About Press Room Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute culminates in Future Classics concert of new worksMinnesota Orchestra Composer Institute culminates in Future Classics concert of new works
The Minnesota Orchestra continues its acclaimed yearly showcase of emerging composers with its sixth annual Future Classics concert, performed on January 6, which features performances of six new works under the baton of Music Director Osmo Vänskä.
January 6 performance features music by six emerging composers
Composers spend week in Orchestra’s award-winning professional training program
(November 30, 2011) The Minnesota Orchestra continues its acclaimed yearly showcase of emerging composers with its sixth annual Future Classics concert, which features performances of six new works under the baton of Music Director Osmo Vänskä. The concert, held on Friday, January 6, is the culminating event of the 11th annual Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, a program co-presented with the American Composers Forum that has consistently earned national recognition. All six composers will be present to introduce their music at the concert, which will be hosted by Fred Child, who hosts American Public Media’s Performance Today.
“This will be an evening of daring and edgy music by six fascinating young composers, and the concert will be one of the season’s memorable events,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, who founded and directs the Composer Institute. “For the sixth year Osmo Vänskä will conduct each score, working closely with the composers in orchestral rehearsals and private one-on-one sessions.”
The concert, held at Orchestra Hall, takes place on Friday, January 6, 2012, at 8 p.m. Tickets are priced at $20 to $40 for adults, while admission is $12 for youth ages 6 to 17. For tickets, call Minnesota Orchestra Ticket Services at (612) 371-5656 or visit the Orchestra’s website, minnesotaorchestra.org.
Career breakthroughs for six emerging talents
The program’s six featured composers represent four nationalities and reside throughout the U.S., and their works encompass a variety of musical styles. Collectively, they have studied at some of the nation’s top music schools, including the Yale School of Music, Indiana University, Eastman School of Music and New England Conservatory. One composer, Michael R. Holloway, has strong Minnesota ties, having studied at St. Paul’s McNally Smith College of Music. Three of the new works are receiving their world premiere performances at the Future Classics concert, while the others are receiving their first performance by a major orchestra.
In addition to Michael R. Holloway of St. Paul, Minnesota, the composer participants are Brian Ciach [pronounced SIGH-ack] of Bloomington, Indiana; Swedish-born Adrian Knight of Brooklyn, New York; Hannah Lash of New York City; Portugal native Andreia Pinto-Correia [pronounced ann-DRY-uh PEEN-to coo-HIGH-uh] of Boston, Massachusetts; and Chinese-born Shen Yiwen [pronounced shen YEE-wen] of New York City.
Music Director Osmo Vänskä’s commitment lends additional prestige to event
In 2006 Osmo Vänskä expanded the then-five-year-old Composer Institute to include an evening Future Classics concert showcasing the composers and works selected for the week-long program. In addition to rehearsing and conducting the entire concert, he meets individually with all six composers for private instruction sessions during the Institute.
“The Composer Institute is very important for the Orchestra, for me, for new music and for our audiences,” says Vänskä. “Sometimes we forget that every piece was once new, and I think it’s our responsibility to take care of today’s music.”
Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute enters 11th year
The Orchestra’s annual Composer Institute, co-presented with the American Composers Forum in cooperation with New Music USA (formerly the American Music Center), is an acclaimed professional training program for emerging symphonic composers that includes six days of seminars, rehearsals, tutoring sessions and other events. Directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, the Institute is now in its eleventh season.
“The American Composers Forum is committed to nurturing the talent of living composers, and through the Composer Institute, we help ensure that the future of new orchestral music is vibrant and strong,” says American Composers Forum President John Nuechterlein.
New this year, the Orchestra is partnering with Subito Music Corporation to launch the Subito Composer Fellowship, a one-year publisher’s mentoring program that will be awarded to one of the 2012 Composer Institute participants. The fellowship will offer professional promotional efforts for the composer’s work that is featured on the Future Classics concert, and the chosen composer will cultivate a working knowledge of today’s classical music publishing industry through on-site, hands-on training.
The Composer Institute is an outgrowth of the Orchestra’s “Perfect Pitch” program, an annual series of new music reading sessions for Minnesota composers launched during the 1995-96 season in collaboration with the American Composers Forum. Perfect Pitch was reformulated in 2001 as the Composer Institute, as the program’s focus broadened and national participation was invited.
Many of the 100 composers who have taken part in Perfect Pitch and the Composer Institute in previous years have gone on to receive major commissions, prizes, grants and other opportunities, and several participants have had works played by the Orchestra at subsequent concerts.
“The week at the Composer Institute was one of the best weeks in my life,” says Ming-Hsiu Yen, a 2008 Institute participant. “The first-rate music education system in the United States is what brought me here from Taiwan, and the conservatory training that I received has been invaluable in making me a better musician. There has been nothing, however, that could compare to what I learned in a week at the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute.”
The Institute’s seminars add another dimension to the weeklong experience. “We offer information and interaction that composers usually don’t get as part of their musical training,” says Kernis. “What do you need to know to build a career as a composer? How can your music look better and be more playable? And what do the musicians really think of your viola writing? We bring composers directly in contact with professionals who can guide them in these areas and bring them to the next levels of development, while providing the all too rare experience to hear their music come alive in the hands of a great orchestra.”
The 2012 Composer Institute’s seminar presenters include John Nuechterlein of the American Composers Forum; Frank J. Oteri of New Music USA; guest composer mentor Steven Stucky; attorney James Kendrick; public speaking coach Diane Odash; music publisher Bill Holab, composers Stephen Paulus and Alex Shapiro; Minnesota Orchestral Association President Michael Henson; and five Minnesota Orchestra musicians. Most sessions are open to members of the American Composers Forum, and registration information is available at composersforum.org. A complete schedule of the week’s events can be found at the bottom of this release.
Minnesota Orchestra Classical Concert
OSMO VÄNSKÄ CONDUCTS FUTURE CLASSICS
Friday, January 6, 2012, 8 p.m. / Orchestra Hall
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Michael R. Holloway
Rhythm: Theta Beta Theta [World premiere]
Andreia Pinto-Correia
Xántara [World premiere]
Hannah Lash
God Music Bug Music [World premiere]
Shen Yiwen
First Orchestral Essay
Adrian Knight
Manchester
Brian Ciach
Collective Uncommon: Seven Orchestral Studies on Medical Oddities
Tickets: $20-$40 (Adult); $12 (Youth ages 6-17)
Music Up Close: Post-Concert Q&A with the composers, Music Director Osmo Vänskä and Aaron Jay Kernis
Individual tickets are available for purchase at the Minnesota Orchestra Box Office at 11th and Marquette in Minneapolis, online at minnesotaorchestra.org or by calling (612) 371-5656 or (800) 292-4141. For groups of 10 or more, call (612) 371-5662 or (800) 292-4141, ext. 662. Prices listed do not include a $5.75 service charge per transaction for all phone or mail orders. Save $1 by purchasing tickets online or by having the Orchestra e-mail your tickets. There are no service charges for subscribers, group purchasers or in-person transactions at the Orchestra Hall Box Office. A non-discountable $3.50 facility fee is included in the price of each individual ticket. No refunds. Some fees and restrictions may apply to ticket exchanges. All sales are final. All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.
The January 2012 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute is generously sponsored by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The Amphion Foundation, Inc., The ASCAP Foundation Joseph and Rosalie Meyer Fund, Catherine L. and Gerald B. Fischer, Jack and Linda Hoeschler Family Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation, Hella Mears Hueg and Bill Hueg, Daniel and Constance Kunin, National Endowment for the Arts, David and Judy Ranheim, and Frederick E. and Gloria B. Sewell.
Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the Minnesota Orchestra’s 2011-12 season.
The Star Tribune, 830 WCCO-AM and 102.9 LiteFM are the Minnesota Orchestra’s media partners for the 2011-12 season.
This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the State’s general fund and its arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
2012 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute Schedule
Monday, January 2, 2012
5 p.m. Composer Institute Introduction—Aaron Jay Kernis and Lilly Schwartz*
7:30-9:30 p.m.Composer-to-Composer I*
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
9-11 a.m. Public Speaking Seminar—Diane Odash, public speaking instructor*
11 a.m.-12 noon Composer Meetings with Osmo Vänskä*
12:30-1:30 p.m. The Nuts and Bolts of Modern Orchestration—Steven Stucky, composer
1:45-3:45 p.m.Upper Strings Seminar— Roger Frisch, associate concertmaster, Minnesota Orchestra; and Thomas Turner, principal viola, Minnesota Orchestra
4-6 p.m. Percussion Seminar— Brian Mount, principal percussion, Minnesota Orchestra; and Peter Kogan, principal timpani, Minnesota Orchestra
7:30-9 p.m. Composer-to-Composer II*
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
9-10 a.m. Public Speaking Seminar—Diane Odash, public speaking instructor*
10:10-11:45 a.m. Every Composer’s Business I: Copyrights, Licensing, Commissioning and Contracts—James Kendrick, president, Schott Music Corp./European American Music Corp.
12:15-2 p.m Every Composer’s Business II: Publishing Contracts and Negotiating; Legal Q&A Session—James Kendrick
2:15-3:30 p.m.Music Engraving and Copying Seminar—Bill Holab/Subito Music
4-5:30 p.m. Harp Seminar—Kathy Kienzle, principal harp, Minnesota Orchestra
Thursday, January 5, 2012
9:15-9:45 a.m.Composers speak about Future Classics works
10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Future Classics Rehearsal—led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä
12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch with New Music USA and American Composers Forum—Frank J. Oteri, composer advocate, New Music USA; John Nuechterlein, president, American Composers Forum*
1:35-3:35 p.m. Future Classics Rehearsal—led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä
4-6 p.m. Connecting With Your Communities—Michael Henson, president, Minnesota Orchestral Association; Stephen Paulus, Steven Stucky, Alex Shapiro, Aaron Jay Kernis, composers*
Friday, January 6, 2012
9:15-9:45 a.m.Composers speak about Future Classics works
10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Future Classics Rehearsal—led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä
12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch and Q&A with students from Gustavus Adolphus College*
1:30-3 p.m. Composer Meetings with Osmo Vänskä*
2-6 p.m. Mentoring Sessions with Aaron Jay Kernis and Steven Stucky*
8 p.m. Future Classics Concert—Osmo Vänskä, conductor; Fred Child, host
Saturday, January 7, 2012
9:30-11:45 a.m. Mentoring Sessions with Aaron Jay Kernis*
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Composer Institute Wrap-Up Session—Aaron Jay Kernis and Lilly Schwartz*
All Composer Institute events are held at Orchestra Hall. Schedule is subject to change.
* Event is open to Future Classics composers only.
PRESS CONTACTS:
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(612) 371-5628 •
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Sandi Brown, Public Relations Coordinator
(612) 371-5641 •
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