Louis Andriessen Named Musical America Composer of the Year 2010
14 Dec 2009
Louis Andriessen has been named Musical America's
2010 Composer of the Year.
Louis
Andriessen, who Los Angeles Times's Mark Swed calls "a rebel
with a very large cause," will be on hand in New York City for the
official Musical America awards ceremony at Lincoln Center on
Monday, December 14. He will be joined by Instrumentalist of the
Year, Joshua Bell; Vocalist of the Year, Elina Garanca;
"Collaborative Pianist" of the Year, Warren Jones; and Musician of
the Year, conductor Riccardo Muti, who recently appointed Anna Clyne
as a Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra.
With this award Andriessen joins previous Musical America Composers
of the Year from Boosey & Hawkes: Elliott
Carter (1993), John Adams (1997), Ned
Rorem (1998), and Steve
Reich (2001), and Christopher Rouse (2009).
Andriessen will return to New York in April 2010 for a number of performances of his works, in fulfillment of his
role as the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer Chair at Carnegie
Hall. A highlight of Andriessen's Carnegie Hall residency will be
two performances by the Asko | Schoenberg led by conductor Reinbert
de Leeuw, the first of which will include the New York premiere of
his 2008 opera, La Commedia, presented in a concert version in
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. A Carnegie Hall Making Music:
Louis Andriessen program showcases both soprano Dawn Upshaw in
Andriessen's Dances and the Bang on a Can All-Stars in the
New York premiere of a new Andriessen work with video.
Also featured in April is the American Composers Orchestra,
presenting Andriessen's Symphony for Open Strings alongside three world
premieres by young North American composers/protégés of Andriessen,
and a concert by Ensemble ACJW, featuring Andriessen's seminal 1974
work De Staat, a raucously intense piece which
borrows text from Plato's "The Republic" and which first brought
the composer's name to wide acclaim, led by composer John Adams,
also led the work's American premiere in the 1980s.
As part of his residency, Andriessen also curates a series of
late-night improvisatory double-bill concerts in Weill Recital Hall
entitled "Three Naughty Boys and Three Crazy Girls," with tap
dancer Savion Glover sharing a program with vocalist Greetje Bijma
(accompanied by Andriessen himself on the piano);
violinist/vocalist Iva Bittová with saxophonist Evan Parker, and
cellist Ernst Reijseger with vocalist Cristina Zavalloni.
Previous holders of the Carnegie Hall Composer's Chair include John
Adams (2003-2007) and Elliott Carter (2008-2009).
New Video: View an interview with Louis Andriessen talking
about his life and music.
R&H Announce Phantom of the Opera Now Available for High Schools and Colleges
Updates from around the Imagem Group