ROCHESTER, NY — Prominent Dutch composer Louis Andriessen comes to the Eastman School of Music later this month to work with students in a three-day residency, February 20-22, which includes performances by two of Eastman’s prestigious student ensembles. On Monday, February 20, Music Nova will perform Andriessen’s Workers’ Union at 8 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall and on Wednesday, February 22, the Eastman Philharmonia will give one of the first performances in America of Andriessen’s La Passione at 8 p.m. in the Eastman Theatre with violinist Monica Germino and mezzo-soprano Cristina Zavalloni as soloists. Both concerts, conducted by Brad Lubman, Associate Professor of Conducting and Ensembles, are free and open to the public.
Louis Andriessen is one of the most distinctive and influential composers working today, drawing inspiration from such diverse sources as Bach, Stravinsky, jazz, Indonesian gamelan, and funk music. Born in 1939 to a musical family — several immediate family members were also composers — he is considered the leading composer working in the Netherlands today and is a central figure in the international new music scene.
“We all feel that he is significant — not only because his music is unusual, particular, vibrant — but because he has been so influential to a generation of composers,” said David Liptak, Chair of Eastman’s Department of Composition.
Three composers who have been strongly influenced by Andriessen — David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon — will have their works performed alongside Andriessen’s at the Monday Musica Nova concert. As founding members of the famous Bang on a Can All-Stars, these composers have been stalwart proponents of Andriessen’s work, and it is hard not to miss his influence on their own works.
Together with Andriessen’s La Passione, the Eastman Philharmonia will perform one of the most famous — and infamous — orchestral works of the last century: Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). The work is fitting not only because Andriessen is heavily influenced by Stravinsky, but because both composers share the honor of having shaken-up the classical music world in their lifetimes.
“Andriessen has contributed very captivating works to the canon of 20th – and now 21 st – century repertoire. His ideas on minimalism, which I think is an awful label, and philosophy and music in general have produced many intriguing works,” said Lubman. “He often uses unconventional combinations of instruments, lending his music its own sound-world.”
In addition to attending the concert at Eastman, Andriessen will work with Eastman student performers in rehearsal and with student composers at both a composition symposium and a master class.
Monday, February 20
Musica Nova
Louis Andriessen, guest composer
Brad Lubman, conductor;
Andriessen, Workers’ Union;
Lang, Cheating, Lying, Stealing;
Wolfe, Lick;
Gordon, Weather 1
Kilbourn Hall – 8 PM
Wednesday, February 22
Eastman Philharmonia
Brad Lubman, conductor;
Louis Andriessen, guest composer
Andriessen, La Passione;
Stravinsky, Le sacre du printemps
Eastman Theatre – 8 PM
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