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| noteworthy in february: now on YouTube — Newly Published |
| what's happening |
  The Lancaster Symphony (PA) has chosen George Tsontakis for its annual Composer Award, which will be celebrated in a concert series on February 24th, 25th, 26th, 2012. Established in 1959, it is the oldest such award in the country. Tsontakis will talk about his work, as well as stepping up to the podium to conduct one of his compositions. |
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 A new work by Steven Stucky, Silent Spring, premieres in Pittsburgh in concerts February 17th, 18th, 19th. It was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck as part of the PSO’s Composer of the Year program. The orchestra takes the work to New York the following week, with a performance at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville (Long Island) on the 25th, before coming to Avery Fisher Hall in New York City on the 26th. Three other works by Stucky have already been performed this season, and the project wraps up next month with performances in Pittsburgh of Son et lumière. Coincidentally, the New York Philharmonic performs Son et lumière on Februrary 23rd, 25th, and 28th at Avery Fisher Hall in NYC, and on the 24th at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. |
 The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra premieres Folk Songs, a commissioned work by Huang Ruo on their Chinese New Year Family Concert on February 11th, conducted by Carolyn Kuan. Also on the program is The Yellow Earth for Sheng and orchestra (Hu Jianbing, soloist), which premiered in January, 2011, at the Seattle Symphony. |
 The Philadelphia-based Dolce Suono ensemble premieres Moon Songs by Shulamit Ran in performances in Haverford, PA (3rd February), Philadelphia (5th) and New York (6th). Written for soprano, flute, cello and piano, it will be performed by Lucy Shelton with Dolce Suono’s core ensemble of Mimi Stillman, flute, Yumi Kendall, cello, and Charles Abramovic, piano. The ensemble includes the work in its New York debut on February 6th at Symphony Space, in a programme which also includes Aus der Jugendzeit by Steven Stucky, which Dolce Suono premiered last May. Randall Scarlata, baritone, performs with an expanded ensemble. |
 A new choral work by Chen Yi is being premiered by several choirs at various regional ACDA conferences in February and March. The first performance of Distance Can’t Keep Us Two Apart will be by the Clerestory Vocal Ensemble of San Francisco at the North Central Division Conference in Madison, Wisconsin (Feb. 8-11) followed by:
Eastern Division Conference (Providence, RI, Feb. 15-18), Montclair University Choir
Southern Division Conference (Winston-Salem, NC, Feb. 29-March 3), Festival Singers of Florida
Southwestern Division Conference (Dallas, TX, Feb. 29-March 3), Arlington Master Chorale (TX)
Western Division Conference (Reno, NV, Feb. 29-March 3), Arizona State University Symphonic Chorale
Central Division Conference (Fort Wayne, IN, March 7-10), Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Concert Choir
Northwestern Division Conference (Seattle, WA, March 15-18), Pacific Lutheran University Choir |
 A concert of David Leisner’s music takes place at Symphony Space in New York on February 23rd. The composer/guitarist is joined by Fabia Zanon, guitar, the Arc Duo, and the Enso Quartet and performances include Away for flute and guitar, Visions of Orpheus for guitar and string quartet, Acrobats for flute and guitar, and the world premiere of the song cycle West Wind (to poems of Mary Oliver) for tenor and guitar, with Will Ferguson, tenor, and the composer, guitar.
On February 21st, Leisner’s Das Wundebare Wesen is premiered by baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton at the Austrian Cultural Forum, also in New York. |
 Music of Martin Bresnick is the focus of a concert at Yale on February 13th. Performances include Ballade (cello, piano), Bird as Prophet (violin, piano), Strange Devotion (piano), Grace (2 marimbas, piano), A Message From the Emperor (2 percussionists), Songs of the Mouse People (cello, vibraphone), Prayers Remain Forever (cello, piano); with pianists Robert Blocker and Lisa Moore, cellist Ashley Bathgate, violinist Sarita Kowk, and percussionists Robert van Sice, Ian Rosenbaum and Michael Compitello. |
 Melinda Wagner celebrates her birthday (Feb. 25th) in New Bern, North Carolina, where Pan Journal for Harp and String Quartet is being performed at the Carolina Chamber Music Festival, and she also participates in a pre-concert discussion. The day before the concert, she is also involved in outreach with local high school students as well as a masterclass at East Carolina University. |
 Lowell Liebermann has premieres of two works at the beginning of the month: on February 2nd, Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson (principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) is the soloist in Air for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 118 with the ISO Symphony under Jeffrey Grogan at the InterSchool Orchestras of New York 40th Anniversary Gala Concert, at Carnegie Hall. At the same time, Liebermann is Guest Composer at the Festival of Contemporary Art Music at Washington State University in Pullman, WA, where the 88 Squared piano duo (Jeffrey and Karen Savage) premiere Sonata for Two Pianos, Op. 117 on February 4th. A mixture of Liebermann’s other chamber and large ensemble works will also be featured, including Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op. 23 (Ann Marie Yasinitsky, flute, Karen Savage, piano), Six Songs on Poems by Raymond Carver, Op. 80 (Dean Luethi, baritone, Gerald, Berthiaume, piano), Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano, Op. 108 (Ruth Boden, cello, Gerald Berthiaume, piano), Concerto for Trumpet, Op. 64 (David Turnbull, trumpet, WSU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Aubin). |
 Thomas Pasatieri is in residence at the Hartt School of Music, where performances of The Hotel Casablanca take place February 2-4. Pasatieri will also hold master classes and coach students in preparation for the performances. |
 Sydney Hodkinson is in residence at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he will make 4 visits between February and April. During that time, Hodkinson will be teaching, giving master classes, and attending performances of his music. On February 3rd, Duae Cantatae Breves is performed by the U. of Michigan Symphony Band, conducted by Mike Haithcock, and on February 9th, performances take place of Requiescant and Some Assembly Required with the Contemporary Directions Ensemble, conducted by Christopher James Lees. The University of Michigan started the William Bolcom Extended Residency in Composition after Bolcom retired, where instead of hiring a replacement, the University re-allocated his former salary towards bringing in a new composer each year. |
 William Bolcom was commissioned by Carnegie Hall to compose a song cycle with piano for the annual “The Song Continues” festival, which celebrates the continuing legacy of renowned soprano Marilyn Horne. The resulting work is Chestnuts, a four-song cycle of settings of familiar poems by Tennyson, Bridges, Stevenson and Longfellow. An unusual feature of this song cycle is that each song is for a different singer and voice type. The World Premiere took place on January 19, 2012 at Carnegie Hall, with soloists Emalie Savoy, soprano, Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano, Dimitri Pittas, tenor and Joshua Hopkins, baritone, accompanied by pianist Warren Jones. |
 Justin Dello Joio has just signed three works to our affiliated publisher colleague, E.B. Marks. The works include Due Per Due for cello and piano, Sonata for Piano, and the opera Blue Mountain, which deals with the last days of composer Edvard Grieg. |
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| recently released cds |
by Jay Reise, Vincent Persichetti, Marga Richter, Chen Yi, Steven Stucky, Daniel Dorff, Gary Schocker, Paul Lansky, Lowell Liebermann, Jan Krzywicki, and Matthew van Brink. For more info, click here
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| birthdays & anniversaries |
| In addition to the birthdays listed here, the beginning of the year is a good time to look ahead to some major anniversaries coming up in the next 4 years. This year, we celebrate the centenary of Hugo Weisgall, best known for his finely crafted operas; next year, we remember Henry Brant and Norman Dello Joio; and in 2015, we honor Vincent Persichetti, David Diamond and George Perle.
Is composition good for health and longevity? Take a look at the many living composers who are approaching milestone birthdays – from the “youngsters”, including Ellen Zwilich (75 in 2014), and Peter Schickele (80 in 2015) to the “seniors” such as William Kraft (90 in 2013) who are still adding to their list of compositions.
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| publisher spotlight |
 Tritone Press & Tenuto Publications is an American music publisher founded in 1961, representing composers such as Peter Schickele, Adolphus Hailstork, Anthony Iannaccone, and many others.
Current activities by composers in the Tritone/Tenuto catalogue include:
 Daniel Dorff’s Perennials for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano, was commissioned by legendary piccoloist Walfrid Kujala and Sherry Kujala and premiered in October, 2011, in Evanston, IL by Sherry Kujala, guest clarinetist Larry Combs of the Chicago Symphony, and pianist Nolan Pearson. Subsequent nationwide performances are planned.
Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Matthew Van Brink was recently released on Albany Records (Troy 1276).
Fable for Baritone Saxophone and Piano by Jan Krzywicki has been released on Albany Records (TROY 1317).
Walter Hartley's Sonata Breve for Bass Trombone (494-00395), and John Cheetham's Concoctions (494-00074) have both been beautifully re-engraved and re-issued in 2011 in handsome user-friendly editions.
Also, please visit the newly re-vamped tritone-tenuto.com for YouTube videos, mp3 samples, and more! |
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Daniel Dorff
Samuel Adler
Samuel Adler
Samuel Adler
Chen Yi
Adolphus Hailstork
Stefan Wolpe
Gary Schocker
Robert Martin
David Ward-Steinman
Martin Kennedy
Robert Baksa