David Lang's 'note to a friend' was commissioned by the Japan Society in New York and the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan center in Japan, and is inspired by the famous letter written by short story author Ryunosuke Akutagawa to a fellow writer, announcing his intention to take his own life.
Conceived as a chamber opera for solo vocalist and string quartet, the work is also the perfect vehicle for singer Theo Blackmann, who brings a profound emotional weight to his performance, in collaboration with the inimitable Attacca Quartet. The result is a stunning and haunting monodrama that addresses our eternal human fascinations with love, death, family, and the phantoms of our daily existence.
The Attacca Quartet has officially announced it has signed with Platoon, beginning its relationship with the label with a recording of the Ravel String Quartet.
We’re thrilled to be featured on Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s recent release False We Hope, along with vocalist and composer Eliza Bagg. The album is up for GRAMMY® Consideration in the categories of Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, Contemporary Classical Composition, Best Engineered Album - Classical (Tyler McDiarmid & Allen Tate), and Best Instrumental Composition “Speech after the Removal of the Larynx.”
False We Hope is out now on Better Company Records.
We’re completely ecstatic to have won our second Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, for our album Evergreen—which features the music and beautiful voice of Caroline Shaw.
We’re so grateful to everyone who helped make this album happen, including all our friends, families, colleagues, and especially our sound engineer Alan Bise. We’d also like to dedicate this win to the memory of Michael Loeb, for whom the album is dedicated.
We're excited to announce the release of Evergreen, on Nonesuch Records, our follow-up album to the Grammy Award-winning Orange, and featuring the music of Caroline Shaw. This time, we're thrilled to feature Caroline singing arrangements of her songs "And So," "Other Song," as well as the beautiful and heart-wrenching setting of twelfth-century French song "Cant voi l'aube." Already, Pitchfork says of Evergreen, “the garden sounds magnificently thick and overgrown,” and Slant Magazine says “Evergreen stirringly demonstrates that the emotional resonance of [Shaw’s] music remains steadfast and unwavering.” Other tracks include fresh works for string quartet, such as “Three Essays,” “Blueprint” — a tongue-in-cheek homage to Beethoven — and the eponymous "Evergreen" — a love letter to a tree in the Pacific Northwest.
The Attacca Quartet’s upcoming album, Of All Joys, will be released on November 5th on Sony Classical. The album features Minimalist and Renaissance works, including those by Arvo Pärt, Phillip Glass, and Renaissance composers John Dowland, John Bennett, and Luca Marenzio.
Listen to the single from Of All Joys: Glass: String Quartet No. 3: VI. Mishima / Closing
Shaw / Attacca Quartet Orange received a Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance! Watch the acceptance here:
Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Caroline Shaw’s Orange, performed by Attacca Quartet, is out now on New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records. Orange, which features six of Shaw’s pieces for string quartet, is the first full-length album to exclusively feature works by Shaw. It is also the first release in a new partnership between the two record labels, established with the goal of enabling contemporary American composers to realize creative ambitions that might not otherwise be achievable. "Completely gorgeous in so many ways," exclaims BBC Radio 3. "It hits you everywhere, all at once." "A love letter to the string quartet," says NPR. "[W]hen you hear all the imaginative sounds on Orange, you know you're listening to the voice of a strong composer." "[T]he pieces on Orange shoot off in thrilling and unpredictable directions," says Pitchfork's 8.0 review. "The music of Orange exudes joy and a sense of wildness."
CMA Announces More Than $950,000 in Grants for Small Ensembles and Presenters
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nichole L. Knight
nknight@chamber-music.org
212-242-2022 ext. 106
New York, NY (July 31, 2017)—Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network for ensemble music professionals, today announced the distribution of $951,545 through its four major grant programs: New Jazz Worksand Presenter Consortium for Jazz, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Classical Commissioning, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Residency Partnership Program, funded by Chamber Music America's Residency Endowment Fund.
This funding will provide key support for the creation, performance, and presentation of small ensemble works, as well as support community engagement and audience-building initiatives. The grantees in each program were selected by independent peer panels. A complete list of the 2017 grantees follows:
NEW JAZZ WORKS
Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
A total of $447,000 was awarded to fifteen jazz ensembles through the New Jazz Works program, which supports the creation of new works by professional U.S.-based jazz artists and helps assure that these compositions will be heard through live performances and recordings.
Alchemy Sound Project (Rosendale, NY)
Composer: Erica Lindsay | Instrumentation: Flute/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, oboe, trumpet/flugelhorn, trombone, piano, bass, drums
2017 New Jazz Works Grantees
Andrea Brachfeld Quartet (Jersey City, NJ)
Composer: Andrea Brachfeld | Instrumentation: Flute/alto flute, piano, bass, drums
Ben Wendel Group (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Ben Wendel | Instrumentation: Saxophone, bassoon, Fender Rhodes, guitar, piano, bass, drums
Craig Handy and 2nd Line Smith (Weehawken, NJ)
Composer: Craig Handy | Instrumentation: Saxophone, organ, sousaphone, drums/percussion, guitar, bass
The Curtis Brothers (Weehawken, NJ)
Composer: Zaccai Curtis | Instrumentation: Piano, bass, drums, alto saxophone, trumpet
Ian Carey Quintet + 1 (Richmond, CA)
Composer: Ian Carey | Instrumentation: Flute, bass clarinet, alto/tenor saxophones, trumpet, piano, bass, drums
Joshua Lawrence and Color Theory (New York, NY)
Composer: Joshua Lawrence | Instrumentation: Flute, trumpet/flugelhorn, trombone, alto saxophone, Fender Rhodes, piano, bass, drums
Kendrick Scott Oracle (New York, NY)
Composer: Kendrick Scott | Instrumentation: Soprano/tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, guitar, piano, bass, drums, electronics
Manuel Valera Trio (New York, NY)
Composer: Manuel Valera | Instrumentation: Piano, bass, drums
Martin Bejerano Trio (Miami, FL)
Composer: Martin Bejerano | Instrumentation: Piano, bass, drums
Mickey Bass and the New York Powerhouse Ensemble (New York, NY)
Composer: Mickey Bass | Instrumentation: Bass, vibraphone, alto/tenor saxophones, trumpet, drums
Mike Holober and Balancing Act (Mount Kisco, NY)
Composer: Mike Holober | Instrumentation: Flute, soprano/alto/tenor saxophones, clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet/flugelhorn, trombone, piano, bass, drums, voice
Piano Iberico (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Chano Dominguez | Instrumentation: Piano, bass, percussion/hand percussion (palmas), foot percussion, voice
Samuel Torres Group (Long Island City, NY)
Composer: Samuel Torres | Instrumentation: Percussion, piano, bass, two trumpets, alto/tenor/baritone saxophones, trombone
Vardan Ovsepian Chamber Project (Glendale, CA)
Composer: Vardan Ovsepian | Instrumentation: Piano, flute, viola, cello, double bass, percussion
CLASSICAL COMMISSIONING
Funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Twelve grants totaling $231,550 have been awarded through the Classical Commissioning program, which provides support to U.S.-based professional classical and world music ensembles and presenters for the creation and performance of new chamber works by American composers.
2017 Classical Commissioning Grantees
Attacca Quartet (New York, NY)
Composer: Chris Rogerson | Instrumentation: Two violins, viola, cello
Boston Musica Viva (Boston, MA)
Composer: Sebastian Currier | Instrumentation: Soprano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, piano, percussion
The Dorian Wind Quintet (New York, NY)
Composer: Billy Childs | Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn
Ensemble Dal Niente (Chicago, IL)
Composer: Erin Gee | Instrumentation: Two sopranos, flute, clarinet, cello, bass, two percussion
Enso String Quartet (New York, NY)
Composer: Alyssa Weinberg | Instrumentation: Two violins, viola, cello, clarinet
Eurasia Consort (Seattle, WA)
Composer: Alice Shields | Instrumentation: Soprano, alto flute, recorder, Renaissance harp, ud, theorbo, percussion
Garth Newel Music Center (Hot Springs, VA)
Composer: David Biedenbender | Instrumentation: Violin, viola, cello, piano
Longleash (Brooklyn, NY)
Composer: Shawn Jaeger | Instrumentation: Violin, cello, digital/prepared piano
Momenta Quartet (Bronx, NY)
Composer: Alvin Singleton | Instrumentation: Two violins, viola, cello
NOVA Chamber Music Series (Salt Lake City, UT)
Composer: Morris Rosenzweig | Instrumentation: Two violins, viola, cello, clarinet, prepared piano
Spektral Quartet (Chicago, IL)
Composer: Tonia Ko | Instrumentation: Two violins, viola, cello
Zéphyros Winds (Las Vegas, NV)
Composer: David Sanford | Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon, horn
Chamber Music America's commissioning programs are also supported by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the Chamber Music America Commissioning Endowment Fund.
RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Funded by the Chamber Music America Residency Endowment Fund
The Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in building awareness and appreciation for classical/contemporary, jazz, and world chamber music through community-based residencies that engage audiences beyond traditional concert settings. A total of $41,995 has been awarded to seven ensembles and two presenting organizations across the United States.
2017 Residency Partner Program Grantees
The 2017 grantees are:
- • Apollo Chamber Players (Houston, TX)
- • Great Falls Symphony with the Cascade Quartet (Great Falls, MT)
- • Lawler + Fadoul (New York, NY)
- • Matt Davis' Aerial Photograph (New York, NY)
- • The Playground Ensemble (Denver, CO)
- • Sonic Forest (San Francisco, CA)
- • Sylvan Winds (New York, NY)
- • Wendell Harrison Ensemble (Detroit, MI)
- • Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco's Bronx Music Heritage Center)(Bronx, NY) with the Garifuna Jazz Ensemble
PRESENTER CONSORTIUM FOR JAZZ
Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Presenter Consortium for Jazz supports consortiums of three U.S. presenters to collectively engage up to three professional U.S. jazz ensembles. Project grants totaling $156,000 have been awarded to five consortiums (15 presenting organizations), which will receive an additional $75,000 in general operating support.
This year’s grantees are:
• Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis, MN),
• Krannert Center for Performing Arts (Urbana, IL)
• Wexner Center (Columbus, OH)
Presenting The Bad Plus with Bill Frisell
• Western Michigan University Foundation
(Kalamazoo, MI)
• City of East Lansing/Summer Solstice Jazz Festival(East Lansing, MI)
• The Carr Center (Detroit, MI)
Presenting the Dafnis Prieto Sextet*
*Dafnis Prieto Sextet will perform Prieto's 2005 New Jazz Works commission, The Emotion Series: Taking the Soul for a Walk.
• Arts for Art (New York, NY),
• CapitalBop (Washington, D.C.)
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (Pittsburgh, PA)
Presenting the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir
• Nameless Sound (Houston, TX),
• Epistrophy Arts (Austin, TX)
• The New Quorum (New Orleans, LA)
Presenting the Wadada Leo Smith - Golden Quartet*
*Wadada Leo Smith - Golden Quartet will perform Smith's 2010 New Jazz Works commission, Ten Freedom Summers.
• Acadiana Center for the Arts (Lafayette, LA)
• Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge/River City Jazz Masters Concert Series (Baton Rouge, LA)
• Banner Series @ McNeese State University
(Lake Charles, LA)
Presenting the Arturo Sandoval Sextet
Guys!! We're going to be on the New York Times Facebook Page for a Livestreamed performance and Q&A, where we'll play music by John Adams, and then do a Q&A interview WITH JOHN ADAMS HIMSELF!
It's going to be awesome...tune in here! https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/
Also, we're going to play an entire concert of his music at National Sawdust on Sunday, April 2 at 3PM. If you're in NYC come hang out! Tickets are here: https://nationalsawdust.org/event/attacca-quartet-recently-added-2/
WQXR's recipe for Valentine’s Day magic? Classical music paired with craft beer. Watch a video webcast of our Valentine's Day Classical Beer Jam live from The Greene Space at WQXR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xga-2mPXHQs
WQXR’s Matt Abramovitz hosted the event.
For more information see WQXR's Classical Beer Jam