser of my scores.  However, after a certain point, there is a diminishing rate of returns.  Trying to improve on that 1% of the piece that you are not comfortable with is most often a futile endeavor.  The piece was just fine when it was sent out in December, so it’s probably just fine now.  My main focus has been triple-checking all my parts, making sure everybody has the same amount of bars and rehearsal numbers, and I’ve taken Bill Holab’s excellent feedback to heart regarding music publishing.

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?

KPR: The music making process is fascinating in large part because every element is viewed subjectively; impressions vary from person to person.  It is always enlightening to hear how another composer or performer views something I have written, and shares how they see the potential for things to go a different way.  Much to my chagrin, I often agree!  There is a reason these artists are so esteemed.  It is because their thoughts make excellent musical sense.  So I hope everyone, including my colleagues, is forthcoming with their opinions and suggestions.  I hope they hold nothing back.

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?

KPR: First, some good news:  Apophis, the Earth-bound asteroid, is very unlikely to collide with us.  Second, although the piece takes its name from the popular science story, the music is not written in a strictly narrative form. Apophis is not a literal character represented in the music.  More so, the piece is written in a way that combines a good number of layers (contrapuntally, heterophonically, and any other way I could think of) to create a colossal texture.  And while I am skeptical that music can ever be “about” something, I hope the final impression Apophis leaves is an uplifting one.

23rd Annual Underwood New Music Readings: Composer Spotlight - Melody Eotvos

SoundAdvice sits down with Melody Eötvös, 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. She describes her piece Beetles, Dragons & Dreamers as "something very old and archaic... hiding menacingly behind the face of something modern."

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?

Melody Eötvös: My inspiration for this piece was my strong attraction to historical/philosophical icons and relics that have continued to be used and referred to in our culture throughout the centuries.  Many of these we encounter on a daily basis (such as the risk of computer viruses on our devices, and the sometimes restless of trying to get to sleep), whiles others have a more specific link to one place or another (i.e. the Native American dream catcher).  Explaining how I captured this in the work is a little more difficult.  I’m a deeply intuitive composer so I often follow my ear with a high level of trust – the main impression I wanted people to perceive in this music though is a sense of something very old and archaic (represented perhaps with modal/polymodal harmonies and linear motives) hiding menacingly behind the face of something modern.  The face of this piece (in this case the timbre/texture) is slightly transparent, which allows moments of that dark and older core to show through.

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

ME: My first thought was actually a bit of a strange one – when I received the call from ACO it was April 1st , and, never realistically expecting I would be chosen for the Readings, for just a moment it flashed though my head that this was a prank.  Half a second later though that thought disappeared and I was listening intently to my instructions and mentally making a list of things I needed to do to prepare for this.

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

ME: Since this work is my DM Dissertation I was actually lucky enough to have it performed by the University Orchestra here at the Jacobs School of Music about a month ago.  So a lot of problems and practical things came up during those rehearsals and I was able address several of these in preparation for the ACO readings.  As far as other preparations are concerned, making the final score and parts as perfect as humanly possible has been my primary concern for a while now.

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?

ME: I hope most of all to get feedback and guidance on the sound world and structure that I’m trying to achieve in my music – I know the music of the mentor composers quite well now and a good amount of trust develops the more you respect a mature composers art and perspective, which I thoroughly do in all of these cases.  I was fortunate enough to recently meet Derek Bermel in Hong Kong too, during which he provided me with an alarming amount of helpful advice and encouragement.  So I’m very eager to meet Beaser, Wilson, and Wolfe in New York this June.

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?

ME: There is quite an extensive program note which explains in more detail the gist behind each movement, however, if wanted to give a last little push for what to perceive in it I would say to try and listen from a middle point where you’re aware of that darker threatening inside character of the sound always trying to come through, but try to hear it through the lighter transparent skin that I’ve put it in.

Listen to the fourth movement of Eötvös' Attic Tragedy (2008), the predecessor of Beetles, Dragons & Dreamors: