NewMusic

Linda Reichert, Artistic Director

Lisa Miller, Executive Director

215-848-7647

 

 

 

Available online at www.networkfornewmusic.org, or by phone at 215-848-7647.

In advance: Regular admission, $20; Seniors, $15; Students, $10

 

 

 

"This is one of the best, and best-run, ensembles anywhere in the country, and Philadelphia is lucky they're here." -composer Gerald Levinson

 

PHILADELPHIA - Network for New Music, the award-winning chamber ensemble dedicated to commissioning and performing works by living composers, is pleased to announce its 2010-2011 concert season,

 

This season's concerts present new music influenced by the sounds and instruments of Asia.  For generations, Western culture has appreciated the beauty of Asian music; Network for New Music's Artistic Director, Linda Reichert, has created a series of concerts featuring new works inspired by the music of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea.  Each concert includes at least one world premiere, and Network has commissioned four notable composers to write new pieces inspired by indigenous sources.

 

Network's recent season organized around the visual arts (in 2008-2009) resulted in unprecedented audience attendance and interest, which was sustained through last season's very successful 25th anniversary year.  Coupled with the popularity of past works inspired by Asian themes, the 2010-2011 season brings an unusual level of interest to Philadelphia's new music community.  Many of the composers presented during this season are not often performed in this city, so these programs represent a special opportunity for audiences to hear music that is rarely available to them live.  All the performances will present pre-concert talks by composers and others, and all will include the popular Aperitif, a pre-concert performance of music by student musicians.

 

Founded twenty-five years ago by Linda Reichert and Joseph Waters, Network for New Music has become one of the country's pre-eminent commissioning and performing ensembles of contemporary classical music.  Artistic Director Linda Reichert draws in the very best composers from across the nation and the world, and programs their work with that of the best and most interesting Philadelphia composers.  As performed by the brilliant Network for New Music Ensemble (many of whom are also members of the Philadelphia Orchestra,) the result is an invigorating and exceptional take on the  best of contemporary music, and a window into the future's standard repertoire.  Network's creative programming and spectacular musicianship has attracted world-class guest artists and composers such as Leon Fleisher, Peter Serkin, William Bolcom, Christoph Eschenbach, and many others; and Network often collaborates with artists from the worlds of dance, video, poetry, and theater.  Through residencies, workshops, and outreach concerts, the ensemble nurtures the gifts and enthusiasm of students who write and play music of the next generation.

 

 

TRADE WINDS FROM TIBET: Philadelphia composer Andrea Clearfield returned to the Lo Monthang region of Nepal and collected field recordings of Tibetan sacred and folk music.  Those recording become the basis for Network for New Music commissions by Andrea Clearfield and Eric Moe, and world premieres by Philadelphia composers Michael Djupstrom and Tony Solitro.  Performance includes a reprise of Clearfield's popular Lung-ta, The Windhorse and a performance of folk music by Tibetan musicians.

 

TRADE WINDS FROM CHINA: Known for her integration of her Taiwanese heritage with Western compositional techniques, composer Shih-Hui Chen sets powerful texts on the social reality of the Aboriginal peoples in Taiwan.  Performance also includes music by internationally esteemed composers Chou Wen-chung, Bright Sheng, and Huang Ruo.

 

TRADE WINDS FROM JAPAN: The music of Claude Debussy and Toru Takemitsu forms the backdrop for a Network for New Music commission by rising international star Dai Fujikura (recently commissioned by Venezuela to write a birthday tribute for Gustavo Dudamel.)  Performance also includes a new video by Philadelphia composer Gene Coleman, and music by Toshio Hosokawa and William Kraft.

 

SPECIAL EVENT: Korean Music & Art Festival at Haverford College: Presented by Haverford College, Network for New Music performs the world premiere of Second Song of the Midnight Battlefield by Hyo-shin Na, written for an ensemble of Western instruments together with the Korean puk, and a pansori singer.  Performance also includes a work combining video by visual artist Hee Sook Kim and music for gayageum, a 12-string Korean zither, by Christopher Shultis.

 

Lisa Miller, Executive Director

Linda Reichert, Artistic Director

215-848-7647 ~ info@networkfornewmusic.org

 

 

For hi-res photos, CLICK HERE