News: November 2000

University of Texas Hosts Sixth Visiting Composers Series

The 2000-2001 Visiting Composers' Series at the University of Texas will bring an impressive roster of composers to the school's Austin campus for four-day residencies, during which School of Music students, faculty, and guest artists will perform their music. The composers will present public forums on their music, master classes for UT student composers, and attend rehearsals and concerts of their works by the New Music Ensemble, UT Wind Ensemble, UT Symphony Orchestra, UT Jazz Orchestra, and UT Choruses.

Since its inception in 1995, the Visiting Composers' Series has attracted national attention for being one of few programs that bring together diverse performance groups on a monthly basis to perform major works of today's leading composers. "Most people bring composers in for one performance, a lecture -- we hit them over the head with performances," commented series director Dan Welcher. "[When] Corigliano [visited], every school ensemble played a piece."

These concerts have introduced to Texas audiences such works as Joseph Schwantner's Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra and John Corigliano's A Dylan Thomas Trilogy for soloists, double chorus, and large orchestra. Other composers who have participated in the series include John Harbison, Jonathan Jones, Thea Musgrave, Joan Tower, and William Craft.

Welcher feels that the Visiting Composer Series plays an important role in bringing new music to Austin. "Several new music groups have sprung up and died [in recent years]," he explained. "There is a lot of community support, people come to it who don't come to other events on campus."

All concerts are free and open to the public. Funding for the series comes from the Meyerson Endowed Professorship. The money from this Professorship covers the visiting composers' fees, travel and accommodation expenses.

David Maslanka

This year composer David Maslanka opened the season. The UT Wind Ensemble, conducted by Jerry Junkin, presented Maslanka's Concerto for Saxophone on October 4 featuring UT faculty member Harvey Pittel. UT's New Music Ensemble, conducted by Dan Welcher performed Masalanka's Montana Music for violin, cello, and piano and Blue Mountain Music for wind quintet and piano on October 3.

Roberto Sierra

Acclaimed Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra will visit the University in late October and early November, marking his first visit to Austin. During his residency at UT, his Concierto Baroco (1996) for guitar and orchestra will be performed by guitarist David Chapman and the UT Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kevin Noe, on October 30. Visiting mezzo Virginia Dupuy will perform Sierra's Cancioneros Sefardis (1999) on November 7 with the New Music Ensemble. The ensemble will also present his Pieces Caracteristicas (1992) the same evening.

"As a composer and teacher it is always interesting to see what people are doing in other places," Sierra commented in an interview. "In this way, it gives you a different perspective. It is always stimulating to be in touch with other generations." Sierra will give master classes as part of his residency, and will also attend rehearsals for the Canciones Sefardis and the Pieces Caracteristicas. Sierra thinks that the pieces the students are preparing are "challenging," but he commented more generally that it this is true of any unfamiliar piece. "When professionals confront a new piece, it is still challenging," Sierra added.

A specific challenge will be presented by Sierra's use of microtones in the instrumental parts of the Canciones Sefardis. Sierra claims that the use of microtones was not directly inspired by the text, but rather by its origin. "The sources are very ancient, songs of the [Sephardic] Jews that went from Spain to the Mediterranean," Sierra explained. He admits that "no one really knows how that music would have sounded." At the same time, the composer believes that "the instruments that they would have played would have produced sounds that are "off" from the current tuning." Sierra has used microtones before, and confesses an enthusiasm for the "infinite number of notes between the piano keys."

Warren Benson

In December, the school will host composer Warren Benson. The UT New Music Ensemble will perform his Nara for soprano, flute, piano, and percussion on December 5, and the UT Wind Ensemble joined by UT choral groups will present Wings and The Drums of Summer on December 6.

David Burge

Renowned composer-pianist David Burge will visit the school in February. As part of his residency, Burge will give a recital featuring works by some of his composition friends such as Luciano Berio, George Crumb, and the late William Albright as well as his own pieces. The solo recital will take place on February 12. The next evening, February 13, the New Music Ensemble will present the music to Burge's ballet Moku, which is scored for three percussionists.

Michael Torke

The 2000-2001 Visiting Composer's Series will finish with a visit from Michael Torke. In Austin on March 26, the Symphony will perform his large orchestral work, Corner in Manhattan, and on March 27 the New Music Ensemble will present his Four Proverbs from the Book of Proverbs. Conductor Scott Hanna will lead the UT Wind Ensemble in a performance of Javelin on March 28.

The participating UT ensembles are made up entirely of students. The UT New Music Ensemble is made up of a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students, and they give three concerts each semester. At UT the New Music Ensemble is considered a "major ensemble," and Welcher is allowed to "exempt" five string players and one player of every other instrument from their UT Symphony obligations. Students are selected for the ensemble by competitive audition -- very competitive, according to Welcher, because the ensemble is considered "the best in the school."

There is also plenty of competition among student composers, Welcher claims, to secure a spot on the Ensemble's programs. He makes an effort to include one student work on each concert, and he "won't look at anything that isn't finished." At the time of the interview, he was in the process of reviewing five scores that had been submitted to fill a single slot on an upcoming concert. Welcher also tries to include pieces of major 20^th-century repertoire as part of each season, pieces like Pierrot Lunaire and L'Histoire du Soldat.