Alarm Will Sound to Perform World Premiere of Tyondai Braxton's FLY BY WIRE at Carnegie Hall, 4/6

On Saturday, April 6 at 9:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall, the innovative contemporary chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound gives the world premiere of Fly By Wire by former Battles singer and guitarist, composer Tyondai Braxton, a work commissioned by Carnegie Hall. Artistic Director Alan Pierson conducts the program of music written expressly for Alarm Will Sound, which also includes New York premieres by Charles Wuorinen and John Orfe-the ensemble's pianist- as well as Dublin-based composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose scenes from The Hunger will be performed with mezzo-soprano soloist Rachel Calloway. David Lang's 2002 work, increase, completes the program.

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway's 2012-2013 season highlights include her Latin American debut at the Festival Internacional Cervantino alongside the Amernet String Quartet and the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's Holy Sisters with the San Francisco Girls' Choir and Joana Carneiro. This January, she created the title role in the first staged production of Mohammed Fairouz's Sumedia's Song in the inaugural Prototype Festival in New York City and returned to France for performances of Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw. She joins Ensemble Signal for a portrait concert of Oliver Knussen at Miller Theater. Ms. Calloway makes her debut with Alarm Will Sound in Zankel Hall and in St. Louis, and she also appears in numerous performances with the new music vocal ensemble Ekmeles. A proponent of contemporary and lesser-known music, Ms. Calloway has given numerous world premieres including New Andean Songs by Gabriela Lena Frank on the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Nico Muhly's Stabat Mater with Signal, and Steven Stucky's orchestration of Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch. Ms. Calloway is a founding member of Shir Ami, an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of Jewish art music suppressed by the Nazis and Soviets.

In addition to Alan Pierson's work as Artistic Director of Alarm Will Sound, he is the Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Principal Conductor of the Dublin-based Crash Ensemble, and has appeared as a guest conductor with the London Sinfonietta, Steve Reich Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Ensemble ACJW, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, New World Symphony, and the Silk Road Project. He also served as a visiting faculty conductor at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Mr. Pierson has collaborated with major composers and performers, including Yo-Yo Ma, Steve Reich, Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams, Augusta Read Thomas, David Lang, Michael Gordon, La Monte Young, and choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan, and Elliot Feld. Mr. Pierson has recorded for Nonesuch Records, Cantaloupe Music, Sony Classical, and Sweetspot DVD.

Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band committed to innovative performances and recordings of today's music. They have established a reputation for performing demanding music with energetic skill.

The versatility of Alarm Will Sound allows it to take on music from a wide variety of styles. Its repertoire ranges from European to American works, from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. Alarm Will Sound has been associated since its inception with composers at the forefront of contemporary music. Through their work as the resident ensemble at the Mizzou International Composers Festival they also champion the work of the next generation of composers. The group itself includes many composer-performers, allowing for an unusual degree of insight into the creation and performance of new work.

Members of the ensemble began playing together while studying at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. With diverse experience in composition, improvisation, jazz and popular styles, early music, and world music, they bring intelligence and a sense of adventure to all their performances.

The performance will take place on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall, featuring ALARM WILL SOUND, Alan Pierson, Artistic Director and Conductor and Rachel Calloway, Mezzo-Soprano.

PROGRAM

JOHN ORFE Journeyman (NY Premiere)
David Lang increase
TYONDAI BRAXTON Fly By Wire (World Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
CHARLES WUORINEN Big Spinoff (NY Premiere)
DONNACHA DENNEHY Scenes from The Hunger (NY Premiere)

Tickets, priced at $38 and $44, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

For more information on discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.

Image of Alarm Will Sound © Carl Socolow