MELINDA WAGNER, composer [September 21-22, 2017]
Celebrated as an “...eloquent, poetic voice in contemporary music...” [American Record Guide], MELINDA WAGNER’s esteemed catalog of works embodies music of exceptional beauty, power, and intelligence. Wagner received widespread attention when her colorful Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. Since then, major works have included Concerto for Trombone, for Joseph Alessi and the New York Philharmonic; a piano concerto, Extremity of Sky, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony for Emanuel Ax; and Little Moonhead, composed for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as part of its popular “New Brandenburgs” project. Wagner's most recent commission from the Chicago Symphony, Proceed, Moon, was premiered by the CSO under the baton of Susanna Mälkki in June, 2017.A passionate and inspiring teacher, Melinda Wagner has given master classes across the United States, and has held faculty positions at Brandeis University and Smith College, and has served as a mentor at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Wellesley Composers Conference, and Yellow Barn. Ms. Wagner currently serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music.
As the composer selected by ECU music students for through the NewMusic Initiative's unique Commissioning Program, Melinda Wagner visits us in September to begin the collaborative phase of her commission. Ms. Wagner will compose a work for voices and instruments, for an ensemble under the direction of John Kramar, to be delivered December, 2018, and premiered/recorded in the spring, 2019.
AYANO KATAOKA, percussion [October 13, 2017]
Percussionist and marimbist AYANO KATAOKA is known for her brilliant and dynamic technique, as well as the unique elegance and artistry she brings to her performances. A versatile performer, she regularly presents music of diverse genres and mediums. Last season, together with cellist Yo-Yo Ma at the American Museum of Natural History, Ms. Kataoka gave a world premiere of Bruce Adolphe's Self Comes to Mind for cello and two percussionists, based on a text by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, and featuring interactive video images of brain scans triggered by the live music performance. Recent highlights include a theatrical performance of Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale at the 92nd Street Y with violinist Jaime Laredo and actors Alan Alda and Noah Wyle, performances of Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and percussion at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with pianists Emanuel Ax and Yoko Nozaki, and a performance for the Sonidos Latinos concert series at the Caramoor Music Festival with Paquito D'Rivera. This past summer she presented a solo recital as part of the prestigious B to C (Bach to Contemporary) recital series at the Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall, which was broadcast nationally in Japan on NHK television. Her performances can be also heard on Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, New World, Albany, and New Focus Records. .
Ayano Kataoka's time with the NewMusic Initiative will include:
Thursday, October 12
Ayano works with percussionists in a Master Class setting
Friday, October 13
11am (Recital Hall): Ayano reads and records works-in-progress by student composers
7:30pm (A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall): CONCERT!
[October 13, 2017 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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In an exciting partnership with ECU Flute Day!
CLAIRE CHASE is a soloist, collaborative artist, curator and advocate for new and experimental music. Over the past decade she has given the world premieres of hundreds of new works for the flute in performances throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, and she has championed new music throughout the world by building organizations, forming alliances, pioneering commissioning initiatives and supporting educational programs that reach new audiences. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2012. She was the 2009 Grand Prize Winner of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and made her critically-acclaimed Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2010. In 2015, Chase was honored with the American Composers Forum Champion of New Music Award.
[November 9, 2017 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm]
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PREMIERE PERFORMANCES [November 20, 2017]
ECU School of Music performers focus their talents on the music of ECU composers in these first ever public performances--world premiere performances. The first of three concerts each year dedicated to the newest ideas of these developing young composers. Program to be announced.
See the concert program here
Can't get here? Access a live stream.
[November 20, 2017 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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ENSEMBLE DAL NIENTE [January 26, 2018]
Noted for its presentation of “bracing sonic adventures” (Chicago Tribune), Ensemble DAL NIENTE, “a superb contemporary-music collective” (The New York Times), aims to drive musical discourse with adventurous projects that exhibit an ambitious range of aesthetic values tied to contemporary life and culture. The ensemble performs music written for large ensemble, chamber music, and solo works, each with relentless attention to interpretation.
FREQUENCIES [February 27, 2018]
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 to be announced.
[February 27, 2018 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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BEN MELSKY, harp [March 15, 2018]
ECU SYMPHONY [March 17, 2018]
Jorge Richter, director in a program featuring the winner of our 13th Annual Orchestral Composition Competition; and more!
[March 17, 2018 Concert @ Wright Auditorium, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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DUO CORTONA [March 22, 2018]
DUO CORTONA is a contemporary music ensemble dedicated to the creation of works for its unique instrumentation: mezzo-soprano and violin. This ensemble explores new sounds and possibilities for its intimate, expressive, and vital combination. Duo Cortona works to establish a new and thus far unexplored repertoire, pursuing the endless possibilities of this union. We create opportunities for both established and emerging composers through commissions, competitions, educational workshops, university residencies, and major concert performances.Duo Cortona was founded at the Cortona Sessions for New Music by husband and wife team Ari Streisfeld and Rachel Calloway. Recent and upcoming performances include the Resonant Bodies Festival, The Stone, the SONiC Festival, New Music on the Point, and Contemporary Undercurrent of Song Project (Princeton).
[March 22, 2018 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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MELINDA WAGNER, composer [March 28-29, 2018]
Celebrated as an “...eloquent, poetic voice in contemporary music...” [American Record Guide], MELINDA WAGNER’s esteemed catalog of works embodies music of exceptional beauty, power, and intelligence. Wagner received widespread attention when her colorful Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. Since then, major works have included Concerto for Trombone, for Joseph Alessi and the New York Philharmonic; a piano concerto, Extremity of Sky, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony for Emanuel Ax; and Little Moonhead, composed for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as part of its popular “New Brandenburgs” project. Wagner's most recent commission from the Chicago Symphony, Proceed, Moon, was premiered by the CSO under the baton of Susanna Mälkki in June, 2017.A passionate and inspiring teacher, Melinda Wagner has given master classes across the United States, and has held faculty positions at Brandeis University and Smith College, and has served as a mentor at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Wellesley Composers Conference, and Yellow Barn. Dr. Wagner currently serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music.
As the composer selected by ECU music students for through the NewMusic Initiative's unique Commissioning Program, Melinda Wagner visits us twice during the 2017-2018 to begin the collaborative phase of her commission. Dr. Wagner will compose a work for voices and instruments, for an ensemble under the direction of John Kramar, to be delivered December, 2018, and premiered/recorded in the spring, 2019.
PREMIERE PERFORMANCES [March 28, 2018]
ECU School of Music performers focus their talents on the music of ECU composers in these first ever public performances--world premiere performances. The second of three concerts each year dedicated to the newest ideas of these developing young composers. Program to be announced
[March 28, 2018 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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ECU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Jorge Richter, Director
KEIKO SEKINO, piano
MATTHEW RICKETTS, composer [April 14-15, 2018]
We're excited to hear the ECU Symphony's WORLD PREMIERE of Matthew Ricketts's new concerto for piano and orchestra. On April 14, 2018 we'll hear the orchestra in ECU's Wright Auditorium, and on Sunday, April 15 @ 3pm this concert will be brought to Goldboro's Paramount Theater. 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.
[April 15, 2018 @ Paramount Theater, Goldboro, 3:00pm]
PREMIERE PERFORMANCES [April 16, 2018]
ECU School of Music performers focus their talents on the music of ECU composers in these first ever public performances--world premiere performances. This is the third of three concerts each year dedicated to the newest ideas of these developing young composers. Program to be announced.
[April 13 or 16, 2018 Concert @ A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall, 7:30pm, free admission.]
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