All-PSNY Concert at the University of Memphis

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 31, 2014, 5:05 p.m.

Kamran Ince, composer and professor of Composition at the University of Memphis, recently led a concert of the U of M's Contemporary Chamber Players at the Rudi E Scheidt School of Music. The program included Ken Ueno's Visible Reminder of Invisible Light, Alex Mincek's Subito: No. 2, Timo Andres' I Found It By The Sea, Adrian Knight's Vain Attempts, and Keeril Makan's Tender Illusions. Check out this playlist of some of Kamran Ince's own compositions below, which were recently performed in a composer portrait concert by Milwaukee's leading new music organization, Present Music. 

Talea Ensemble in the PSNY Greenroom

by Ted Gordon on June 10, 2014, 6:32 p.m.

The PSNY Greenroom is where cutting-edge music ensembles share their excitement about new compositions, highlighting their picks from our ever-expanding catalogue of chamber works and more. Our last installment featured Kevin Stalheim of Present Music, who shared his love of works by Andrew Norman, Christopher Cerrone, Kamran Ince, Timothy Andres, and Marcos Balter.

For our most recent installment, Alex Lipowski of New York's powerhouse Talea Ensemble explores his taste in chamber music, with composers from around the world. The Talea Ensemble is one of the most innovative ensembles on the scene today, and one of the largest, with twenty members filling out their ranks. Co-founded by Lipowski and our very own Anthony Cheung, the ensemble commissions composers both local and abroad and is committed to performing vital pieces from the expanding landscape of contemporary music, a cosmopolitanism that is reflected in Lipowski's picks from our catalogue. Check out recordings of his selections below and visit Talea's Greenroom to read more about Alex's Picks. 

Three Premieres for PSNY Composers

by Ted Gordon on March 26, 2014, 12:35 p.m.

Only a week after announcing the publication of works by Marcos Balter, we're excited to spread the word about his upcoming World Premiere with the American Composers Orchestra on April 4th at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall! Balter's work, Favela, was commissioned by the ACO and draws sonic inspiration from the favelas of Brazil, Balter's home country. Check out Balter himself talking about this piece, his first for a full orchestra:

For those in New York, be sure to check out the Czech Center's 80th birthday celebration for Christian Wolff on March 27th. The program features the American premiere of Alex Mincek's Subito: No. 2, which premeired at the Ostrava Days fesitval last year. Musicians featured in the concert include Mincek himself, Christian Wolff, Philip Glass, Thomas Buckner, and many more. Mincek's Nucleus will also be performed on the second half of the concert. Check out an excerpt of Subito: No. 2 here:

For those in Boston, be sure to attend the Boston Modern Orchestra Project's concert on Friday, March 28th, which includes the American premiere of Lei Liang's Saxophone Concerto "Xiaoxiang", for saxophone and orchestra. The piece is an orchestration of his earlier work, Memories of Xiaoxiang, for saxophone and tape, available here on PSNY. Listen to a recording to be transported to the intersection of the rivers Xiao and Xiang during the cultural revolution, where Liang "search[es] for memories of realities, fragments of the truths in this broken, fractured, and scattered soundscape."

If you happen to be in Texas, Houston's Da Camera hosts Loadbang on April 8 for a performance of Christopher Cerrone's How to Breathe Underwater, Adrian Knight's 20 Maj, as well as works by Hannah Lash, Charles Wuorinen and Andy Akiho.