Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] National Press Representative: Julia Kirchhausen (917) 453-8386; [email protected] MAY 30–31, 2014, AT AVERY FISHER HALL: BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS and the CHOIR OF TRINITY WALL STREET To Give NEW YORK PREMIERE of JULIA WOLFE’s Anthracite Fields JULIAN WACHNER To Conduct NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC To Perform NEW YORK PREMIERE of STEVEN MACKEY’s Oratorio Dreamhouse With Vocalist/Co-Librettist RINDE ECKERT, SYNERGY VOCALS, and CATCH ELECTRIC GUITAR QUARTET JAYCE OGREN To Conduct As part of the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, the New York Philharmonic presents a double bill May 30–31, 2014, featuring the New York Premieres of oratorios by two American composers: Julia Wolfe (United States, b. 1958) and Steven Mackey (United States, b. 1956). The Bang on a Can All-Stars, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and conductor Julian Wachner will all make their Philharmonic debuts with Julia Wolfe’s oratorio explaining coal mining life in central Pennsylvania in Anthracite Fields. After intermission Jayce Ogren will conduct the New York Philharmonic in the powerful, Grammy-nominated oratorio Dreamhouse by Steven Mackey, in performances featuring Mr. Mackey’s co-librettist, vocalist Rinde Eckert, making his Philharmonic debut, as well as Synergy Vocals and Catch Electric Guitar Quartet (the latter also in its Philharmonic debut). Julia Wolfe said: “I am thrilled that in its inaugural year the NY PHIL BIENNIAL welcomes Bang on a Can in Anthracite Fields to the stage. The NY PHIL BIENNIAL is all about new work, and this piece is hot off the press — the ink still wet.” Steven Mackey said: “Dreamhouse uses the design and construction of a house as a metaphor for the inevitable fragility of human endeavor. As the libretto says, 2 ‘No matter how precisely strings are laid, there will be foundation flaws.’ One could say that the piece was instigated by a need to return to creativity following the challenges, personal and otherwise, in the wake of 9/11. It is a dream come true that the first-ever presentation of my music by the New York Philharmonic will be Dreamhouse, not only because it is my most ambitious work but also because, from its inception, it was tied to this great city.” A flagship project of the New York Philharmonic envisioned by Music Director Alan Gilbert, the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is a kaleidoscopic exploration of today’s music showcasing an array of curatorial voices through concerts presented with cultural partners throughout New York City. Modeled on the great visual art biennials, the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL, taking place May 28–June 7, 2014, brings the public together with a diverse roster of more than 50 composers, ranging from elementary school students to icons, for concerts of symphonies, concertos, staged opera, chamber music, and solo works, many of which will be premieres. Meet-up events, lectures and panel discussions, and online interactivity are planned to encourage audience members to directly engage with composers, scholars, and artists. The 2014 NY PHIL BIENNIAL partners include 92nd Street Y, The Museum of Modern Art, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Juilliard School, Gotham Chamber Opera, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Bang on a Can, American Composers Orchestra, and Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School High School. For complete information about the 2014 NY PHIL BIENNIAL, see press release. Related Events Play Date All audience members attending the NY PHIL BIENNIAL concert on May 30 are invited to meet composers and performers as part of the post-concert Play Date, one of several meet- ups taking place during the biennial. Play Dates following Avery Fisher Hall concerts will take place at Bar Biennial, open for the duration of the NY PHIL BIENNIAL in the lobby of Avery Fisher Hall. Biennial Pass holders will receive a total of two free drink vouchers redeemable at Play Dates. Pre-Concert Talks Composer Daniel Felsenfeld will introduce the program. Pre-Concert Talks are $7; discounts available for multiple talks, students, and groups. They take place one hour before these performances in the Helen Hull Room, unless otherwise noted. Attendance is limited to 90 people. Information: nyphil.org/preconcert or (212) 875-5656. Kameramusik The New York Philharmonic Archives will present Kameramusik, an electronic media/photography installation by visual artist Anneliese Varaldiev, which features portraits of living composers whose work is being presented at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL. The installation will be on display May 28–June 7 in the Bruno Walter Gallery on Avery Fisher Hall’s Grand Promenade and will be open to ticket holders. 3 Repertoire Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields (2013), commissioned through New Music USA (previously Meet the Composer) and the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, explores coal-mining life and the fields of central Pennsylvania near her hometown. The composer draws from oral histories, interviews, speeches, geographic descriptions, local rhymes, and coal advertisements in creating this intimate look at a particular slice of American life. Ms. Wolfe has described her compositional influences as “funk, hip-hop, Appalachian folk music, Led Zeppelin, and Beethoven.” These concerts take place a month after the work’s World Premiere in Philadelphia with the All-Stars and the Mendelssohn Club chorus. Julia Wolfe, along with composers David Lang and Michael Gordon, co-founded Bang on a Can in 1987 and its renowned ensemble the Bang on a Can All-Stars in 1992, and remains one of its artistic directors. This season sees the release of her Steel Hammer, a musical exploration of the myriad of legends surrounding the figure of John Henry, which Ms. Wolfe describes as a companion work to Anthracite Fields. Recorded by the Norwegian vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Steel Hammer will be released on Cantaloupe Music on April 29, 2014. When Steven Mackey received the commission for Dreamhouse (2003) from NPS (Dutch Radio) in 2001, his immediate desire was “simply to hear a band of diverse elements playing and singing together with abandon — a traditional symphony orchestra, twanging electric guitars, [a] pure-toned vocal quartet, and a somewhat theatrical ‘front man’ inhabiting a place between operatic tenor and Jim Morrison.” Rinde Eckert, Synergy Vocals, and Catch Electric Guitar Quartet (all of whom are featured in these concerts) performed on the 2010 recording of Dreamhouse, which was nominated for three Grammy Awards. Mr. Eckert and Mr. Mackey are members of Big Farm, the “prog-rock” super group with drummer Jason Treuting of So Percussion and bassist Mark Haanstra. Mr. Mackey identifies the work’s influences as “allegorical texts in ’60s psychedelic rock, the symphonic vocalise of 16th-century masses and motets, and the unstaged theatricality of baroque oratorio.” Mr. Mackey’s background as an electric guitarist has strongly influenced his writing; in addition to composing two concertos for the instrument, his score for Dreamhouse calls for the use of three such guitars. Mr. Mackey co- wrote the libretto with Mr. Eckert, his longtime collaborator, during a time of post-9/11 introspection as a meditation on the American Dream, “not as political commentary per se but rather a journal of self-reflection.” Artists Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields Grammy-nominated conductor Julian Wachner is sought after as conductor, composer, and keyboard artist. Recent and upcoming engagements include those with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Pacific, and Jacksonville symphonies, Lincoln Center Festival, BAM Next Wave Festival, Juilliard Opera Theatre, New York City Opera, Hong Kong Philharmonic, TENET, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, and with Carnegie Hall (Arvo Pärt’s Passio). As director of music and the arts at New York’s historic Trinity Wall Street, Mr. Wachner oversees an annual season of over 900 events, including Trinity’s numerous and varied concert offerings, series and festivals, museum expositions, dance and theatre performances, poetry and literary readings, and 4 educational/outreach initiatives in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn in partnership with New York City’s public school system. He was recently nominated for a 2012 Grammy award for Trinity’s recording of Handel’s complete Israel in Egypt. Julian Wachner is also music director of the Grammy Award–winning Washington Chorus, with whom he won ASCAP’s Alice Parker Award for Adventurous Programming in 2011. A Baroque specialist, he was the founding music director of the Boston Bach Ensemble and the Bach Académie de Montréal, besides serving as artistic director of International Bach Festivals in Boston and Montreal. In 2011 he founded New York City’s newest music festival, The Twelfth Night Festival of Early Music, most recently presented in collaboration with Gotham Early Music Society and featuring many of New York’s leading baroque and renaissance ensembles. In 2010, Mr. Wachner made New York City Opera history when he was selected as both conductor and composer at the company’s annual VOX festival of contemporary opera. He was the festival’s sole conductor in 2012. Mr. Wachner’s recordings are with the Chandos, Naxos, Atma Classique, Arsis, Dorian, Musica Omnia, and Titanic labels. These are his first appearances in concerts presented by the New York Philharmonic. Formed in 1992 by New York’s renowned new-music collective Bang on a Can, the Bang on a Can All-Stars are recognized worldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings of today’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world, and experimental music, this six-member amplified ensemble has consistently forged a distinct category-defying identity, taking music into uncharted territories. Performing each year throughout the U.S. and internationally, the All-Stars have shattered the definition of what concert music is today.