At a time when many professional artists are feeling the pinch of the economic crisis, Meet The Composer (MTC)--America's preeminent commissioning organization--has taken the initiative to keep artists employed and the arts thriving by doubling the amount of money given out through its Commissioning Music/USA program as well as its program for new music ensembles and presenters in New York City, the Cary New Music Performance Fund.
In the words of Ed Harsh, president of Meet The Composer: "At this critical moment for artists around the country, we wanted to be aggressive in multiplying the effect of Meet The Composer's continuing programs. We are dedicated to keeping creative musicians on the job doing what they do best, which is to make music."
After extending Commissioning Music/USA's deadline and announcing the increase in money to be dispensed, MTC received nearly three times the usual number of applications. The awardees are a distinguished group and range from avant-garde pioneers such as Steve Reich and Meredith Monk to young firebrands Nico Muhly and R. Luke DuBois.
The application pool of the Cary New Music Performance Fund represented a diverse range of new music ensembles and presenters from all of the city's boroughs. Among the awardees were string quartets, flexible ensembles, jazz presenters, and a Slavic band.
This ‘New Music Stimulus Package' effort is made possible in part by special support from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust.
Commissioning Music/USA is a program of national scope supporting the creation and multiple performances of new musical works. To realize the commissions, composers partner with arts organizations--including chamber and symphonic orchestras; soloists; jazz, chamber, and contemporary ensembles; and arts presenters--that manage the commissioning process and produce performances of the work. Support through the program is comprised of a financial award for compensation of full or partial commissioning fees and professional guidance regarding contracts and other business issues. The panelists for the first round were Christian Amigo, ElizaBeth Brown, Conrad Cummings, Jenny Lin, Eleonor Sandresky, Steven Swartz, Theodore Wiprud, and Du Yun. The panelists for the final panel were Edmund Campion, Jeremy Geffen, Joan La Barbara, Oliver Lake, and Matt Haimovitz.
Ongoing committed support of Commissioning Music/USA comes from: The Ford Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and with endowment funding from The Helen F. Whitaker Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Fidelity Foundation, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts.
The Cary New Music Performance Fund is designed to support new music activity by New York City's small-budget, grass-roots, and emerging organizations whose opportunities for composers are a valuable contribution to the total arts community. The program provides general operating support to music organizations which demonstrate excellence in innovative new music programming and in performance of music by living composers. The Cary New Music Performance Fund is made possible with leadership support from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. The panelists were Darcy James Argue, Allen Blustine, Margaret Leng Tan, and Randy Woolf.
Cary New Music Performance Fund Awardees:
Alarm Will Sound
counter)induction
Cygnus Ensemble
Da Capo Chamber Players
Either/Or Music
ETHEL
Festival of New Trumpet Music
Flexible Music
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
iO Quartet
The Jazz Gallery
MATA
Metropolis Ensemble
Momenta Quartet
Music From China
Music-Theatre Group
Ne(x)tworks
New York Art Ensemble
New York New Music Ensemble
New York Virtuoso Singers
Newspeak
Continuum
Quintet of the Americas
Roulette Intermedium
Sequitur
Slavic Soul Party!
So Percussion
Talea Ensemble
Talujon Percussion Quartet
Village Vanguard
Commissioning Music/USA Awardees:
Composer: John Luther Adams
Commissioner: Stephen Drury (piano)
Work: for piano and pre-recorded sounds (40')
Composer: Martin Bresnick
Commissioner: Double Entendre Music Ensemble
Work: for oboe, violin, viola, and cello (12')
Composer: Margaret Brouwer
Commissioner: Cleveland Women's Orchestra
Work: overture for orchestra (5'-7')
Composer: Mario Davidovsky
Commissioner: Jean Kopperud (clarinet)
Work: for clarinet and percussion (12')
Composer: Nathan Davis
Commissioner: TimeTable Percussion
Work: for 3 percussionists and electronics (12')
Composer: R. Luke DuBois
Commissioner: New Radio and Performing Arts
Work: for violin and electronics (45')
Composer: Gabriela Lena Frank
Commissioner: Chiara String Quartet
Work: string quartet (20')
Composer: Yotam Haber
Commissioner: The Knights
Work: for string orchestra, percussion, voice, and electronics (25')
Composer: John Harbison
Commissioner: Pro Arte Quartet
Work: string quartet (20'-25')
Composer: Joel Harrison
Commissioner: Connection Works
Work: for large jazz ensemble (25')
Composer: Edward "Ted" Hearne
Commissioner: Albany Symphony Orchestra
Work: for orchestra (6')
Composer: Pierre Jalbert
Commissioner: Copland House
Work: for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (12'-16')
Composer: Scott Johnson
Commissioner: Manhattan Sinfonietta
Work: for chamber orchestra and electronics (35')
Composer: David Lang
Commissioner: International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Work: for soprano, tenor, mixed ensemble, and video (75')
Composer: Lei Lang
Commissioner: Montclair State University
Work: for string quartet and pipa (15'-20')
Composer: Meredith Monk
Commissioner: Grand Center, Inc. (Saint Louis) and Los Angeles Master Chorale
Work: for chamber chorus and orchestra (20')
Composer: Nico Muhly
Commissioner: Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Work: for children's chorus and string quartet (18'-20')
Composer: Zeena Parkins
Commissioner: C B D Music
Work: for string quartet, piano, harp, glass instruments, trombone, voice, and electronics (20')
Composer: James Primrosch
Commissioner: Albany Symphony Orchestra
Work: for orchestra (18')
Composer: Steve Reich
Commissioner: Signal
Work: for 20 players (25')
Composer: Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez
Commissioner: Colorado String Quartet
Work: for string quartet and shakuhachi (15'-20')
Composer: Stew
Commissioner: St. Ann's Warehouse
Work: song cycle for small rock ensemble with text and video (70')
Composer: Steven Stucky
Commissioner: Piano Spheres
Work: for solo piano (25')
Composer: John Supko
Commissioner: Meehan/Perkins Duo
Work: for two percussionists and electronics (15')
Composer: Jerod Tate
Commissioner: South Dakota Symphony Orchestra
Work: for baritone and orchestra (25')
Composer: Chinary Ung
Commissioner: Zeitgeist
Work: for two percussionists, piano, and clarinet (20')
Composer: Yiorgos Vassilandonakis
Commissioner: Jean Kopperud (clarinet)
Work: for clarinet and percussion (12')
Composer: Daniel Wohl
Commissioner: Diapason Gallery for Sound and Intermedia
Work: for clarinet, piano, violin, and percussion (20'-30')
Composer: Julia Wolfe
Commissioner: ETHEL
Work: for string quartet and voice (35'-40')
Composer: Yehudi Wyner
Commissioner: Chamber Music San Francisco
Work: for clarinet, cello, and piano (12'-15')
Composer: Evan Ziporyn
Commissioner: Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Work: concerto for tabla and chamber orchestra (30')
