Playing It Unsafe ABOUT PLAYING IT UNSAFE Anna Clyne: Tender Hooks

american composers orchestra world premiere recording

Clyne • Dawe McGowan Mason • Trueman Playing It UNsafe ABOUT PLAYING IT UNSAFE Anna Clyne: Tender Hooks

“Tender Hooks” is an experimental work cre- Playing It UNsafe, is the first professional ated by collaborators Anna Clyne, Jeremy research and development lab to support Flower and Joshue Ott. The work stretches the the creation of cutting-edge new American orchestra by means of live electronics and live orchestral music. Through no-holds-barred visuals, creating a synergistic audio and visual experimentation, it encourages composers experience. to do anything but “play it safe.” “Tender Hooks” features technologies and Anna Clyne, Jonathan Dawe, Ned McGowan, instruments created and developed by the Charles Norman Mason, and Dan Trueman, laptop-artists themselves. Flower performs were selected from a national search for with digital source sounds, custom-made their willingness to experiment and stretch instruments, and the orchestra as a source for their own musical sensibilities, and their live processing. Ott performs with his super- ability to test the limits of the orchestra. Draw software, created for live visual expres- Playing It UNsafe grew out of American sion. For this live recording, Ott and Flower Composers Orchestra’s (ACO) ongoing mis- linked their computers to transmit live data sion to commission and perform new music and to receive live data from the orchestra. that expands the range of possibilities for – Clyne’s score is specifically composed for these ACO Music Director George Manahan says, and challenges conventional notions about two solo artists with orchestra – each element “Orchestra commissions are usually about – orchestral music. being choreographed through a combination orchestras telling composers what they of standard notation, written instructions and should deliver: x minutes duration, winds Great art is about new ideas and risk- graphic representation. This process incorpo- in twos, something that pairs well with a taking. Too often in orchestra music, that rates a wide variety of input devices such as Brahms Symphony, etc. It’s no wonder many ‘on-the-edge-what-happens-next’ element microphones, foot pedals, controllers, drawing really creative musical voices turn to other is stripped out. Rehearsal time is limited, tablets and theremins. vehicles besides the orchestra. We wanted standardization prevails, box office pres- to turn the tables, so to speak, to have really ANNA CLYNE sures restrict possibilities. With Playing It innovative composers tell us what they’ve Anna Clyne is a composer of acoustic and elec- UNsafe, ACO created a paradigm that was always wanted to do. We created a program tro-acoustic music, combining resonant sound- more open-ended, that invited composers that helps bring their ideas to life. Then we scapes with propelling textures that weave, to stretch themselves, to give us their best invited listeners to follow the trajectory and morph, and collide in dramatic explosions. Her new ideas, no matter how out-of-the-norm development of these pieces, rather than work, described as “dazzlingly inventive” by they might be. treating the premiere as an isolated event.” Time Out New York, often includes collabora- tions with cutting edge choreographers, visual Libretto: artists, film-makers, and musicians. The Chica- (text in blue is translated) go Symphony’s Mead Composer-in-Residence through the 2010-11 season, Clyne has also RENAUD served as the Director of the New York Youth Armide, do you leave me now? Symphony’s program for young composers “Making Score.” ARMIDE I must go, I must go… Clyne was a 2006 participant in ACO’s annual Emerging Composers Readings. Her commis- RENAUD sions include works for the Chicago Symphony Armide, do you leave me then? Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, the London Sinfonietta, and ARMIDE the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Awards include My work requires solitude ASCAP, a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Meet RENAUD the Composer, the American Music Center, the Stay, please just don’t leave again Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and the Jerome Foundation. Her music is published by ARMIDE Boosey & Hawkes. Before you loved me, Glory was your quest, Conquest was your love!

Jonathan Dawe: Overture and with ambition, duties, a growing love for Ren- RENAUD Ballet Music from Armide aud, a driving hope for her country, and deeper I was wrong in my thinking then understanding of her culture. Just don’t leave, not yet “Armide”, a new opera set in 2019, is a dynam- Baby, don’t you know I need some more ic drama set in post-war Iraq. In a transformed Based on musical fragments from Jean-Bap- Than your beautiful eyes… political and social landscape, there is a fragile tiste Lully’s 1686 opera of the same title, the co-existence among the integrated American new work transforms musical material into a No, no presence, the InnerAmerican Republic led by dynamic postmodern syntax by applying com- Please don’t leave, Renaud, and the Iraqi people. As the Iraqi so- position procedures based on fractal geom- Stay awhile, stay ciety is exasperated with the ineffectiveness etry. In addition, the work involves influences No, please don’t go. of current politicians, Armide has emerged as of American (east and west coast) hip-hop an Don’t you know when you leave, you carry me a leader among the people. Armide struggles Iraqi folk music as compositional ingredients. with you? RENAUD Ned McGowan: I know you’ll return Bantammer Swing

ARMIDE The contrabass flute is the larger cousin of No, no the normal flute, sounding two octaves below I have to go now for a short while and taking up four times as much space. It’s I’m leaving… largely unknown in the classical repertoire, and I know you’ll be with me, “Bantammer Swing” is likely the first ever solo You know I’ll be back. concerto written for it. The piece is a standard Please, just wait… concerto form of three movements with a cadenza. ARMIDE (teasing) Perhaps the cleaning women will entertain you That being the case, McGowan’s main goal as While you wait… a composer was to try to show off some of its qualities – the singing highs, the velvety middles, the rich lows, and also some of its possibilities for extended techniques. Having JONATHAN DAWE played the smaller flute for many years before Cited for his innovative sound, involving the becoming a composer, he was immediately natic [South Indian music], a fascination with recasting of early music through composi- attracted to the low notes on the contrabass proportionally intricate rhythms, the use of tional workings based upon fractal geometry, flute and the various musical roles possible at microtones in the search for new subtleties of Jonathan Dawe’s music has been described the low end of the frequency spectrum. melody rub against each other and generate as “skillful,” “sparkling” (New York Times) and new meanings.” This is how musicologist Bob “envelope-pushing” (Boston Globe). “The Regarding the title, McGowan recently moved Gilmore describes composer and flutist Ned Flowering Arts” was commissioned by James to a different house after living in his little McGowan. Levine and The Boston Symphony Orchestra Amsterdam attic apartment on the Binnen in 2006, making Dawe the youngest com- Bantammer street. He chose the title to com- After finishing studies in flute at the San Fran- poser ever commissioned by Levine. Subse- memorate his time there and because most of cisco Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute quent to the premiere of these excerpts from the voices in “Bantammer Swing” are the ones of Music, McGowan moved to Amsterdam “Armide” by ACO, scenes from the opera were he developed during that period. to continue his research. Over the course of presented in the New York City Opera’s VOX eight years, he studied both flute and compo- program in 2009. In addition to ACO, Dawe’s NED McGOWAN sition in Amsterdam and The Hague, explor- works have been performed by The Miró Quar- “McGowan’s music strives for an idiom in ing a wide range of subjects – from extended tet, The New York Baroque Dance Company, which various musics – American popular, techniques to Carnatic forms and rhythms, The Cygnus Ensemble and others. European classical, avant-garde, and Car- from jazz improvisation to West-African drum- ming. His compositional voice was profoundly CHARLES NORMAN MASON influenced by these experiences, even though Charles Norman Mason has been recognized he never directly follows any of these tradi- repeatedly for his originality and attention to tions stylistically. color. Steve Smith of The New York Times writes “‘Additions’ by Charles Mason , offered In 2007, his specific fascination with Carnatic a nearly seamless integration of electronic and music led to a series of extended stays in India acoustic sounds…” Peter Burwasser of Fanfare studying performance, rhythm and composi- writes that Mason’s music speaks in a “boldly, tion. “What fascinates me is the Carnatic use original voice.” He received the 2005 Rome of rhythmical complexities developed through Prize and is associate professor of composi- a tradition of performance.” But despite what- tion and director of the electroacoustic music ever complexity McGowan might write, his studio at the Frost School of Music at the music is never bookish; it is written with both University of Miami. the performers and the listeners in mind. In his debut in Carnegie Hall with ACO, he “proved Dan Trueman: Silicon/Carbon: there’s still plenty of life in old-fashioned an anti-Concerto Grosso virtuosity with ‘Bantammer Swing,’ a playful, athletic concerto for his unwieldy contrabass “Silicon/Carbon: an anti-Concerto Grosso” flute,” according to The New York Times. features, alongside ACO, the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk), an ensemble of computer- based instruments. Charles Norman Mason: Additions about a feeling of exhilaration and wonder, of In this work, PLOrk sits in front of the orches- being on the edge, but with positive energy. tra, in the manner of a concertino, though ACO’s Playing It UNsafe initiative allowed musically acting quite differently, sometimes Charles Norman Mason to join two creative “Additions” for orchestra and digital audio con- processing the sounds of an orchestra to cre- directions that he had been pursuing for a sists of two parts: 1. The concert piece (which ate gentle harmonies, other times providing a number of years. One of these he refers to is on this recording) and 2. “Pods” of instru- (wirelessly synchronized) warped metronome as hyper-connectivism: the idea of disparate mentalists that perform layers of the concert (inspired by Norwegian dance music, of all parts working together towards a common work but which are designed for performance things) for the orchestra to follow. The laptop goal at such a frenetic pace that they reach the in various spaces within the lobby. Each layer itself is an instrument in this piece; PLOrk border just before chaos, but also at the point can be heard as an installation in its own space smacks it (and is actually able to control its at which great things happen. With “Additions,” as well as together in a cohesive whole leading sound this way!) and drives the trackpad and by tightly connecting electroacoustic and up to the concert when all layers are presented keys, sometimes treating it like a glass har- acoustic sounds, Mason’s goal was to bring together in the concert hall. monica, other times a weighty hand drum. and commissioned works. ACO maintains an Regarding the title, in the original Star Trek unparalleled range of activities, including an series, one episode featured a silicon-based annual concert series at Carnegie Hall, com- being called the Horta that lived below the missions, recordings, broadcasts and stream- surface of a planet named Janus 6. Carbon ing, educational programs, new music reading and silicon, but one row different in the table sessions, composer residencies and fellow- of elements, are functionally quite similar, but ships, as well as special projects designed to different enough that even the crew of the En- advance the field. More information is avail- terprise was surprised to discover a life-form able at www.americancomposers.org. based on silicon. In reality, life is built on carbon, computers on silicon. This piece explores JEFFREY MILARSKY, conductor one particular way that familiar carbon-based American conductor Jeffrey Milarsky is music making can meet new, silicon-based highly acclaimed worldwide for his impec- music. cable musicianship, exhilarating presence, and innovative programming. His wide-ranging DAN TRUEMAN repertoire, which spans from Bach to Xenakis, has brought him to lead ensembles such as Dan Trueman is a composer and performer, THE PERFORMERS the MET Chamber Ensemble, The Milwaukee primarily with the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA and the laptop, sometimes together, some- Symphony, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is times not. His ensembles include QQQ, the Center, New York New Music Ensemble, Man- the only orchestra in the world dedicated to Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk, which he hattan Sinfonietta, Speculum Musicae, Cygnus the creation, performance, preservation, and co-founded and directs), Trollstilt, and inter- Ensemble, Fromm Players at Harvard Univer- promulgation of music by American compos- face. In addition to ACO, he has performed sity, and the New York Philharmonic chamber ers. ACO identifies today’s brightest emerging his music with numerous other ensembles, music series. composers, champions prominent established including So Percussion, the Brentano and composers as well as those lesser known, and Milarsky is Professor in Music at Columbia Daedelus string quartets, a piece for the Crash increases awareness of the infinite variety of University, where he is the music director and Ensemble, a record with Old Time fiddler ex- American orchestral music, reflecting geo- conductor of the Columbia University Orches- traordinaire Brittany Haas, and a collaborative graphic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO tra. He is also on the faculty of The Manhattan project with Irish fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghal- also serves as an incubator of ideas, research, School of Music as artistic director and con- laigh. Dan has received grants from the Gug- and talent, and as a catalyst for growth and ductor of the Percussion Ensemble. At the Jul- genheim and MacArthur Foundations, among change among orchestras, and advocates for liard School he is the music director of AXIOM, others, and he also teaches composition at American composers and their music. ACO has the school’s critically acclaimed contemporary Princeton University. performed music by more than 600 American music ensemble, and a member of the con- composers, including 200 world premieres ducting faculty.

AMIR ELSAFFAR, santour (“Armide”) cal instrument to be learned, practiced and temporary music, he enjoys a busy calendar in Iraqi-American trumpeter, santour player, wielded just like a guitar, saxophone or laptop. opera and concert performances throughout vocalist, and composer Amir ElSaffar is on To this end, the program is fitted with a tablet the world. The Houston Chronicle lauded his the forefront of a wave of musicians who are interface for drawing in real time, enabling a performances for his “clean, clear sound and incorporating the traditional musical styles of higher degree of physical interaction with the earnest intensity.” Karim debuted with New their cultural backgrounds with modern sensi- person using it, and arguably, a higher degree York City Opera at the Vox Festival singing bilities, blurring the lines and conventions that of interactive expression. Renaud in Jonathan Dawe’s Armide, a role differentiate styles, toward a music that reso- he premiered at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with nates humanity. Whether playing trumpet in PLOrk, laptops the American Composers Orchestra. Equally a jazz context, or singing and playing santour (“Silicon/Carbon: an anti-Concerto Grosso”) dedicated to his work as a song recitalist and in an Iraqi setting, ElSaffar brings a depth of Princeton Laptop Orchestra, or PLOrk, takes chamber musician, Sulayman is known for his emotion and authenticity to his music that has the traditional model of the orchestra and distinctive and compelling programs and his spoken to musicians and audiences globally. reinvents it for the 21st century. Each laptopist engaging manner on the recital platform. performs with a laptop and custom designed JEREMY FLOWER, electronics hemispherical speaker that emulates the way SARAH WOLFSON, soprano (“Armide”) (“Tender Hooks”) traditional orchestral instruments cast their Lyric Soprano Sarah Elizabeth Wolfson has Jeremy Flower is a multi-instrumentalist and sound in space. Wireless networking and video a remarkable ability to communicate with an composer of acoustic and electronic music. augment the familiar role of the conductor, audience, whether in recital or on the oper- His work with electronics has landed him on suggesting unprecedented ways of organiz- atic stage. She was recognized by Symphony stage as a guest artist with the Atlanta and ing large ensembles. In 2008, Trueman was Magazine as an Emerging Artist in 2011. In Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the Santa awarded a major grant from the MacArthur 2007 she was awarded the 1st Place Prize Fe Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Curtis Foundation to support further PLOrk devel- (Victor and Sono Elmaleh Award) in The Institute, ACO as well as with world-renowned opments. PLOrk has performed with ACO Concert Artists Guild Competition. Under CAG electronic producers in experimental, ambient at Carnegie Hall, the Northwestern Spring she receives recital and concert management, and minimal techno genres. He has collabo- Festival in Chicago, the American Academy of as well as the opportunity to commission new rated extensively with Argentine composer Sciences in DC, and the Kitchen (NYC). It has works through the BMI Foundation Commis- Osvaldo Golijov, on several Grammy-nominat- inspired the formation of laptop orchestras sioning Prize and record on the Naxos Label. ed works and the score for Francis Ford Cop- across the world, from Oslo to Bangkok. She made her Weill Hall solo recital debut in pola’s film “Tetro.” January 2009. KARIM SULAYMAN, countertenor JOSHUE OTT, electronics (“Tender Hooks”) (“Armide”) Joshue Ott is a multi-disciplined media artist Karim Sulayman is consistently praised by and designer. He created superDraw, software audiences and critics for his sensitive musical- for live visual performance. The program pro- ity, vivid portrayals, and unique vocalism. With duces visual art, but behaves more like a musi- a vast repertoire that spans baroque to con- ACO’s recording initiative is made possible Playing it UNsafe with the support of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and the Booth Ferris Foundation. 1 Tender Hooks Anna Clyne 09:36 Jeremy Flower and Joshue Ott, laptops

2 Additions Charles Norman Mason ...... 12:03

American Composers Orchestra 3 Silicon/Carbon: an anti-Concerto Grosso Dan Trueman 15:24 240 West 35th Street, Suite 405 Dan Trueman, hardanger fiddle NYC, NY 10001-2506 PLOrk www.americancomposers.org Overture and Ballet Music from “Armide” Jonathan Dawe 212.977.8495 4 Overture and Sarabande ...... 02:08 5 Marche ...... 02:24 6 Ritournelle 02:56 7 Passacaille 03:40 Karim Sulayman, countertenor Sarah Wolfson, soprano Amir Elsaffar, santour

Bantammer Swing Ned McGowan 8 I ...... 06:16 9 II ...... 06:28 10 III 05:28 Ned McGowan, contrabass flute