Category Archives: Music

2020

Posted on by
2020:
“Beethoven Now!”
Digital Salon hosted by the Goethe-Institut of New York City, May 30, 2020
(Michael Alec Rose’s spiel begins @36:35)
– –
To The Four Winds (for flute, oboe, horn, and bassoon)
Composed for members of the Blair Woodwind Quintet, to be included on their 2020 recording of new works for various instrumentations.
– –
Dream for Light Years: Ali Smith & Michael Alec Rose
An exhibition of paintings and music at the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery:

Ali Smith, Border, 2020. Oil on canvas

(postponed to the fall of 2020)

Lolly Willowes: Opera in Two Acts

Posted on by

Poster and promotional videos for Lolly Willowes (Opera in Two Acts):

Lolly Willowes (Opera in Two Acts, 2017-18) by Michael Alec Rose, is based on the 1926 novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner. The opera was funded by the maximum Artist Development Grant ($15,000) from the Houston Arts Alliance, together with an online fundraising campaign (which reached a stretch goal of $8,500), with a professional company of singers, players, theatrical director, choreography for two dancers, costume designer, set designer, etc.). Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH), April 18 and 20, 2019:
https://matchouston.org/events/2019/lolly-willowes

Lolly Willowes Poster 12x18.jpg

Continue reading →

In memoriam: Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

Posted on by

Michael Alec Rose has set three of Mary Oliver’s poems, now accessible via Soundcloud:

1) “In Blackwater Woods,” Mezzo-soprano Sharon Mabry and pianist Lynn Rice-See.
(The second song of Rose’s song cycle titled “The Way In” (1986).)

2) “First Snow,” Mezzo-soprano Sharon Mabry and pianist Lynn Rice-See.
(The fourth and final song of Rose’s song cycle titled “The Way In” (1986).)

3) “Sleeping in the Forest,”  Tenor Tony Boutté and pianist Margaret Kampmeir.
This song comes from my 1985 song cycle News of the Universe. This performance was part of the 2015 retrospective of music by Michael Alec Rose at Opera America/National Opera Center in New York City. Reflections by the composer:

Especially moving for me is Tony and Peggy’s interpretation of this song, performed here 30 years after the two of them premiered the song cycle at the Eastman School. Back then, I was the first composer to ask and receive Ms. Oliver’s permission to set her work to music. I’m thinking of putting what she said to me (when I finally met her a few years ago) on my tombstone: “You still doing that? Composing? You know, you’re the only one I ever liked.” I was so flabbergasted I didn’t know what to say. I won’t tell you what foolish and inarticulate thing I said. To be painfully evenhanded, it too should go on my tombstone.

2018

Posted on by

Recent Completed Works, Premieres:

-Musica senza rumore (2017), suite for solo piano, composed for Prince Jonathan Doria and the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome, Italy, premiere (TBA) in collaboration with the Rome Chamber Music Festival.

– Lolly Willowes, music drama in two acts, performances in April 2019 at MATCH Midtown Arts & Theater Center in Houston, Texas.

February 11, 2018
Ching-Yi Lin, violin
Andrew Braddock, viola
Cole Concert Hall
Stephen F. Austin State University
Nacodoches, Texas

—performances of Caprices #1 and #3 for solo viola, and Mornington Caprice (#2) for violin and viola

February 25, 2018
Melissa Treinkman, mezzo-soprano (doctoral recital)
Jasper Jimenez, piano
USC Thornton School of Music
Rilke Songs: Music set to poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
—performances of “October Day” and “The Way In” from the song cycle The Way In

This recital will be live-streamed at: https://youtu.be/uVz-9TmSQfs

Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 8:00 PM
Violins of Hope: Music of the Holocaust for Strings and Winds
Musicians of the Blair School of Music and the Nashville Symphony
The program includes the following:
Michael Alec Rose, The Entire World: Jewish Songs from Eastern Europe (flute, violin, and cello)
https://events.vanderbilt.edu/index.php?eID=120120

Friday, May 4, 2018
“Pastorals”: a program celebrating the links between music and craft
Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin
London premiere of Il Ritorno: Perambulation for Solo Violin (composed for Peter, 2014-2016)
Performance at The Forge, Craft Central, Isle of Dogs, London

May 17, 2018
Three Interventions for string quartet, commissioned by Austin Camerata for its premiere at the Blanton Museum of Art, in front of the three artworks which inspired the music.

June 5, 2018
Featured guest artist, joining photographer Brian Peterson for a special event at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The event will focus on the elusive subject of Beauty, honoring the release of Mr. Peterson’s new book I Give My Eyes…

September 15, 2018
One Day University lecture, New York City (registration required)
“Beethoven and the Beatles: Hearing the Connection”

September 21, 2018
Il Ritorno: Perambulation for Unaccompanied Violin (2013-2015), Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin.  Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre, De Montfort University (Leicester, UK): “Bringing New Music to New Audiences” (International Conference).

October 3, 2018
Hopeful Monsters (for string orchestra, 2011), Ramakrishnan Kumaran, conductor, Faculty Composers Concert, Blair School of Music, Nashville, Tennessee.

 

2015

Posted on by

“News of the Universe: The Music of Michael Alec Rose”
Tony Boutté, tenor and Margaret Kampmeier, piano
Monday, January 19, 2015
National Opera Center
New York City, New York
“New American Voices: 2015”
http://www.tonyboutte.com/#!nav2015/c1u6a

Author:
• “Another Acre or so of Being”: Letters from Guy Davenport, the lead article in the spring issue of Literary Imagination (Oxford Journals).
literary imagination

Appearances as Guest Speaker:
• One Day University, Cleveland, Ohio, September 19, 2015 [https://www.onedayu.com/events/detail/258]

• Headline Presenter at Pebble Beach Authors & Ideas Festival, September. 25-27, 2015

Premiere and New Composition:
• Flat Rock: Three Glades for Wind Ensemble (2013).  Performance by the Vanderbilt Wind Ensemble on November 16, 2015.

• Canticle (Fourth Viola Sonata, 2015), dedicated to my violist friends.

10411922_599145050183424_948682000412677836_n

 

Spring 2014

Posted on by

CD:
Michael Alec Rose, Chamber and Solo Works for Strings and Horns
Toccata Classics (Summer 2013)
Reviewed by Fanfare (Nov. 2013) and American Record Guide (Jan. 2013)
Available at Toccata (with individual MP3 downloads and streaming samples), and
Amazon.

•Sunday, March 2
Premiere in Dover, Kent, England
Dover Arts Development Salon
Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin
Two new movements, “Silence” and “Bearings” from Ritorno, a cycle of unaccompanied violin pieces

•Exchange Program Residence
Royal Academy of Music, London (week of March 3-7)

•Tuesday, March 4
Soundbox (a weekly series) in the Academy’s York Gate Galleries
featuring Sui Generis: Five Types for Piano Inside/Out,
composed for Zubin Kanga (just awarded his doctorate by the Royal Academy)

•Two performances of Sui Generis in Zubin Kanga’s first U.S. tour:

Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
Thursday, March 27

Blair School of Music, Nashville, Tennessee
Saturday, March 29

•Two presentations for One Day University:
Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Beethoven and the Beatles: Hearing the Connections
Saturday, April 26

Dallas, Texas. How to Listen to and Appreciate Great Music
Saturday, May 10

•May 12 – 17, Composer in Residence, Conservatory Tatuí, Brazil.
South American premiere of Flat Rock: Three Glades for Wind Ensemble, co-commissioned by Maestro Dario Sotelo and the Brazilian Wind Orchestra.
III Semana da Composição para Bandas

Fall, 2013

Posted on by
•Nightcap Series Concert
Blair School of Music
Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin
September 12, 2013
including the premiere of Preamble, the first movement of Ritorno, a large cycle of pieces for Peter, investigating the Dartmoor region of England.
Listen to Preamble on Peter’s website.
Review of the Nightcap concert by John Pitcher.
•
•Performances of two works at Middle Tennessee State University (and beyond):Premiere of Flat Rock: Three Cedar Glades for Wind Ensemble* by the MTSU Wind Ensemble
Reed Thomas, conductor
T. Earl Hinton Music Hall, Wright Music Building,
Middle Tennessee State University
October 10, 2013
7:30 p.m

*Flat Rock is part of the ongoing MTSU Bands Commissioning Consortium, organized and led by Dr. Reed Thomas, Director of Bands at MTSU.  The consortium includes the following ensembles and directors:

Abilene Christian University Wind Ensemble – Stephen D. Ward, Conductor
Brazilian Wind Orchestra – Dario Sotelo, Conductor
Kennesaw State University – David Kehler, Conductor
Middle Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble – Reed Thomas, Conductor
Shenandoah Conservatory Wind Ensemble – Damon Talley, Conductor
Vanderbilt University Wind Ensemble – Thomas Verrier, Conductor
Western Kentucky University Wind Ensemble  – Gary Schallert, Conductor

Performance of Sun-coaster** by the MTSU Symphonic Band
Craig Cornish, conductor
T. Earl Hinton Music Hall, Wright Music Building,
Middle Tennessee State University
November 26, 2013
7:30 p.m

**Sun-coaster was originally commissioned by the Suncoast Concert Band of Sarasota, Florida.  This is its second performance.

•Faculty Composers Concert
Turner Recital Hall
Blair School of Music
U.S. premiere of Unturned Stones (duo for violin and viola)
Danielle Hoisington, violin; Laura Williamson, viola
October 28, 2013 (more information)
          

•Back-to-back One Day University events in Philadelphia and New York City,
November 10 & 11, 2013:
Philadelphia event, 60 minute lecture: Beethoven and the Beatles: Hearing the Connections.  (Registration information.)

New York event, 2 hour lecture: Beethoven, Shakespeare and the Beatles: Hearing the Connections. (Registration information.)

•Featured presenter at the Vermont Humanities Council Fall Conference 2013, “Music & the Human Experience,” November 15-16, 2013.  (Conference information.)

 

NYC lecture, November 11, 2013

Posted on by

109One-Day course, November 11, 2013:
Beethoven, Shakespeare and the Beatles: Hearing the Connections
Park Central Hotel
870 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

To Register: One Day University online registration

Beethoven, Shakespeare and the Beatles

For sixteen years Professor Michael Alec Rose has taught a Vanderbilt course called “Beethoven and the Beatles,” motivated by the simple idea that great art knows no historical boundaries. Ludwig and the Fab Four make their music in beautifully analogous ways, designing their song structures through similar principles of economy, logic, and irrational instinct. Another thrilling correspondence between these Classic and Rock ‘N’ Roll masters is their shared devotion to the musical traditions that inspired them in the first place. Rose will discuss these various connections and even draw comparisons with one of William Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Park Central Hotel
870 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
November 11,2013
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Premiere

Posted on by

ParisFlyer (1)World Premiere:
Beatitudes: Five Nuptial Flights for Tenor and Piano
by Michael Alec Rose
on texts from Maurice Maeterlinck’s La vie des abeilles
June 16, 2013, 17H
The American Church in Paris (see details)
Tony Boutté, tenor
Michael Alec Rose, piano

On the same recital, Dr. Boutté will also be premiering the new critical edition of
Gabriel Fauré’s ‘La bonne chanson.’

Fall & Winter, 2012-13

Posted on by

Performances, Appearances, New Works and Works in Progress:

Friday, September 14, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
Victoria & Albert Museum, Room 46a, London, England
The Casts Courts and Music
Free Performance
Using the extraordinary backdrop of the V&A’s cast courts as inspiration, internationally acclaimed violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved and virtuoso horn player Carly Lake will deliver a special performance to mark the start of the London Design Festival 2012.
This performance will include works by Bach, Biber, David Gorton and Michael Alec Rose.
Jointly organised with The Royal Academy of Music
More information:
http://www.peter-sheppard-skaerved.com/2012/03/cast-courts-new-project-at-the-v-a/

October 14, 2012
One Day University: 12 Professors
(including Michael Alec Rose)
Midtown Hilton Hotel
New York City
More information: www.onedayu.com/events/detail/48

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Nightcap Series Concert
featuring the music of Michael Alec Rose
The composer providing commentary (8:00-8:25p.m.)
Performance of two works (8:30-9:20 p.m.):

The Pedagogy of Grief (Viola Sonata No. 3, 2004)
John Kochanowski, viola
Craig Nies, piano

Sedentary Dances (Cello Concerto, 2012):
Preview of this brand-new work for cello and orchestra
Felix Wang, cello
Michael Alec Rose, piano

•NEW WORKS:

Unturned Stones (duo for violin and viola)
Commissioned by violist Diana Mathews
Premiere European performances in spring, 2013

Special project in honor of my first mentor, Leonard Murphy
(Bala Cynwyd Junior High School, 1972-1974):
Commission from the Suncoast Concert Band (Robert Stoll, director)
for a new piece to celebrate the band’s 80th anniversary:
Sun-coaster
Premiere in Sarasota, Florida on March 10, 2013
(There’s a solo for Mr. Murphy, who plays principal bassoon)

•WORKS IN PROGRESS:

Five Maeterlinck Songs
Premiere in Paris, France
June, 2013
Tony Boutté, tenor
On the same recital, Dr. Boutté will also be premiering the new critical edition of
Gabriel Fauré’s ‘La bonne chanson’

Civil Disobedients for solo piano
Commissioned by Zubin Kanga for his international concert tour in 2013-2014