For Immediate Release: Press Contacts: November 9, 2015 Eileen Chambers, 312.294.3092 Rachelle Roe, 312.294.3090 Photos Available By Request [email protected] MusicNOW SERIES OPENS WITH A PROGRAM OF CONTEMPORARY STRING COMPOSITIONS New CSO Mead Composers-in-Residence Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek to Introduce First MusicNOW Concert of the New Season Conductor Christopher Rountree Makes MusicNOW Debut Leading Musicians from the CSO in Ted Hearne’s Law of Mosaics November 23, at 7 p.m. at the Harris Theater CHICAGO—The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) acclaimed MusicNOW series— dedicated to showcasing contemporary music through an innovative concert experience—opens its 2015/16 season on Monday, November 23, at 7 p.m., at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park (205 E. Randolph Dr., Chicago). The November 23 concert marks the first MusicNOW program curated by newly-appointed CSO Mead Composers-in-Residence Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek, who will introduce the program. Adams and Ogonek were appointed by the CSO’s Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti for a three-year term starting this season and continuing through the 2017/18 season. The program, titled unstrung, highlights a range of contemporary compositions for strings. Acclaimed American conductor and contemporary music champion Christopher Rountree makes his MusicNOW debut leading musicians from the CSO in Law of Mosaics, the acclaimed 2012 work for string orchestra by Chicago native Ted Hearne. A string quartet with electronics by Daniel Wohl and a work for solo cello and electronics by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho complete the program. The November 23 program opens with Glitch, written by Daniel Wohl, a Paris-born composer from Brooklyn. Glitch is a lively and animated piece, written in 2009 and scored for string quartet and electronics. It was premiered at the Carlsbad Music Festival in 2009 as a commission for the Calder Quartet. Wohl has received numerous commissions from contemporary ensembles including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Mantra Percussion, Lucky Dragons, Mivos Quartet and others. Wohl’s latest project is a full length album titled Holographic, which is due for release January 2016. The program continues with Petals, a work for solo cello and electronics by prominent Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952). Composed in 1988, Petals was “written abruptly in a few days, but evidently after a long unconscious preparation,” according to Saariaho. This haunting work for solo cello and electronics alternates between nuanced coloristic sections and vigorous passages of greater rhythmic and melodic clarity. Winner of several international composition awards including the prestigious Nemmers Prize, Saariaho has been called “one of the most original compositional voices of our time,” by the Denver Post. In addition to writing extensively for smaller ensembles, Saariaho has recently turned to writing for larger orchestral forces with the award-winning work Circle Map (2012). Closing the program is Law of Mosaics, by Chicago native Ted Hearne. The 2012 work for string orchestra was influenced by the writings of David Shields in his 2010 book, Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, which Hearne calls, “a patchwork treatise on art and digital culture...” The piece was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition for the ensemble A Far Cry, a Grammy-nominated, self-conducted chamber orchestra who hail from Boston and gave the work its premiere in May 2013. Law of Mosaics utilizes extracts spliced from other pieces of music, notably the contemporary composer Andrew Norman’s The Companion Guide to Rome, which accompanies Hearne’s piece on an album by the same name which was released by A Far Cry. American conductor and composer Christopher Rountree is known for his innovative and progressive approach to music, whether he is conducting a concert or curating a program. He is the founder of the ensemble wild Up, which started in 2010 with no funding and no musicians, but has rapidly moved to the forefront in new music. In 2014, Rountree made his conducting debut on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella contemporary music series, and has led other ensembles including the San Diego Symphony and the Colorado Symphony. Rountree has served as assistant conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and began a three-year stint as guest conductor and artist-in-residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra this year. The CSO’s MusicNOW 2015/16 series continues with concerts on March 7, 2016; May 9, 2016 and June 6, 2016. CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Elizabeth Ogonek’s work Falling Up, based on the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and Shel Silverstein, is included on the March 7 program. Falling Up had its world premiere on May 14 this year with Ensemble 360 at Sheffield Theatres in England. The world premiere of a new work by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Samuel Adams commissioned for the MusicNOW series is scheduled for the June 6 program. More information about the MusicNOW series is available at cso.org/musicnow. Following each MusicNOW concert, audiences are invited to enjoy a postconcert reception with the artists with complimentary refreshments including pizza provided by Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria and beer provided by Revolution Brewing Company. Tickets for all MusicNOW concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312- 294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604. Discounted student tickets for select concerts can be purchased, subject to availability, online in advance or at the box office on the day of the concert. For group rates, please call 312-294- 3040. Artists, programs and prices are subject to change. MusicNOW receives funding through a leadership challenge grant from Irving Harris Foundation, Joan W. Harris. Major support is provided by Cindy Sargent and the Sally Mead Hands Foundation and the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust. MusicNOW Media Sponsors are WBEZ and RedEye. # # # Symphony Center Presents Monday, November 23, at 7 p.m. MusicNOW Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Harris Theater for Music and Dance Samuel Adams, Mead Composer-in-Residence 205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago Elizabeth Ogonek, Mead Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rountree, conductor WOHL Glitch SAARIAHO Petals HEARNE Law of Mosaics Tickets: $25, General Admission $10, Students CSO Mead Composers-in-Residence Samuel Adams Elizabeth Ogonek Featured composers and conductor for November 23, 2015 program: Daniel Wohl Kaija Saariaho Ted Hearne Christopher Rountree The Chicago Symphony Orchestra: www.cso.org and www.csosoundsandstories.org Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the preeminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th music director. Pierre Boulez is the CSO’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus, Yo-Yo Ma is its Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, and Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek are its Mead Composers-in-Residence. From baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892, the CSO has made 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents. People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT radio network and online at cso.org/radio . Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards, including two in 2011 for Muti’s recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti’s first of four releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at www.cso.org/resound. The CSO is part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which also includes the Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, Director and Conductor) and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a training ensemble for emerging professionals. Through its prestigious Symphony Center Presents series, the CSOA presents guest artists and ensembles from a variety of genres—classical, jazz, world, and contemporary. The Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO offers community and education programs that annually engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Through the Institute and other activities, including a free annual concert with Muti and the CSO, the CSO is committed to using the power of music to create connections and build community. The CSO is supported by thousands of patrons, volunteers and institutional and individual donors. Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. The CSO’s music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. The Negaunee Foundation provides generous support in perpetuity for the work of the Negaunee Music Institute. .