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For Immediate Release:
May 26, 2015
Press Contacts:
Eileen Chambers, 312.294.3092
Rachelle Roe, 312.294.3090
Photos Available By Request
PR@cso.org
MusicNOW 2015/16 SERIES ANNOUNCED
New CSO Mead Composers-in-Residence Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek
Curate Their First MusicNOW Series
Programming Highlights Include a New Work by Adams and Music by
Saariaho, Hearne, Iannotta and Naqvi
Series Features Conductors Cliff Colnot, Donald Nally and Christopher Rountree;
Soloists Tony Arnold, Vicky Chow, Erin Lesser, Kate Soper and Agata Zubel
CHICAGO—The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association announces the 2015/16 season
programming for its acclaimed MusicNOW contemporary music series—dedicated to
showcasing contemporary music through an innovative concert experience. Curated by the
newly-appointed CSO Mead Composers-In-Residence Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek,
the annual four-concert series in 2015/16 presents work from established contemporary
composers and new voices beginning to emerge across today’s active and varied contemporary
music scene.
Composers Adams and Ogonek stated, “It is with great excitement that we present our first
MusicNOW series as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s new Mead Composers-in-Residence.
As young artists, we see our residency with the CSO as a wonderful opportunity to showcase
the breadth of creativity, inventiveness and originality of today’s up-and-coming musical voices.
Through four conceptually constructed evenings, our season traverses an extraordinarily broad
musical landscape, featuring thirteen wildly diverse statements that range from a 1-bit piano
concerto to works that turn the tradition of vocal writing on its head.”
Programs are performed by members of the CSO and guest artists led by MusicNOW principal
conductor Cliff Colnot and guest conductors, which this year includes the California-based
conductor/composer Christopher Rountree, as well as Donald Nally, Director of Choral
Organizations at Northwestern University and the award-winning chamber ensemble The
Crossing.
The 2015/16 MusicNOW concerts take place on four Mondays—November 23, 2015; March 7,
May 9 and June 6, 2016—at 7 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E.
Randolph). Each concert includes special elements such as projected program notes with video
introductions by featured composers and the opportunity to meet with the CSO musicians and
composers in a casual, lounge-style setting during post-concert receptions with free food and
drink.
The MusicNOW season opens with a program focused on new works for strings on Monday,
November 23, 2015 at 7 p.m. Hailed for his “infectious enthusiasm” (Los Angeles Times) and
“elegant clarity” (The New York Times), conductor Christopher Rountree comes to MusicNOW
for the first time, fresh from recent conducting debuts on the LA Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella
and San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox series. He leads musicians of the CSO in a program
that includes Chicago native Ted Hearne’s six-movement work for string orchestra, Law of
Mosaics. Completing the program are Glitch, for string quartet and electronics by Paris-born,
Brooklyn-based composer Daniel Wohl and Petals, a work for solo cello by prominent Finnish
composer Kaija Saariaho, who is the winner of numerous international composition awards
including The Grawemeyer Award, The Nemmers Prize and The Sonning Prize.
The second program on the series takes place Monday, March 7, 2016 at 7 p.m., and features
the recent instrumental work, Falling Up (2015) from Ogonek and several works that showcase
the composer as performer. American soprano and composer Kate Soper performs with flutist
Erin Lesser in her whimsical duet, Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say. Polish
soprano and composer Agata Zubel performs in her unpredictable vocal/instrumental work
Labyrinth, based on a text by the late Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska. Closing the program is
Katachi, a sextet by American composer Eric Wubbels with Soper as soloist.
A focus on contemporary vocal repertoire continues in the third MusicNOW series concert on
Monday, May 9, 2016 at 7 p.m. Critically-acclaimed soprano Tony Arnold returns to MusicNOW
for her first appearance since 2009 in a performance of composer Christopher Trapani’s
Waterlines. The set of five blues songs is inspired by effects of Hurricane Katrina on Trapani’s
home town of New Orleans. Clara Iannotta’s hauntingly intimate and tactile sinfonietta Intent on
Resurrection—Spring or Some Such Thing, as well as the evocative masterwork Wald by Hans
Abrahamsen complete the program.
The MusicNOW 15/16 series finale takes place Monday, June 6, 2016 at 7 p.m., and includes a
special appearance by the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble of Northwestern
University led by conductor Donald Nally. The Ensemble performs a cappella in excerpts from
Fjoloy, a work for “pure choir” by American composer Qasim Ali Naqvi. Also on the program is
the world premiere of a new work by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Samuel Adams and
Tristan Perich’s Surface Image. Performed by pianist Vicky Chow, for whom the piece was
composed, Rolling Stone called the sprawling work “a dizzying, disorienting, 63-minute
symphony for piano and 1-bit pixels.”
MusicNOW receives funding through a leadership challenge grant from Irving Harris
Foundation, Joan W. Harris. Major support is provided by Cindy Sargent and the Sally Mead
Hands Foundation.
Subscriptions for the four-concert MusicNOW series are on sale now and are $72. There is also
a $28, four-concert student subscription available with valid student ID. Single tickets ($26,
General admission; $10, student ticket with valid ID) for all MusicNOW concerts go on sale
August 7, 2015.
Tickets for all MusicNOW concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60604.
MusicNOW concerts for the 2015/16 season take place on Mondays at 7 p.m. at the Harris
Theater for Music and Dance located at 205 E. Randolph in Chicago.
Artists, programs and prices are subject to change.
###
Symphony Center Presents
MusicNOW
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago
Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, 7 p.m.
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Samuel Adams, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Elizabeth Ogonek, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Christopher Rountree, conductor
WOHL Glitch
SAARIAHO Petals
HEARNE Law of Mosaics
Symphony Center Presents
MusicNOW
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago
Monday, March 7, 2016, 7 p.m.
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Samuel Adams, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Elizabeth Ogonek, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Kate Soper, vocalist
Agata Zubel, vocalist
Erin Lesser, flute
SOPER Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say
OGONEK Falling Up
ZUBEL Labyrinth
WUBBELS Katachi
Symphony Center Presents
MusicNOW
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago
Monday, May 9, 2016, 7 p.m.
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Samuel Adams, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Elizabeth Ogonek, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Tony Arnold, soprano
IANNOTTA Intent on Resurrection—
Spring or Some Such Thing
ABRAHAMSEN Wald
TRAPANI Waterlines
Symphony Center Presents
MusicNOW
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago
Monday, June 6, 2016, 7 p.m.
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Samuel Adams, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Elizabeth Ogonek, Mead Composer-in-Residence
Donald Nally, conductor
Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble of
Northwestern University
Vicky Chow, piano
NAQVI Fjoloy
ADAMS New Work [MusicNOW Commission, world premiere]
PERICH Surface Image
BIOGRAPHIES
Samuel Adams, CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence
Adams is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music whose works have been hailed as
"wondrously alluring" (The San Francisco Chronicle), “thoroughly ingenious" (The San Francisco
Examiner) and “music of a composer with a personal voice and keen imagination” (The New York Times).
His atmospheric, inventively orchestrated portfolio draws from such diverse influences as noise and
electronic music, jazz and field recording, and includes commissions by Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco
Symphony and the New World Symphony and collaborations with Anthony Marwood and Emanuel Ax.
Learn more at samuelcarladams.com.
Elizabeth Ogonek, CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence
Ogonek creates music that is energetic, dramatic, vivid and colorful. Her imaginative compositions draw
inspiration from text and explore the transference of poetic imagery to music. The winner of numerous
awards and scholarships, she frequently collaborates with cutting-edge artists, authors, poets and actors.
Her recent music has been commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Ear Taxi Festival
for Fulcrum Point New Music Project, the Royal Philharmonic Society and the London Symphony
Orchestra. In August 2015, Elizabeth joins Oberlin Conservatory as Visiting Assistant Professor of
Composition. Learn more at elizabeth-ogonek.com.
Cliff Colnot, MusicNOW Principal Conductor
In the past decade, Colnot has emerged as a distinguished conductor and a musician of uncommon
range. He has been principal conductor of the MusicNOW series since its inception, and in 2005 he was
named principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, having served as its resident conductor
since 1995. Colnot has also served as assistant conductor at Pierre Boulez’s Lucerne Academy.
Christopher Rountree, Guest Conductor
Christopher Rountree is the founder, conductor and creative director of the path-breaking Los Angeles
chamber orchestra wild Up. His 2014-15 season included debuts with the San Francisco Symphony
(SoundBox), Opera Omaha (John Adams’ A FLOWERING TREE, at the composer’s invitation) and the
Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra; and start a three-year stint as guest conductor and artist
in residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Rountree premiered 12 of his own compositions
with various groups and soloists including a collaboration with The Crossing and artists Allora & Calzadilla
at Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In the 2013-14 season, Rountree debuted on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella series, and
with the San Diego Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and
Ensemble LPR. He conducted the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra’s performance of The Rite of
Spring on the work’s centenary. Other recent engagements include the Brooklyn Philharmonic; Monday
Evening Concerts; the Prototype Festival; Beth Morrison Projects; the American Composers Orchestra;
the Michigan Pops Orchestra; the Winnipeg Symphony; Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic; American Youth
Symphony; Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and the Rose City Chamber Orchestra.
With his eclectic style and resume, he’s been tapped to curate events for contemporary art institutions
including the Getty Museum, MCA Denver, and the Hammer Museum, where a long-running wild Up
residency brought the group to national prominence.
Through it all, Rountree is guided by his vision of a more engaging classical music culture that blows up
the old boxes. “I don’t have enough tattoos to be the badboy provocateur of classical music,” Rountree
jokes. “But is the goal to nuke the art form and build something new? That is exactly what we’re doing.”
Donald Nally, Guest Conductor
Donald Nally is conductor of The Crossing, director of choral organizations at Northwestern University,
and chorus master of The Chicago Bach Project. He has held distinguished tenures as chorus master for
Lyric Opera of Chicago, Welsh National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Spoleto USA, and for many seasons
at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He has served as artistic director of the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati
and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, recipient of the Margaret Hillis Award for Excellence in Choral
Music.
Among the many ensembles Donald has guest conducted are the Latvian State Choir in Riga, the Grant
Park Symphony Chorus in Chicago, the Philharmonic Chorus of London, and the Santa Fe Desert
Chorale. His ensembles have sung with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the LA Philharmonic, the American
Composers Orchestra, Pennsylvania Ballet, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, RAI National
Symphony Orchestra, and I.C.E.; his work is heard on numerous recordings on the Chandos, Navona,
and Innova record labels. In 2012 Donald received both the alumni merit award from Westminster Choir
College and the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal from Chorus America.
His book, Conversations with Joseph Flummerfelt, was published in 2011.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra
http://www.cso.org and http://www.csosoundsandstories.org/
Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest
orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the preeminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th
music director. Pierre Boulez is the CSO’s Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus, Yo-Yo Ma is its Judson
and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, and Mason Bates and Anna Clyne are its Mead Composers-inResidence.
From Baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned
musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each
summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892,
the CSO has made 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents.
People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT
network and online at cso.org/radio. Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards, including
two in 2011 for Muti’s recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti’s first of
four releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at
www.cso.org/resound
The CSO is part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which includes the Chicago Symphony
Chorus (Duain Wolfe, Director and Conductor) and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a preprofessional
training ensemble. Through its prestigious Symphony Center Presents series, the CSOA presents guest
artists and ensembles from a variety of genres—classical, jazz, world and contemporary.
The Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO offers community and education programs that annually
engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Through the Institute and other
activities, including a free annual concert with Muti and the CSO, the CSO promotes the concept of
Citizen Musicianship™: using the power of music to create connections and build community.
The CSO is supported by tens of thousands of patrons, volunteers and institutional and individual donors.
Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. The CSO’s music director position is endowed in
perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. The Negaunee Foundation provides
generous support in perpetuity for the work of the Negaunee Music Institute. CSO Tuesday series
concerts are sponsored by United Airlines.