The Summer of Alex Mincek

by Ted Gordon on June 13, 2013, 3:18 p.m.

Who knew that one composer could be so busy in such a short amount of time? Alex Mincek, recent recipient of the prestigious Alpert Award in the Arts , is quickly gaining an international reputation for his work, both written for chamber ensembles and for orchestra. His String Quartet No. 3, "lift - tilt - filter - split", has been recently performed by both the MIVOS Quartet and the JACK Quartet, MIVOS giving the Canadian premiere of the piece last month, and JACK performing it alongside the Arditti String Quartet at Wigmore Hall. JACK's performance garnered favorable reviews in The Guardian and severalblogs, and a live recording is available through Wigmore Hall's in-house record label. (The live recording, by the way, also includes recordings of Ligeti's Second String Quartet, as well as Matthias Pintscher's Study IV for Treatise on the Veil!)

The JACK Quartet have also recorded Mincek's String Quartet No. 3 on an album released by Carrier Records, which also has recordings of his Pendulum V, Pendulum III, Poco a Poco, and Nucleus. Be sure to follow us on twitter (@Schott_NY) where we'll be giving away two free copies of Alex's Carrier Records album!

For those of you who can't wait to get your hands on that beautifully recorded and crafted CD, here's a video of the MIVOS quartet performing the work at the Darmstat Summer Course for New Music last year: 

And in addition to the activity surrounding Mincek's String Quartet No. 3, the Ensemble Cairn, which in March commissioned a new chamber work from Mincek entitled "donegal", performed that work for a second time at the Hippodrome Douai-- an archived recording of which is still avaialble from Radio France. 

What's that? You demand even more work from this already-busy, internationally-accoladed composer? Well-- be on the lookout for loadbang, New York's bleeding-edge ensemble for "lung-powered instrumentation" (bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and baritone voice), performing Mincek's also-recently-commissioned piece, "number may be defined." And, if you find yourself at the Ostrava Days institute/festival this summer, keep your ears out at the final concert of the festival, which will include an excerpt from a brand-new large orchestral work, to be affiliated with Mincek's Pendulum works. So, keep Mincek's other pendulum works—two of which are available through PSNY— in mind!  

Lei Liang and Anne Cleare in Boston and Berlin

by Ted Gordon on June 4, 2013, 5:34 p.m.

The Boston Early Music Festival might not be a place one would expect to hear contemporary works, but this year the festival is turning that notion on its head by including Lei Liang's 2001 composition, Some Empty Thoughts of a Person from Edo, performed by harpsichordist Takae Ohnishi, on June 11th at the First Lutheran Church in Boston. Ohnishi, who commissioned the work, premiered it in Osaka in 2001. Liang's Empty Thoughts are, of course, the opposite: the piece is based on a transcription from Liang's own improvisation at the keyboard, making this piece the embodiment of the fullness of Liang's creativity. Pianist Gloria Cheng recently gave a powerful performance of the work as part of the Piano Spheres series at The Colburn School. The striking instrument, seen in the video below, was built by Cheng's husband, Lefteris Padavos: a double-manual based on a model by the master 18th-century builder, Pascal Taskin. The instrument is a perfect complement to the contemporary canon - from its stylishly unique collapsible stand to its adjustable keyboard which allows for performance at both lower historical tuning standards and as well at modern pitch. 

Also in June is the premiere of Ann Cleare's work for brass quintet, mire|...|veins, by Ensemble Apparat. The performance, on June 27th, takes place in the heart of Berlin's Mitte district, in a 19th-century villa attached to St. Elizabeth's church. We look forward publishing mire|...|veins  following the premiere. In the meantime, have a listen below to Ann's string quartet, moil: 

More news is coming this week, so check back soon! 

Beat Furrer in New York

by Ted Gordon on May 23, 2013, 3:18 p.m.

Beat Furrer, the Swiss composer and founder of Klangforum Wien, has just ended a week-long residency in New York with the Talea Ensemble. The residency included lectures, open rehearsals, and several concerts, including a non-staged performance of Furrer's opera, FAMA, which included the vocal ensemble Ekmeles, at the Bohemian National Hall. The week also included the US premiere of Furrer's 2011 Studie für Klavier, available from PSNY, on May 14th at the Austrian Cultural Forum. We're excited to be able to make available several of Furrer's works, which are notoriously difficult to get a hold of. In addition to the Studie für Klavier, Furrer's a due for violin and piano, presto for flute and piano, and Spur for string quartet and piano are all available for download.