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NEW JUILLIARD ENSEMBLE, LED BY JOEL SACHS,
PRESENTS THREE FREE CONCERTS IN 2014-15 SEASON AND OPENS
JUILLIARD’S FOCUS! FESTIVAL IN JANUARY 2015
WITH NIPPON: JAPANESE MUSIC SINCE 1945
Opening Concert on Saturday, September 20, 2014 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater Features the World Premiere of Alessandro Annunziata’s Ritrovare; the
New York Premiere of Birtwistle’s Cantus Iambeus in Honor of the Composer’s 80th Birthday; the Western Hemisphere Premiere of Bernd Franke’s Veil 1; and Shulamit Ran’s Fault Line
New Juilliard Ensemble Presents A South African Sampler on
Monday, November 3, 2014 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Paul Hall, Part of Carnegie Hall’s Festival, UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa
With World Premiere Works by Robert Fokkens, Andile Khumalo, and Bongani Ndodana-Breen
Juilliard’s FOCUS! 2015 Festival, Nippon: Japanese Music Since 1945 Opens on
Friday, January 23, 2015 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater with the
New Juilliard Ensemble, Conducted by Joel Sachs, Performing Works by
Toshio Hosokawa, Akira Nishimura, and Somei Satoh and
Closes on Friday, January 30, 2015 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater with a
Tribute to Toru Takemitsu Performed by the
Juilliard Orchestra and Conducted by Celebrated Japanese Conductor Tadaaki Otaka
Final New Juilliard Ensemble Concert on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall Features
World Premieres Pieces by Juilliard Composers Simon Frisch and Max Grafe;
the World Premiere of Paul Desenne’s Life of Benjamin; and
New York Premieres of Eric Lindsay’s Icarus and Reza Vali’s Folksong Settings No. 14
The New Juilliard Ensemble (NJE), led by founder and director Joel Sachs and now in its 22nd season, presents three free concerts in 2014-15 and opens Juilliard’s 31st annual FOCUS! festival, Nippon: Japanese Music Since 1945, in January 2015. Among the highlights of the New Juilliard Ensemble season are: a South African Sampler on November 3, 2014 as part of Carnegie Hall’s festival, UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa; the opening concert of FOCUS! 2015, Nippon: Japanese Music Since 1945 celebrating Japanese composition since World War II and featuring pieces for chamber orchestra by Toshio Hosokawa, Akira Nishimura, and Somei Satoh, and other works to be announced; and a final NJE concert onApril 10, 2015 featuring two world premiere works by Juilliard composers Simon Frisch and Max Grafe, winners of the NJE’s annual composition competition, along with a world premiere by Paul Desenne.
The series opens on Saturday, September 20, 2014 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater and features the world premiere of Alessandro Annunziata’s (Italy) Ritrovare (2014, composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble); Bernd Franke’s (Germany) Veil 1 (2013, Western Hemisphere premiere); Shulamit Ran’s (Israel/U.S.) Fault Line (2005-6) with Juilliard soprano Onadek Winan; and Harrison Birtwistle’s (U.K.) Cantus Iambeus (2004-5, New York premiere) in honor of the composer’s 80th birthday.
Free tickets for the September 20, concert will be available beginning September 5, online at events.juilliard.edu, or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
The New Juilliard Ensemble performs A South African Sampler on Monday, November 3, 2014 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Paul Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s festival, UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa, a three-week festival presented from October 10 to November 5, 2014 that explores the incredibly dynamic and diverse culture of South Africa. The program features new works by Robert Fokkens, Andile Khumalo, and Bongani Ndodana-Breen (2014, world premieres, composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble); Michael Blake’s Rural Arias (2007, Western Hemisphere premiere); Kevin Volans’ Looping Point (2012); Clare Loveday’s Fever Tree (2013, Western Hemisphere premiere); and Paul Hanmer’s Minuet and Trio (2010, Western Hemisphere premiere).
Free tickets for the November 3, concert will be available beginning October 20, online at events.juilliard.edu, or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
The 31st annual FOCUS! festival, Nippon: Japanese Music Since 1945, opens with the New Juilliard Ensemble, conducted by Joel Sachs, on Friday, January 23, 2015 at 8 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater in a program of pieces for chamber orchestra by Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955), Akira Nashimura (b. 1953), and Somei Satoh (b. 1947), and other works to be announced. The festival continues Monday, January 26 through Thursday, January 29 with four concerts of chamber music and closes with a concert by the Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by celebrated Japanese conductor Tadaaki Otaka, on Friday, January 30, 2015 at 8 PM, also in the Sharp Theater. The January 30th program features a tribute to Toru Takemitsu with his Twill by Twilight and Far Calls. Coming Far!; Akira Miyoshi’s Noesis; and Takashi Yoshimatsu’s Threnody to Toki.
Free tickets for the FOCUS! festival opening concert on January 23 will be available beginning January 9, online at events.juilliard.edu, or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
The New Juilliard Ensemble series concludes on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall, with world premieres by Juilliard composers Simon Frisch and Max Grafe, winners of the New Juilliard Ensemble’s annual composition competition. Mr. Grafe’s work is entitled Kheira. The program also features the world premiere of Paul Desenne’s (Venezuela) Life of Benjamin (2015, composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble); Eric Lindsay’s (U.S.) Icarus (2013, New York premiere); and Reza Vali’s (Iran/U.S.) Folksong Settings No. 14 (1999, New York premiere) with countertenor Eric Jurenas.
Free tickets for the April 10 concert will be available beginning March 27, online at events.juilliard.edu, or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
About the New Juilliard Ensemble
The New Juilliard Ensemble (NJE), led by founding director Joel Sachs, celebrates the liveliness of today’s music, focusing primarily on repertory of the last decade. Now in its 22nd season, NJE presents music by a variety of international composers writing in the most diverse styles. Its members are current students at Juilliard, who are admitted to the ensemble by audition. Student interest in the ensemble’s work is considerable, with more than 100 students participating each year, although the maximum size of compositions is normally 15-20 players. The ensemble appears regularly at MoMA’s Summergarden and has been a featured ensemble four times at the Lincoln Center Festival. New Juilliard Ensemble members joined members of the Lucerne Festival Academy Ensemble with conductor Pierre Boulez for the 2008 FOCUS! festival, which celebrated composer Elliott Carter’s 100th year.
In September 2013, NJE collaborated with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Bicentennial Celebration and performed the U.S. premieres of works by Magnus Lindberg and Judith Weir. In November 2012, NJE collaborated with Carnegie Hall on Voices from Latin America; in April 2011, with Carnegie Hall’s Japan/NYC Festival; and in November 2009, with Carnegie Hall’s Ancient Paths, Modern Voices festival.
In January 2009, the New Juilliard Ensemble opened the FOCUS! 2009 festival, CALIFORNIA: A Century of New Music, which showcased West Coast composers. In Spring 2009, the New Juilliard Ensemble toured Japan; in December 2009, they performed aleatoric music at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with an exhibition of Persian and Turkish “divining” manuscripts.
The New Juilliard Ensemble appeared in the FOCUS! 2010 festival, Music at the Center: Composing an American Mainstream; FOCUS! 2011 festival, Polish Modern: New Directions in Polish Music Since 1945; FOCUS! 2012 festival, Sounds Re-Imagined: John Cage at 100;FOCUS!2013 festival, The British Renaissance, featuring British music since World War II with a tribute to the centenary of Benjamin Britten; and FOCUS! 2014, Alfred Schnittke and His World which celebrated the 80th anniversary of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke and featured music by Schnittke and his contemporaries – Pärt, Gubaidulina, Kancheli, and Silvestrov.
About Joel Sachs
Joel Sachs, founder and director of the New Juilliard Ensemble, performs a vast range of traditional and contemporary music as conductor and pianist. As co-director of the internationally-acclaimed new music ensemble Continuum, Dr. Sachs has appeared in hundreds of performances in New York, nationally, and throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He has also conducted orchestras and ensembles in Austria, Brazil, China, El Salvador, Germany, Iceland, Mexico, Switzerland, and Ukraine, and has held new music residencies in Berlin, Shanghai, London, Salzburg, Curitiba (Brazil), Helsinki, and the Banff Centre (Canadian Rockies).
One of the most active presenters of new music in New York, Joel Sachs founded the New Juilliard Ensemble in 1993. He produces and directs The Juilliard School’s annual FOCUS! festival, has been artistic director of Juilliard’s concerts at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) since 1993, and was also a co-director of the former Sonic Boom Festival of contemporary music – a project of a consortium of New York City’s most prestigious new music ensembles.
A member of Juilliard’s music history faculty, Joel Sachs has written a biography of the American composer Henry Cowell, which was published by Oxford University Press in June 2012. Dr. Sachs appears on radio as a commentator on recent music. He has been a regular delegate to Netherlands Music Days and other international music conferences.
A graduate of Harvard, Dr. Sachs received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He was given Columbia University’s Alice M. Ditson Award for his service to American music. In 2011, he was made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa at Harvard University for his work in support of new music, and received the National Gloria Artis Medal of the Polish Government for his service to Polish music.
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2014-15 Calendar of Events
New Juilliard Ensemble, Led by Joel Sachs
FOCUS! 2015 Festival, Nippon: Japanese Music Since 1945
Saturday, September 20, 2014, 8 PM, Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater
New Juilliard Ensemble
Joel Sachs, conductor
Onadek Winan, soprano
BERND FRANKE (Germany) Veil 1 (2013, Western Hemisphere premiere)
SHULAMIT RAN (Israel/U.S.) Fault Line (2005-6) with soprano
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE (U.K.) Cantus Iambeus (2004-5, New York premiere)
ALESSANDRO ANNUNZIATA (Italy) Ritrovare (2014, world premiere, composed for NJE)
Free tickets will be available beginning September 5 online at events.juilliard.edu or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
Monday, November 3, 2014, 8 PM, Juilliard’s Paul Hall
A South African Sampler
In Collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s festival, UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa
New Juilliard Ensemble
Joel Sachs, conductor
MICHAEL BLAKE Rural Arias (2007, Western Hemisphere premiere)
KEVIN VOLANS Looping Point (2012)
ROBERT FOKKENS new work (2014, world premiere, composed for NJE)
ANDILE KHUMALO new work (2014, world premiere, composed for NJE)
BONGANI NDODANA-BREEN new work (2014, world premiere, composed for NJE)
CLARE LOVEDAY Fever Tree (2013, Western Hemisphere premiere)
PAUL HANMER Minuet and Trio (2010, Western Hemisphere premiere)
Free tickets will be available beginning October 20 online at events.juilliard.edu or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
Friday, January 23, 2015, 8 PM, Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Opening night of FOCUS! 2015
Nippon – Japanese Music Since 1945
New Juilliard Ensemble
Joel Sachs, conductor
Chamber Orchestra pieces by Toshio Hosokawa, Akira Nishimura, and Somei Satoh
Free tickets will be available beginning January 9 online at events.juilliard.edu or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
Friday, April 10, 2015, 8 PM, Alice Tully Hall
New Juilliard Ensemble
Joel Sachs, conductor
Eric Jurenas, countertenor
SIMON FRISCH (U.S.) new work (2015, world premiere, composed for NJE) *
ERIC LINDSAY (U.S.) Icarus (2013, New York premiere)
REZA VALI (Iran/U.S.) Folksong Settings No. 14 (1999, New York premiere)
MAX GRAFE (U.S.) Kheira (2015, world premiere, composed for NJE) *
PAUL DESENNE (Venezuela) Life of Benjamin (2015, world premiere, composed for NJE)
*Winners of the New Juilliard Ensemble Composition Competition
Free tickets will be available beginning March 27 online at events.juilliard.edu or at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, go to events.juilliard.edu or call (212) 769-7406.
VENUES
Juilliard’s Paul Hall, 155 West 65th Street, 1st Floor
Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 155 West 65th Street, street level
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Broadway and 65th Street, NYC
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