Anthony Cheung at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

by Ted Gordon on Sept. 3, 2014, 2:52 p.m.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW series opens its 2014-2015 season with a performance of Anthony Cheung's SynchroniCities, a composition for a small ensemble of winds, strings, percussion, piano, and electronics. The capitalized "C" in the middle of the title is no mistake: Cheung's piece explores the synchronous, resonant pairings of city sounds, from the ambient buzz of cicadas to the high-pitched electronic beeping of the subway turnstile. Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation for the Talea Ensemble in 2012, this work plays with the signification of sounds: dissonant, in tune, harmonius, ordered, or seemingly chaotic. Paired with works by John Luther Adams, Michael Gordon, and Mason Bates, SynchroniCities will set the mood for both the evening's concert program and the entire season. Be sure to check it out on September 29th! 

Also, if you haven't yet heard Chicago-based saxophonist Ryan Muncy's album Hot, on New Focus Recordings, then consider yourself reminded: Anthony Cheung's Refrain from Riffing is only one of several killer tracks on the album, which also contains works by Chaya Czernowin and Marcos Balter. Here's an excerpt of Refrain from Riffing:  

Ince By Ince

by Ted Gordon on Aug. 26, 2014, 10:45 a.m.

Milwaukee's Present Music, one of the leading new music ensembles in the Midwest and in the United States, presents a concert on August 30th with a composer who has become a perennial favorite: Kamran Ince. Dubbed "Ince by Ince", this concert — which is a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's critic's pick — features five works by Ince, three of which will be US Premieres. The concert will be recorded for Present Music's 10th CD release on Innova, and features a slew of other activities: a Turkish Bazaar-style celebration before the concert, and a free pre-concert workshop on Turkish instruments and music with Dr. Mehmet Sanlikol. 

The program features Ince's Dreamlines, Zamboturfidir, Partita, Asumani, and Two-Step Passion. 

In the Washington Post, Stephen Brookes writes: "'Ausmani,' a 2012 work for flute and cello by the gifted Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince [...] builds spare, questioning music gestures — flavored with microtones and other 'extended' techniques' —into a radiant climax, before dissolving again into silence."

Ince has been a long-time collaborator with Present Music, who have commissioned him to compose over a dozen works since the 1990's. In a recent feature in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ince says, "We're like family in a way [...] I can try various different things, change things, play with things and they are open to it all. They are such eager musicians [...] I really know them, and I can really be free."

Check out a performance of Ince's Dreamlines below, and be sure to catch Present Music on August 30th!  

Andrew Norman: Meet the Composer on WQXR

by Ted Gordon on Aug. 11, 2014, 2:29 p.m.

Nadia Sirota, violist and radio host on New York's WQXR and Q2, is now the host of Meet the Composer: a radio show dedicated to extended interviews and coverage of today's leading composers. Playing off the legacy of the organization founded by John Duffy which would later become New Music USA, Meet the Composer has successfully Kickstarted its way to five planned episodes, each dedicated to a single composer. After the premeire episode, which featured John Luther Adams, Sirota has turned her attention to Andrew Norman, in an episode entitled "Better Living Through Architecture."

Architectural references abound in Norman's works, from the obvious—titles referencing the Farnsworth House and architecture in Rome—to the symbolic, such as his play with architectural rhythm, large-scale form, and experience in orchestral works such as Play. In this episode, Sirota goes in-depth with Norman in an interview both informal and informative, exploring Norman's life, aesthetic philosophy, and compositional technique. Stream the entire episode here.