American Composers Orchestra Announces Composers OutFront! Jessie Montgomery, 2/25

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will present Composers OutFront! Jessie Montgomery (violinist, composer) on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 8pm at Speyer Hall, University Settlement (184 Eldridge St., NYC) as part of the Composers Now Festival. ACO’s Composers OutFront! series puts composers on the stage, bringing audiences closer to the creative process. With her string quartet, PUBLIQuartet (Montgomery and Curtis Stewart, violins; Nick Revel, viola; and Amanda Gookin, cello), Montgomery will perform her recent works Voodoo Dolls: Music for Dance, 3 Scenes for String Quartet, and Standing/Forward, plus music she has written for the play The Family Shakespeare (MTWorks). In addition, with a chamber ensemble she will perform her scores for three short films that will be screened – Sketch by Lou Hamou-Lhdaj, Homecoming by Josiah Signor and Gritty Committee, and Bubble tree by Ran Jing. The concert will begin with the world premiere of Montgomery’s Scherzo for Winds performed by Eric Lamb, flute; Katie Sheele, oboe; Joshua Rubin, clarinet; and Rebekah Heller, bassoon.

Jessie Montgomery is ACO’s Van Lier Emerging Composer Fellow. The fellowship is made possible by the Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund and Musical Arts Fund of the New York Community Trust. The Fellowship offers a comprehensive and multi-faceted program that helps equip emerging composers with the full range of professional skills and tools necessary for building a successful career as a composer of orchestral music. Young composers have the opportunity to work with ACO artistic and administrative leadership to hone their professional skills; participate in planning, educational activities and performances; serve as liaison with student composers, and enhance their professional careers by immersing themselves in the professional environment of ACO, over the course of an entire season. The fellowship is designed to provide a career-development bridge between a young composer’s training at the University or Conservatory and the world of the professional orchestra.

Jessie Montgomery, composer-performer
Jessie Montgomery is a New York native violinist, composer and music educator. She is a composer and performer of film, theater and concert music, appearing regularly in New York’s classical and new music arenas. Montgomery is a founding member of PUBLIQuartet, a string quartet that aims to present contemporary and traditional classical works to diverse audiences, highlighting the voices of New York-based composers. Montgomery was also a core member of the Providence String Quartet from 2004-2009, quartet in residence of Community Music Works (CMW). The Providence String Quartet is dedicated to using music as a means of exploring possibilities for social change in underserved communities in the Providence area. Her deftness as an ensemble player has lead to collaborations with such established groups as The Orion String Quartet, The Miro String Quartet, and The Knights. Known to stretch her classical bounds, she joined clarinetist and composer Don Byron in his ensemble performance of the music of Mickey Katz at the Portland Jazz Festival in February 2011. Montgomery has been affiliated with The Sphinx Organization, which supports the accomplishments of young African-American and Latino string players, since 1999. Since her involvement with Sphinx, Montgomery has been a two-time laureate in their annual competition, was Concertmaster of their 2009 national tour, and serves on the faculty of the Sphinx Performance Summer Academy.

As a composer, Montgomery was in Residence at the Deer Valley Music Festival under the direction of American composer Joan Tower in 2008. She was the two-time recipient of the Composer’s Apprentice Award given by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and she has served as resident composer for the Providence String Quartet. Montgomery has been commissioned by several youth arts organizations including CMW, Jump! Dance Company in Providence, and The Norwood School in Bethesda, MD. Upcoming commissions include a score for the film Le Spectre Rouge, by 1930s filmmaker Segundo de Chomon to be performed live to film as part of the Catalan Film Festival at the National Gallery in May 2012; and a piece for string orchestra to be played on tour with the Sphinx Virtuosi in Fall 2012. Currently, Montgomery is the American Composers Orchestra Van Lier Emerging Composer Fellow which is made possible by the Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund and Musical Arts Fund of the New York Community Trust. Montgomery holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School in violin performance and is currently completing Graduate Studies in Film Scoring at New York University.

About PUBLIQuartet
Formed in Spring 2010, PUBLIQuartet aims to present the contemporary voices of New York City. With a focus on newly composed works by New York City’s emerging as well as established composers, PUBLIQuartet performs in a variety of venues from Lincoln Center, to homes, cafes and community spaces. PUBLIQuartet has been presented by Queens College, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Cirlcles and Lines and the Ridotto Concert Series.  They have collaborated with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), New York City’s new-wave staple Lev ‘Ljova’ Zurbin, and internationally acclaimed pianist Aksel Kolstad.  PUBLIQuartet has worked with members of the Muir, Juilliard, Orion, Mendelssohn, Tokyo and American String Quartets, as well as acclaimed composers Joan Tower and Butch Morris.  Individually, the members have worked with renowned artists such as Joshua Bell, Sigor Ros for Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, Matt Heimowitz, Henry Threadgill, Jimmy Heath, the Orion String Quartet, Wyclef Jean, Don Byron, Edmar Casteneda, Matt Wilson, and Joan Tower.

PUBLIQuartet’s strength is found in its ability to connect with listeners, bridging the performer-listener gap through audience dialogue and involvement. PQ were featured artists for the Socrates Sculpture Park's annual Gala, supporting their endeavor to encourage “strong interaction between artists, artworks and the public.” Their new concert series, MIND/THE/GAP, explores ways to connect old and new music by bridging musical content through improvisation.  Current and upcoming projects include a residency at the Turtle Bay Music School in collaboration with composer Joshua Green; a performance at Symphony Space for the Music of Now Marathon; and a showcase presented by the American Composers Orchestra featuring the music of Jessie Montgomery.

About ACO
Now in its 35th year, American Composers Orchestra is the only orchestra in the world dedicated to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. ACO makes the creation of new opportunities for American composers and new American orchestral music its central purpose. Through concerts at Carnegie Hall and other venues, recordings, internet and radio broadcasts, educational programs, New Music Readings, and commissions, ACO identifies today’s brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research, and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. More information about ACO is available online at www.americancomposers.org.

ACO’s Composers OutFront! series puts composers on the stage, bringing audiences closer to the creative process and making connections between composers’ roots as performers and their music for the concert hall. In keeping with ACO’s eclectic musical programming, featured composers come from diverse backgrounds in jazz and improvised music, rock and pop, classical, and world music. Composers OutFront! events take place throughout the city in unusual spaces including community centers, museums and galleries, libraries, and other non-traditional venues for classical music.

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