Bryce Dessner, Composer, Guitar
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Colorado College Music Department presents Solo and Ensemble Works by Bryce Dessner, composer, guitar featuring Yuki Numata Resnick, violin Jerilyn Jorgensen, violin Nadia Sirota, viola Clarice Jensen, cello Delphica Written for Nadia Sirota, commissioned by the Cross-Linx Festival and the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, 2014 Little Blue Something Written for Kronos Quartet, 2012 Ornament and Crime Written for Pekka Kuusisto, commissioned by the Cross-Linx Festival and the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, 2015 Tenebre Commissioned by Kronos Quartet and the Barbican (London), 2010 Garcia Counterpoint Commissioned by the Cross-Linx Festival and the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, 2015 February 26, 2015 7:30 PM Packard Hall BRYCE DESSNER is a Brooklyn based composer, guitarist, and curator who is also a member of the Grammy Award-nominated band The National. Their most recent release, Trouble Will Find Me (2013), debuted at #3 on both the US Billboard Chart and the UK Albums Chart. In addition to his work with The National, Dessner has made a name for himself as an acclaimed composer, working with some of the world’s most creative and respected musicians and artists, including songwriters Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Antony Hegarty and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo; composers Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Nico Muhly and Michael Gordon; contemporary ensembles Kronos Quartet and eighth blackbird; and visual artists Matthew Ritchie and Ragnar Kjartansson. Dessner’s recent commissions include a new piece for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Edinburgh Festival and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which will be premiered by the LA Phil, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in May 2015; Reponse Lutoslawski for the National Audiovisual Institute of Poland, which was premiered by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw this fall; Black Mountain Songs for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November 2014; 40 Canons for the Grammy Award winning Kronos Quartet, which premiered at the Barbican Concert Hall in London last spring; Music For Wood and Strings for So Percussion, commissioned by Carnegie Hall and premiering there in November 2013; and Murder Ballades a work inspired by American folk music and written for the multiple Grammy-winning new-music ensemble eighth blackbird. Murder Ballades is also used as the score for a ballet of the same name, choreographed by Justin Peck for the LA Dance Project. Important past compositions by Dessner include three string quartets for Kronos Quartet (Aheym, Tenebre and Little Blue Something); Tour Eiffel for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus; St. Carolyn by the Sea for the American Composers Orchestra and Muziekcentrum Eindhoven; Lachrimae, a work for string orchestra commissioned by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Scottish Ensemble, and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; The Lincoln Shuffle, a cycle of pieces which premiered at Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Library for Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial; Propolis, co-composed with David Sheppard and Evan Ziporyn for a sound pavilion by Matthew Ritchie; and Raphael, a joint commission by the Kitchen and the American Composers Forum. Other noteworthy works include a collaborative song cycle with Sufjan Stevens and Nico Muhly called “Planetarium” and “The Long Count,” an origins story told in music and video commissioned by BAM for the 2009 Next Wave Festival. Recordings of Dessner's compositions, performed by the Kronos Quartet, were released in 2013 by Anti- Records on an album entitled "Aheym.” The album, "Aheym," features his compositions Tenebre, Little Blue Something, Tour Eiffel, and Aheym. In March 2014 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Classics released "St Carolyn By the Sea; Suite from There Will Be Blood," an album featuring three of Dessner’s compositions – the title work, Lachrimae and Raphael – performed by the Copenhagen Philharmonic under conductor André de Ridder. The recordings include performances on guitar by Dessner and his twin brother, Aaron. The album presents Dessner’s works alongside music by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. Dessner is the founder and artistic director of the acclaimed MusicNOW Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, which will present its tenth season this March. He is also a co-founder and owner of the Brassland record label, which is home to a diverse group of artists. In addition, Bryce and his brother Aaron produced an extensive AIDS charity compilation, “Dark was the Night,” for the Red Hot Organization. The ambitious record features exclusive recordings and collaborations from a long list of artists including David Byrne, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Jones, Cat Power, Grizzly Bear, My Morning Jacket and Spoon. “Dark was the Night” has raised over 2 million dollars for AIDS charities. Dessner is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Music. He currently serves on the board of The Kitchen in New York City and is a composer-in-residence at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. STRING QUARTET “A one-woman contemporary-classical commissioning machine” (Pitchfork), violist NADIA SIROTA is best known for her singular sound and expressive execution, coaxing works and collaborations from the likes of Nico Muhly, Daníel Bjarnason, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Judd Greenstein, Marcos Balter, and Missy Mazzoli. Her debut album First Things First (New Amsterdam Records) was named a record of the year by The New York Times, and her follow- up Baroque (Bedroom Community and New Amsterdam) has been called “beautiful music of a higher order than anything else you will hear this year” by SPINMedia website PopMatters. This season, Nadia premieres both a new concerto written for her by longtime collaborator Nico Muhly and a new podcast, Meet the Composer on Q2 Music, exploring the work of living composers through her interviews and musical selections. She was awarded the 2010 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in Radio and Internet Broadcasting for her previous show on Q2 Music. Nadia is a member of yMusic, Alarm Will Sound, and ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), and has lent her sound to recording and concert projects by such artists and songwriters as Grizzly Bear, Jónsi and Arcade Fire. In 2013 she won Southern Methodist University’s 2013 Meadows Prize, awarded to pioneering artists and scholars with an emerging international profile. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where she performed as co-founder of the AXIOM ensemble, initiated the Castleman/Amory/Huang studio’s New Music Project, and created the Juilliard Plays Juilliard program for student composers and performers. After winning the top prize in Juilliard’s 2005 concerto competition, Nadia performed Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher with conductor Marin Alsop and the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall. As a chamber musician, Nadia has collaborated with such artists as Joseph Kalichstein, Itzhak Perlman, and the Silk Road Ensemble, as well as with members of Kronos Quaret, the Chiara Quartet, and the Peabody Trio. In the fall of 2007, Nadia joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music for its new Master's Program in Contemporary Music Performance. Brooklyn-based cellist CLARICE JENSEN brings the same genuine excitement and commitment to performing music of any genre or style, from the solo cello suites of J.S. Bach, to new music by Elliott Carter or Steve Reich, to her many rock and experimental collaborations. In addition to the ensemble she founded and leads, ACME: American Contemporary Music Ensemble (“vital,” “brilliant,” “electrifying," The New York Times), Clarice performs with indie rock band Ra Ra Riot. Skilled at improvising and creating original string arrangements, she has also performed with pop and rock musicians including Paul McCartney, Nick Cave, The National, Grizzly Bear, Silversun Pickups, Teddy Thompson, !!!, Owen Pallett, My Brightest Diamond (Shara Worden), Max Richter, Stars of the Lid, Dustin O'Halloran, Shudder to Think, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Max Richter (live in concert as well as on MTV Unplugged), the Oxygen Network, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live. She has recorded with The Arcade Fire, Tift Merritt, Sean Lennon, Ratatat, Hole, Tyondai Braxton, Doveman, Jónsi, !!!, Owen Pallett, Matmos, and can also be heard on Nico Muhly's Speaks Volumes album. Clarice's ensemble, ACME, is dedicated to the outstanding performance of masterworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, primarily the work of American composers. ACME presents cutting-edge literature by living composers alongside the “classics” of the contemporary, and has performed at Le Poisson Rouge, BAM, Stanford Lively Arts, Carnegie Hall, the Whitney and Guggenheim Museums, and All Tomorrow's Parties, among many others. Time Out New York reports, "the ACME roster has consistently featured some of New York’s brightest, busiest players . and Jensen has earned a sterling reputation for her fresh, inclusive mix of minimalists, maximalists, eclectics and newcomers." ACME's latest album is Joseph Byrd: NYC 1960-63 - the first commercial recording of music by a rediscovered contemporary of La Monte Young and Morton Feldman, and a player in the Fluxus art movement - on New World Records. Clarice performed the U.S. premiere of Guo Wenjing's Concertino for Cello and Ensemble as part of the Lincoln Center Festival; the world premiere of Dimitri Yanov- Yanovsky's Hearing Solution for cello and ensemble as part of the Silk Road "Artist in Residence" program; the U.S. premiere of Roger Reynold's Process and Passion for cello, violin and computer; the world premiere of Donald Martino's Rhapsody for cello, vibraphone and piano; and the U.S. premiere of Kevin Volans’ Shiva Dances for string quartet. She also served as principal cellist for two years at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. Past roles include production coordinator and assistant to Björk. A student of Joel Krosnick, Clarice completed her bachelor's and master's degrees at The Juilliard School. She participated in master classes with composers Elliott Carter, Milton Babbitt, and Ned Rorem, and with a number of cellists including Yo Yo Ma, Harvey Shapiro, and Colin Carr.