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Presented as part of the Bowdoin International Music Festival since 1965, the Charles E. Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music represents a sustained commitment to nurturing and promoting the music of our time. It is programmed by Festival composers-in-residence Derek Bermel and Andreia Pinto Correia.
All works in this concert are composed by alumni of the Festival’s composition program.
JORGE MUÑIZ
Novecento
I. Contrast — Contraste
Anne Chao, flute • Abraham Schenck, clarinet • Christian Whitacre, bassoon • Sophie Steger, horn Yip-Wai Chow, violin • Camden M. Archambeau, cello Jack Kotchka-Smith, bass • TianYi Li, piano
Anne is sponsored by Liza & Reid Thompson, Abraham is sponsored by Doug Collins, Christian is sponsored by Debbie Schall, Sophie is sponsored by Kent & Natalie Mitchell, Yip-Wai is sponsored by Barbara Gauditz, Camden is sponsored by Margy Burroughs, and TianYi is sponsored by Barbara & John Norton.
NATALIE DRAPER
Strains in the Signal
Abraham Schenck, clarinet • Ugnė Liepa Žuklytė, violin • Kyle Victor, cello • Chris Han, piano
Abraham is sponsored by Doug Collins, Ugnė is sponsored by Sharon Abbott, Kyle is sponsored by an anonymous donor, and Chris is sponsored by Ned & Beth Schuller.
FANG MAN*
Two Colors: Big Red, Pure White
I. Big Red
II. Pure White
Chris Han, Dominic Doutney, piano
Chris is sponsored by Ned & Beth Schuller and Dominic is sponsored by Mary Beth & Michael Feldman.
SID RICHARDSON*
Shine Darkly Over Me (World Premiere)
I. With sighs of fire
II. Fly away, fly away, breath
III. My stars shine darkly over me
Alexander Day, flute • Sebastian Gonzalez Mora, viola • Amy Ahn, harp
Alexander is sponsored by Howard & Mary Jane Rosenfield and Sebastian is sponsored by Vicky & Steve Hoover.
SEAN FRIAR
Short Winds
I. Wiggle Room
II. Weaves
III. Lick Machine
Alexander Day, flute • Will Stevens, oboe • Jingrui Liu, clarinet • Christian Whitacre, bassoon • Sophie Steger, horn
Alexander is sponsored by Howard & Mary Jane Rosenfield, Will is sponsored by Susan Lavan, Jingrui is sponsored by Hugh & Norma Phelps, Christian is sponsored by Debbie Schall, and Sophie is sponsored by Kent & Natalie Mitchell.
NICK DIBERARDINO
Particle Heuristics
Jack Fischer, Lydia Sorenson, percussion
TYLER TAYLOR*
Burlesque Suite
I. Ragtime
II. Waltz
III. Dance Number
Anne Chao, flute • Jingrui, Liu, clarinet • Rachel Yi, violin • Hayoung Moon, cello • Dominic Doutney, piano • Lydia Sorenson, percussion
Anne is sponsored by Liza & Reid Thompson, Jingrui is sponsored by Hugh & Norma Phelps, Rachel is sponsored by Lewis & Adria Kaplan, Hayoung is sponsored by Margot Stiassni & Chris Sieracki, and Dominic is sponsored by Mary Beth & Michael Feldman.
*Composer will be in residence at the concert.
JORGE MUÑIZ
Novecento (1999)
Novecento is a personal view of the 20th Century in three movements. With this work, the composer reflects on three fundamental aspects of the development of this century: stability, more or less enduring, more or less broad, contrast between different groups and different forms, and technology, without any doubt what has pushed the widest and fastest advancement (and sometimes regression) of our civilization. This evening’s performance features the second movement.
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The music of Jorge Muñiz has been performed in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Singapore, Australia, and the United States. Opera Oviedo commissioned Muñiz to compose a three-act opera, entitled Fuenteovejuna for the opening of the house’s 71st anniversary season in 2018-2019. In October 2010, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra presented the world premiere of Requiem for the Innocent, written in remembrance of victims of terrorism around the world, featuring baritone soloist Ivan Griffin and five choruses. The South Bend Tribune called the work “a magnificent oratorio… a creation that is profound, mature and well-proportioned.” The South Bend Symphony Orchestra also premiered his Piano Concerto No. 2, American Nights in 2014, with pianist Ilia Ulianitsky.
Muñiz’s music was recently released on Frameworks Records, 21st Century Spanish Guitar, Volume 4 with guitarist Adam Levin (featured as top recording on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Albums rankings in September 2021); Afinat, Cantos del Emigrante, with tenor Emanuel-Cristian Caraman; Crossings, New Music for Cello by cellist Kate Dillingham; and La Noche: 21st Century Music for Flute & Harp by Roberto Alvarez, flute, and Katarina Tan, harp.
Jorge Muñiz received his masters in music composition from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Leonardo Balada and his doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music with Richard Danielpour. Dr. Muñiz is currently Professor of Music Composition and Theory, at the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend. Muñiz is a 1999 alum of the Festival’s Composition Program.
NATALIE DRAPER
Strains in the Signal (2014)
The following note was provided by Natalie Draper on Strains in the Signal:
Strains in the Signal (2014) was originally written for a reading with Oliver Knussen and a subset of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. The reading took place during their residency at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in April of 2014. My sincere thanks to Knussen and the BCMG for this opportunity. The piece was premiered at the Tanglewood Music Center by the Fromm Players on July 12, 2015.
Strains in the Signal is a piece for clarinets, violin, cello, and piano that features hints of melodies (strains) amidst a driving pulse (the signal). Soft, delicate dreamscape sections are juxtaposed with loud surges and interruptions.
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Praised for her “individual and strong voice” (Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine), composer Natalie Draper explores character and evocative sound-worlds in her music. She has written works for a variety of ensembles and performers, including organist Anne Laver, Albany Symphony’s Dogs of Desire, Beth Willer and Peabody Institute’s NEXT Ensemble, and Grammy-nominated pianist Kara Huber. Draper’s music has been included on recordings by pianist Mirna Lekić, Akropolis Reed Quintet, soprano Danielle Buonaiuto, and Symphony Number One. She has been featured in articles in Vox Humana, I Care If You Listen, and Van Magazine. Draper has held residencies and fellowships at the Ucross Foundation, the Tanglewood Music Center, the I-Park Foundation, Yaddo, and St. David’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD. She is an assistant professor in the music theory and composition department at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. Draper is a 2014 alum of the Festival’s Composition Program.
FANG MAN
Two Colors: Big Red, Pure White (2001)
The following note was provided by Fang Man on Two Colors: Big Red, Pure White:
Two Colors is one of my earliest color works, which was composed during my student days in 1996 and 2001. Inspired by Ligeti’s Etudes for solo piano, the first movement of this piece Big Red starts with the imitation of percussion rhythmic patterns ban 板 and followed by a melody qiang 腔 from the Peking opera. The juxtaposition of the melody in different keys with its repetitions and variations showcases my fascination of the Minimalist style at that time and alludes to Ligeti’s polytonality and polyrhythm. The color of red is mostly associated with positive connotations in Chinese culture, which is associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fertility, happiness, and passion. Pure White is a color associated with purity and peace. In this movement, I adapted various forms of the pentatonic modes gong 宫, shang 商, jiao 角, zhi 徵, Yu 羽, and combined two or three of these tonal modes and placed in different registers of the piano in order to achieving the coloristic contrast. While composing this movement, I was a student at Cornell University in upstate New York, near which campus are many finger lakes and waterfalls around. I imagined the water reflections in those beautiful lakes, which became the inspiration of this piece. This work was composed in 2001, and was first performed on July 28, 2001, by pianists Myung-Jin Paik and Sarah Oh, at Bowdoin Music Festival 2001, Brunswick, ME.
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Hailed as “inventive and breathtaking” by the New York Times, Fang Man is a Chinese-born American composer who has received education in China, the United States, and Europe. Her musical prowess is shaped by the harmonious fusion of Eastern and Western traditions, resulting in a captivating and innovative style.
Her music has been performed worldwide by notable orchestras and ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra New Music Group, Camerata Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mannheimer Philharmoniker, Basel Sinfonietta, American Composers Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Orchestre de Lorraine. She is the recipient of a Charles Ives Fellowship (2024), Guggenheim Fellowship (2012), Koussevitzky Foundation Commission (2010), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Association Commission, an Underwood/ACO Commission, among others.
Fang Man is currently an Associate Professor of Composition and Composition Program Coordinator at the University of South Carolina School of Music. She previously held positions at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and Duke University. Fang is a 2001 alum of the Festival’s Composition Program.
SID RICHARDSON
Shine Darkly Over Me (2020)
The following note was provided by Sid Richardson on Shine Darkly Over Me:
This trio draws its title from William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, or What You Will. A famous work dealing with the intersections of love and power, Twelfth Night inspired the music herein primarily through its vivid prosody and evocative imagery. The three movements, “With sighs of fire,” “Fly away, fly away, breath,” and “My stars shine darkly over me” are taken out of context and explored through musical gestures stimulated by these phrases. The final movement, for example, weaves the words into the harmonic fabric of the music and, with its prominent focus on the pitch E, plays with the double entendre of me and the solfège syllable for E, mi. The real muse for the work, however, is harpist Chloe Tula, who commissioned the piece and to whom it is dedicated with admiration and gratitude.
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Composer Sid Richardson writes concert music that imbues modern idioms with emotional grit and wit. His work explores the intersections of music and literature, drawing inspiration from a wide swath of authors, poets, and playwrights. Richardson leverages pre-existing texts to create a metaphorical resonance with the source material in pieces that weave literary elements into formal, rhythmic, and harmonic structures.
Richardson has collaborated with artists such as Alsarah & the Nubatones, Amarcord, Branford Marsalis, Bill Seaman, and The Callithumpian Consort, among others. His recent commissions include works for Boston Musica Viva, Emmanuel Music, Tanglewood Music Center, and Transient Canvas. In 2021, Richardson released his debut portrait album, Borne by a Wind, on New Focus Recordings.
Born and based in Boston, Sid Richardson earned his PhD in the Department of Music at Duke University. He also holds degrees from Boston Conservatory and Tufts University. In 2017, The American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him a Charles Ives Scholarship. He was the recipient of the 2018 Hermitage Prize from the Aspen Music Festival and School. In the summer of 2019, Richardson was the Elliott Carter Memorial Composition Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. Active as a music educator, he has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wellesley College, and is a member of the composition faculty at New England Conservatory of Music and the music faculty at Tufts University. Richardson is a 2017 alum of the Festival’s Composition Program.
SEAN FRIAR
Short Winds (2010–2016)
The following note was provided by Sean Friar on Short Winds:
Short Winds is an ongoing set of short pieces for woodwind quintet. The first piece, Wiggle Room, has a strong urge to leave itself with some of its namesake as it decides whether it wants to slither and pulse, or slip into a lilting dance. In Weaves, the instruments hesitantly piece together simple melodic fragments one at a time before weaving them all together. In Lick Machine, each instrument starts with its own bluesy riff, or “lick.” As those licks change over time, evolving grooves emerge, ultimately leading to a frenetic rave at the end of the piece. This is not an entirely smooth process, however; like an old, hobbling machine, the music occasionally hits a snag, goes off the rails in a surprising direction, and must be stopped and started again to get back on course.
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Composer and pianist Sean Friar grew up in Los Angeles, where his first musical experiences were in rock and blues piano improvisation. His music keeps in touch with the energy and communicative directness of those musical roots, now along with an expansive and exploratory classical sensibility that is “refreshingly new and solidly mature… and doesn’t take on airs, but instead takes joy in the process of discovery [and] in the continual experience of suspense and surprise that good classical music has always championed” (Slate Magazine).
He regularly composes for ensembles within and outside traditional concert music. His output ranges from works for orchestra and chamber ensembles to a junk car percussion concerto, music for laptop orchestra, and microtonal piano duo. He has received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic Scharoun Ensemble, American Composers Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Modern, Cabrillo Festival, New York Youth Symphony, Redlands Symphony, NOW Ensemble, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Curtis Institute, and Present Music. A winner of the 2011 Rome Prize, Friar has received awards from Copland House, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among others.
Friar is Chair of Composition at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Princeton University and undergraduate degrees in Music and Psychology from UCLA. His principal teachers were Paul Chihara, Paul Lansky, Steven Mackey, and Dmitri Tymoczko. Friar is a 2007 alum of the Festival’s Composition Program.
NICK DIBERARDINO
Particle Heuristics (2016)
The following note was provided by Nick DiBerardino on Particle Heuristics:
I’m a little bit of a science nerd, and as such I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of quantum mechanics. The idea that our reality is based in some way on an unpredictable, unstable, and even unknowable randomness is mind-bogglingly interesting to me. When I sat down to write Particle Heuristics, the scintillating, syncopated textures I was imagining evoked in my mind the image of a set of erratically energetic subatomic particles. Over the course of this work, the vibrant and mercurial opening gestures transform into several different kinds of material, ultimately finding a harmonious synchronization they lacked at the outset. Hence the title Particle Heuristics: particle, for the almost quantum capriciousness of the surface of this music, and heuristics as a reference to the form of the work, in which motives recombine in only loosely prescribed ways. Ultimately, it is my hope that this material’s penchant for surprise makes its brief journey all the more exciting and satisfying.
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Composer Nick DiBerardino is noted for creating “richly textured, multilayered” sound worlds (Minnesota Star Tribune) that tell fantastical tales. He has written music about everything from failed flying machines and particle physics to shadow puppets and tall glasses of beet juice. No matter the inspiration, Nick’s music and all his energies as a composer, educator, and administrator flow from the belief that music can invite people into inclusive communities.
A Rhodes Scholar, Nick has received commissions from many distinguished artists and institutions, including the Dover Quartet, Symphony Tacoma, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Sandbox Percussion, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, and Star Trek’s John de Lancie. Nick’s works have been performed around the world by the American Composers Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, Aizuri Quartet, Contemporaneous, Sō Percussion, and many others. Nick is the Director of the Curtis New Music Ensemble. He has also consulted for the Tanglewood Music Center, advising on creative decisions and repertoire curation for their Festival of Contemporary Music. Previously, Nick founded England’s first laptop orchestra, OxLOrk, and designed several collaborative composition initiatives, including a children’s opera composed in partnership with students at Girard College.
Nick is Provost and Dean of the Conservatory at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he continues to serve on the faculty as chair of composition. He holds composition degrees from the University of Oxford, the Yale School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Princeton University. DiBerardino is a 2012 alum of the Festival’s Composition Program.
TYLER TAYLOR
Burlesque Suite (2014)
The following note was provided by Tyler Taylor on Burlesque Suite:
Suite Burlesque is a set of three short dances inspired by American popular dance music styles from the 1920s and 1930s. Some groups of people were portrayed in these classic songs in a prejudiced and stereotyped way; the tone of my music in its burlesque quality is a reaction to this. Despite the fact that these songs and dance tunes sound lighthearted and lively, they carry with them a subtle and disturbing hint of a darker time in American history. The duality of these old pieces of music reflects a theme common to this frame of time — harmless and charming on the outside yet intrinsically flawed to the core by the “spirit of the time.”
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Tyler Taylor is a composer-performer and teaching artist from Louisville, KY. Much of his work is dedicated to creating abstract musical analogies for social-political happenings both present and past. Common among these pieces is a sense of contradiction — sometimes whimsical, sometimes alarming — that comes from the interaction of diverse musical layers.
Tyler was recently a full time resident composer at the Louisville Orchestra as part of the inaugural installation of their Creators Corps residency program. Most recently he was named the winner of the 2024 San Francisco Emerging Black Composer Project commission award. Tyler has also held residencies at the I-Park Foundation (2023) and the Copland House (2023). He has been commissioned by Jon P. Cherry, the Louisville Orchestra, Washington and Lee State University, the National Orchestral Institute, and more. His work has been recognized by awards including the New Music USA Creator Fund, the BMI Student Composer Award (2019) and the Howard Hanson Ensemble Prize (2017, 2016).
Tyler holds degrees from Indiana University (Doctor of Music with minors in Music Theory & Horn Performance), the Eastman School of Music (Master of Music), and the University of Louisville (Bachelor of Music). Tyler is a 2021 alum of the Festival’s Composition Fellowship Program.