About the NewMusic Initiative

MICHAEL LOWENSTERN, bass clarinet [September 29, 2016]

MICHAEL LOWENSTERN, widely considered one of the finest bass clarinetists in the world, has performed, recorded and toured as a soloist and with ensembles of every variety. Michael has written music for concert, film, dance and various other new media over the span of his 23-year career. His collaborations have included remixes for the landmark recording "In C Remixed" (featured on NPR's RadioLab), Michael Gordon's video opera "Chaos" and various dance works with David Lang. To date he can be heard on over fifty CDs, including five solo recordings of his own.

He serves on the faculty of the Manhattan School and the Juilliard School. His diverse awards range from a Webby in 2009 for Pepsi's "Dear Mr. President" campaign to Second Prize at the International Gaudeamus Contemporary Music Competition back in 1991.

FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS [October 23-25, 2016]

Words by Gertrude Stein
Music by Virgil Thomson (composed 1927-28; premiered 1934)
Presented with ECU Opera Theatre
James Franklin, conductor
John Kramar, stage director
Eric Stellrecht, musical direction/chorus master
Jeffery Phipps, costume design
Erica Bolick, choreographer
Matthew Scully, set design
Scott Skiba, lighting design

Starring Caroline Miller, Christopher Short, Grace Ashley, Amanda Whitmore, Skylar McKee, Gina Marie Falk, Johnathon Spell, and James Taylor

Tickets $20.00 (General Admission), $15.00 (Faculty/Staff/Seniors), $5.00 (Student) Tickets are available at the door, or by calling the Central Ticket Office: Phone: 1-800-328-2787 (locally 328-4788)

[October 23-25, 2016 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm]
tickets available through ECU Arts
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JULIA DEN BOER, piano [November 3, 2016]

MATTHEW RICKETTS, composer [November 2-5, 2016]

Matthew Ricketts’s music has been featured on festivals and concerts in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Nebraska, New York, Austin, Paris and Boston, where his Double Concerto shared for first prize at the ALEA III International Composition Competition in 2007. Matthew is a the recipient of 7 prizes in the SOCAN Foundation’s Awards for Young Composers, a 2013 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and the 2015 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award.

 Matthew’s music has been performed by the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble, The Chiara String Quartet, sopranos Margot Rood, Ellen Wieser and Tony Arnold, JACK Quartet, Quatuor Bozzini, Yarn/Wire, the Esprit Orchestra, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), Wet Ink, TAK, Ensemble Paramirabo, Pazzia Collective, Argento Ensemble, Ekmeles and many talented performers of his own generation.

 Recent festivals include participating in the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne's 2014 FORUM in Montreal, the 2015 Wellesley Composers Conference and a fellowship at the 2016 Aspen Music Festival. Upcoming commissions include a new piece for the OSM's organist Jean-Willy Kunz, pianist Julia Den Boer and Chartreuse Trio.

 In addition to composing, Matthew maintains an avid interest in poetry and prose and has contributed original text for multiple librettos, spoken word works, choral music and song cycles, including the opera Less Truth More Telling with music by Thierry Tidrow (Den Haag and Amsterdam, 2013) produced through the Dutch National Opera and the Royal Conservatory.

As the composer selected for a commission by ECU students, Matthew Ricketts visits us in November to begin the collaborative phase of his commission.  He will compose a piano concerto for Dr. Keiko Sekino and the ECU Symphony under the direction of Dr. Jorge Richter, to be delivered December, 2017, and premiered/recorded in the spring, 2018.

 This November, 2016 visit will be an opportunity for us to welcome Matthew into out community, for him to meet students, conductors, Dr. Sekino, teach classes, and work with student composers.  

Thursday, Nov. 3
12-1pm (rm 110): Matthew observes the ECU Wind Ensemble, Scott Carter, Dir.

1-2:30: Lunch with students & faculty

2:30: Matthew works one-one with student composers

7:30pm (Recital Hall): Recital by pianist Julia Den Boer including works by Michael Finnissy, Rebecca Saunders, Alvin Lucier, Henri Dutilleux, and a world premiere of a new work by Matthew Ricketts.

Friday, Nov. 4
8-10am (rm 216): Matthew speaks with freshman Music Theory classes

11-11:50am (rm 200): Speak about his own music in a seminar setting

12-1pm (rm 110): Matthew observes the ECU Orchestra in rehearsal, Jorge Richter, Dir.

1-2:30: Lunch with students & faculty

2:30: Matthew works one-one with composers

Saturday, Nov. 5
10am-12pm: Matthew observes the ECU Symphony Orch, Jorge Richter, Dir.

SHARON HARMS, soprano & STEVEN BECK, piano
[January 26, 2017]

FREQUENCIES [February 16, 2017]

Frequencies is an ensemble created and directed entirely by students. These remarkable members of the ECU School of Music's community make programming decisions, form ensembles, rehearse and prepare works for performance. Frequencies is music's future blooming before our ears. Come hear what drives the next generation's musical interests and passions! 

Program includes Terry Riley's In C, Alban Berg's Die Nachtigall, Steve Snowden's Long Distance, Varese's Density 21.5, and Casey Cangelosi's Etude in E Minor and Sleight of and Evil Hand.

[February 16, 2017 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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ECU SYMPHONY [March 4, 2017]

Jorge Richter, director in a program featuring Charles Peck's Mosaic, winner of our 12th Annual Orchestral Composition Competition; as well as Beethoven's Prometheus Overture, Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet Overture-Fantasy, and Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, with guest soloist Jami Rhodes.

[March 4, 2017 Concert @ Wright Auditorium, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE [March 18, 2017]

The MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE, a sextet comprised of five brass players and a percussionist, is America’s leading brass group exploring the music of today. Founded in 1987, with nine commercial CD releases, over fifty premieres, and performances on four continents and in forty-nine states, Meridian’s exciting and ambitious musical approach has changed the face of classical music.

Meridian Arts Ensemble has succeeded in bringing classical music to popular audiences. Consistently attracting a diverse audience base, the ensemble has worked tirelessly to keep the traditions of classical music alive, to spread the appeal of these traditions, and to revisit these traditions from a contemporary sensibility.

Tim Leopold, Josef Burgstaller, Trumpet, rm 136
Daniel Grabois, Horn, rm 200
Mark Hetzler, Trombone, rm 306
Raymond Stewart, Tuba, rm 265

[March 18, 2017 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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ECU SINFONIETTA [April 2, 2017]

Directed by Scott Carter, the ECU Sinfonietta was formed to collaborate with, and premiere and record a NewMusic Initiative Commission by JAMES MOBBERLEY. Mobberley was chosen during the fall '14 semester by students who researched hundreds of composers before making their selection. During the spring '15 semester students learned about the commissioning process, and negotiating contract terms. The '15-'16 school year brought Jim to campus in the fall to hear our ensembles, and in the spring to share and hear initial sketches of his work.  

We're excited to premiere Capricious Paradise, this student-centered NewMusic Initiative Commission, on this April 2 concert, directed by SCOTT CARTER. The concert will also present Mobberley's Words of Love, featuring soprano RACHEL COPELAND, as well as a discussion with the composer before a second hearing of Capricious Paradise.  Download a concert program here.

[April 2, 2017 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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MATTHEW RICKETTS, composer [April 11-12, 2017] 

In Matthew's second visit (his first in November, 2016), he shares early sketches for his piano concerto.  Our students and pianist Keiko Sekino will read and record these sketches, and we'll all have an opportunity to exchange ideas, ask questions and be a part of the collaborative process!

Matthew Ricketts’s music has been featured on festivals and concerts in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Nebraska, New York, Austin, Paris and Boston, where his Double Concerto shared for first prize at the ALEA III International Composition Competition in 2007. Matthew is a the recipient of 7 prizes in the SOCAN Foundation’s Awards for Young Composers, a 2013 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and the 2015 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award.