Lei Liang Premieres Collaborative Opera; New Works from Andrew Norman and Joseph Schwantner!

by Ted Gordon on May 6, 2013, 11 a.m.

Fans of New Music, performers, conductors, devoted PSNY Blog readers-- did you miss us? A few ways to excuse our relative silence: springtime is finally here; we've been going to too many concerts; and, of course, we've been busy preparing tons of new work for publication! 

For Andrew Norman fans (and really, who isn't a fan of Andrew?), we have a newly-published study score for his recently-premiered work, Music in Circles III, which premiered to rave reviews at Los Angeles' Brooklyn Festival last month. Music in Circles III was commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as a part of their "Sound Investment" project, funded by audience members and awarded annually to a rising composer. (2014's Sound Investment, by the way, has been awarded to Hannah Lash! So keep your eyes out this time next year!).

Joseph Schwantner's Angelfire, for amplified violin and orchestra, is also now available as a full score. Originally commissioned for Anne Akiko Meyers, this piece has been recorded on Hyperion and remains a theatrical favorite of the solo violin repertoire. We're also pleased to make available the full score to Taking Charge, for Flute/Piccolo, Percussion, and Piano. Taking Charge premiered in 2012 at Northwestern's Bienen School of Music; a full video recording of the premiere can be seen here. 

Lei Liang is taking part in a collaborative chamber opera project, Cuatro Corridos, which addresses human trafficking, one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time. Cuatro Corridos was spearheaded by soprano Susan Narucki and author Jorge Volpi, and has had support from the Yellow Barn Foundation, the UCSD Department of Music, UC Mexis and the MAP Fund. It brings together four composers, including Lei Liang, each to write one of four acts, which tell the story of women trapped in a cycle of prostitution and slavery in the San Diego/Tijuana border area. Lei has written a blog post about his own experience with human trafficking as an Chinese ex-pat living in America, and we greatly look forward to hearing his contribution to this important work. The World Premiere takes place on May 8th at the Conrad Prebys Music Center's Experimental Theater on the UCSD Campus, and performances run until May 11th. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Go Get'em, Timo & Andrew!

by Ted Gordon on March 20, 2012, 11:44 a.m.

PSNY Composer Timothy Andres is currently in Los Angeles for a string of performances this week and next: two with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and one with wild Up, a modern music collective. The LACO concerts look great: one a world premiere of "Old Keys," commissioned by LACO's Sound Investment; the other a performance of his solo piano work, "Sorbet" (which you can conveniently purchase on this site!). 

Curiously, wild Up's concert is themed "Brooklyn vs. Los Angeles." While we're not at all biased (although most of our office lives in Brooklyn), we'll have another pinch-hitter on the Brooklyn roster: Andrew Norman, proud resident of Bed-Stuy. I'm not exactly sure how the judging will work, but it looks like it'll be a good concert regardless. (Sadly, my fantasies of an Iron Chef-style composer competition will probably not come to fruition.) But with Andres and Norman on one side, the odds might be slightly stacked....