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'Young Composers Catch the Philharmonic's Ear': The New York Times

EarShot Readings NY PHIL BIENNIAL

"It was a bit like a reality television show called 'The Composer,' or 'Philharmonic Idol,' or perhaps just 'Survivor.'"

Thus begins The New York Times's entertaining recap of this week's EarShot new music readings — which resulted in the selection of three emerging composers to have their works premiered by the New York Philharmonic in NY PHIL BIENNIAL concerts this week.

Hear the results tonight through Saturday!

Julia Adolphe's Dark Sand, Sifting Light will be led by Music Director Alan Gilbert June 5

Andrew McManus's Strobe will be led by Matthias Pintscher June 6

Max Grafe's Bismuth: Variations for Orchestra will be led by Alan Gilbert June 7.

(Photo by Chris Lee: Andrew McManus (right), whose work will be premiered June 6, with mentor composer Steven Mackey during the EarShot readings)

PHOTOS: Snapshots from CONTACT! at SubCulture

CONTACT! at SubCulture NY Philharmonic 

Here are some shots from last night's CONTACT! at the Biennial: Solo Works by Young American Composers. Above, Associate Principal Viola Rebecca Young plays Oscar Bettison's Threaded Madrigals.

Philharmonic clarinetist Pascual Martínez Forteza came onstage marching in rhythm, letting the audience know they were in for something funkadelic. The piece — Chris Kapica's Fandanglish — called for extended techniques including breathing in and out of the clarinet in rhythm, tongue clicks, flutter tongue, altissimo register wails, and lots of foot stamping:

CONTACT! at SubCulture NY Philharmonic 

Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi played As Above, So Below by Eric Nathan. Nathan is a trumpet player, and when he found out he had a chance to write a piece for Joe Alessi, one of his heroes growing up, he bought a trombone off Italian eBay (he was studying in Italy at the time). In this piece he takes the F slide off the trombone so that every time the piece calls for the F-slide trigger, the resulting sound is small, shrill, and shoots out the back of the instrument. So half the time the trombone sounds like a regular trombone, and half the time it sounds like a tiny trombone:

CONTACT! at SubCulture NY Philharmonic 

A Play Date followed, in SubCulture's bar. Music Director Alan Gilbert joined the fun, along with Yulia Ziskel (second from right), who performed Michael Hersch's Of Sorrow Born: Seven Elegies.

CONTACT! at SubCulture NY Philharmonic 

(Photos: Chris Lee)

(Reportage: Jen Luzzo)

Julia Adolphe, Max Grafe, Andrew McManus Get Premieres at Biennial

EarShot NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

This just in! Emerging composers Julia Adolphe (26 years old, bottom right), Max Grafe (25 years old, top middle), and Andrew McManus (29 years old, top left) have been selected from an open call for scores (which drew 400+ composers from 8 countries and 37 states ranging in age from 9 to 84) to have their works premiered by the Philharmonic in concerts this week as part of the NY PHIL BIENNIAL. Student Rush is available for June 5 and 6. On June 6, the first 100 fans aged 13–26 get a free ticket (go to Window 1 at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.).

They were chosen from six finalists (Wang Lu, bottom left; Jesse Jones, bottom middle; and William Dougherty, top middle) whose works the Philharmonic played at yesterday's EarShot Readings — a collaboration with American Composers Orchestra's EarShot: the National Orchestra Composition Discovery Network — followed by feedback meetings with Alan Gilbert, Philharmonic musicians, and mentor composers.

Julia Adolphe's Dark Sand, Sifting Light will be led by Music Director Alan Gilbert June 5. Julia says: “Dark Sand, Sifting Light imagines a piano playing in the distance, overheard through an open apartment window. As the listener poised beneath the window begins to daydream, the piano sounds take on larger orchestral colors. Her mind wanders and the music transforms.”

Andrew McManus's Strobe will be led by Matthias Pintscher June 6. Andrew says: "The word 'strobe' conjures up quite a few images and concepts for me. These include jarring pulses of bright light, the stop-motion we might observe when watching someone or something move under a strobe light, and electronic dance music (or 'EDM')."

Max Grafe's Bismuth: Variations for Orchestra will be led by Alan Gilbert June 7. Max says: "I titled the work Bismuth in order to highlight the kinship between its own colorful, angular style and the kaleidoscopic patina and geometric edges of a pure bismuth crystal."

(Photo: Chris Lee)

VIDEO: The Biennial Minute: Episode Three

The New York Philharmonic takes you straight into the action with The Biennial Minute — a video series giving you a taste of what is happening right now at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL (May 28-June 7). Episode Three features highlights from a packed weekend: the N.Y. Premieres of Julia Wolfe's Anthracite Fields and Steven Mackey's Dreamhouse, followed by a post-concert Play Date. Plus, you'll hear from a Very Young Composer whose work was performed on the biennial, and delve into the music of Pierre Boulez and those he influenced with Pablo Heras-Casado and Orchestra of St. Luke's.

Sean Runs the Biennial Marathon

Sean Shepherd NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

Sean Shepherd, the Philharmonic's Kravis Emerging Composer, has been busy. He's been running across the city attending almost all 21 NY PHIL BIENNIAL concerts, but he's barely breaking a sweat.

"Performances have been truly stellar and, in some cases, illuminating and transcendent. This is proving to be no marathon, where participants and spectators alike must drag themselves across a finish line to the earthly comforts of burgers and booze, only to say, 'I was there for it all,'" he writes in his Biennial Blog on NewMusicBox. "Each pavilion is an event worth seeing, and after seeing seven in the last four days, I still would recommend each one."

Check out the post here, and stay tuned for more of his biennial insights from a composer's perspective.

You can also hear from Sean in person during the free Insights Series event "21st-Century Landmarks" June 4, when he sits down with Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse, composer/conductor Matthias Pintscher, composer Julia Wolfe, composer/NewMusicBox senior editor Frank J. Oteri, and Scholar-in-Residence Carol J. Oja to talk about this century's emerging masterworks.

And you can hear his music June 18–21 when the Philharmonic gives the World Premiere of his Songs, led by Alan Gilbert during The Beethoven Piano Concertos festival with Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman.

PHOTOS: NY PHIL BIENNIAL Weekend Snapshots

It was a packed weekend for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL — including a Saturday that started at 11 a.m. and ended past midnight. Relive the action through these select snapshots:

New York Philharmonic Very Young Composer Elli Choi plays violin with Philharmonic musicians in the World Premiere of her composition: 

NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

New York Premiere of Julia Wolfe's Anthracite Fields with Bang on a Can All-Stars and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, led by Julian Wachner:

NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

New York Premiere of Steven Mackey's Dreamhouse with the New York Philharmonic, vocalist Rinde Eckert, Synergy Vocals, and Catch Electric Guitar Quartet, led by Jayce Ogren:

NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

Post-concert Play Date where the audience mingled with the composers and performers:

NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

Orchestra of St. Luke's led by Pablo Heras-Casado delved into the music of Pierre Boulez and those he influenced:

NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

Kaufman Music Center's Special Music School High School played their own works and music by Vijay Iyer and Huang Rao:

NY PHIL BIENNIAL NY Philharmonic

(Photos: Chris Lee)

Beyond Recall Now Available On-Demand

MoMA Beyond Recall NY Philharmonic

The NY PHIL BIENNIAL program at MoMA may be called Beyond Recall, but it's not beyond reach.

If you missed — or want to listen again — you're in luck: WFMT's nationally syndicated new-music program Relevant Tones recorded the concert for broadcast, and it's now available on-demand here.

Additional broadcasts featuring highlights from the biennial will air on Relevant Tones July 2 at 7:00 p.m. and July 9 at 7:00 p.m. [check local listings].

Q2 Music, WQXR's online contemporary classical music stream, will stream Beyond Recall on June 6 at 3:00 p.m., CONTACT! at the Biennial: Solo Works by Young American Composers on June 13 at 3:00 p.m., and the final biennial program featuring the World Premiere of Christopher Rouse's Symphony No. 4 on June 20 at 3:00 p.m. The concerts will also be made available for on-demand streaming for 30 days following the initial webcast at www.q2music.org.

(Photo: Chris Lee)

VIDEO: The Biennial Minute: Episode Two

The New York Philharmonic takes you straight into the action with The Biennial Minute — a video series giving you a taste of what is happening right now at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL (May 28-June 7). In the second episode, The Biennial Minute takes us to the opening nights of HK Gruber's Gloria - A Pig Tale conducted by Alan Gilbert at the Met Museum, Toshio Hosokawa's The Raven with Gotham Chamber Opera, and CONTACT! at the Biennial: Solo Works by Young American Composers at the Museum of Modern Art, conducted by Matthias Pintscher.