East Carolina University has long held the mantle as the cultural center of eastern North Carolina. With recognized and comprehensive music programs and internationally renowned faculty and guest performers, the ECU School of Music has maintained its position as one of the premier music schools in the southeastern United States. This academic year the School of Music is honored to bestow the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professorship in Music to the new music chamber ensemble, Speculum Musicae. In all, 11 world-class musicians associated with Speculum Musicae will reside at the School of Music during the 2007–2008 academic year, and each will teach master classes, lead workshops, offer coaching, and perform at the A. J. Fletcher Recital Hall.
For more than three decades, Speculum Musicae has been recognized throughout the world as an elite chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance and advancement of contemporary classical music. Speculum Musicae’s repertoire includes 25 commissions, 52 world premieres, and 32 U.S. premieres, and its performances have received the highest levels of acclaim. The New York Times cited the group’s 1999 tribute concert for Elliott Carter as one of that year’s best, and in 2001, The New Yorker referred to Speculum Musicae as “New York’s most renowned new music group.” The ensemble was also presented with the prestigious Laurel Leaf Award from the American Composers Alliance.
Comprising some of New York’s finest musicians, Speculum Musicae has performed extensively in the United States and toured abroad. In addition to its annual concert series in New York, the ensemble has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress, the New Music Los Angeles series, and the New York Philharmonic’s New Horizons series. Speculum Musicae recently performed at the Biennale International Festival of Contemporary Music in Venice, Italy, and has previously performed concerts in England and Poland. In addition to its impressive performance schedule, Speculum Musicae has enjoyed a successful recording career releasing recordings for Albany, Bridge, Centaur, Nonesuch, New World, Columbia, and Composers Recordings Inc. Their recording of Elliott Carter’s “Oboe Quartet” for Bridge Records received a Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Performance in 2004.
