Composers

One of the most eminent American composers of the 20th century, called by The New York Times “...one of our greatest living composers.” “Only few of the living composers may justifiably claim they’ve had impact on the history of music, and Steve Reich is one of them,” claims London’s The Guardian. From the earliest speech records to Three Tales (2002), a digital video-opera created with an artist Beryl Korot, the development of Reich’s oeuvre has covered not only aspects of classical Western music but also African, Middle Eastern and jazz influences.

Considered a minimalist, he is one of the most recognisable contemporary American composers. Adams originates from New England and studied at Harvard. While still studying, he worked with the prestigious Boston Symphony Orchestra. For 11 years, he was the Department Head of the Music Composition Faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His operas are seen as very controversial but at the same time have been the most frequently performed stage works of the last two decades.

Beryl Korot is one of the pioneers of American video art from the early 1970s. Together with Ira Schneider, she co-edited the first publication on the possibilities for application of the new medium, as well as video art, entitled Radical Software (1970). The most recognizable works from the early period of her œuvre are without doubt Dachau 1974 (1975) – the first multichannel video installation – as well as Text and Commentary (1976), which has been presented by such prestigious institutions as the Whitney Museum’s Leo Castelli Gallery and the Aldrich Museum.

David Lang is an enormously prolific composer, an impersonation of the restless spirit of imagination. For The Little Match Girl Passion, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Paul Hiller’s vocal group and Theater of Voices, the composer received the Pulitzer Prize 2008. The catalogue of his works is extremely wide – a large part of his oeuvre is aimed at extending the definition of virtuosity in music – even the apparently simple pieces can prove extremely difficult to perform and require concentration from musicians and the audience alike.

While drawing inspiration from folk, classical and rock music, Julia Wolfe contributes her own specific sensitivity to each of the genres, at the same time reducing the borders between them. In her work, Wolfe is mainly concerned about composing pieces for strings. Her most unusual piece for strings is Stronghold, a true show of artistry for eight double basses, written for Robert Black. Wolfe’s oeuvre also includes a repertoire for theatre.

“He is the greatest composer of piano music since Sergei Prokofiev,” enthused the Russian Izviestia in 2000 about Terry Riley. Riley brought 20th century classical music to a new place. Short, repetitive phrases, an aleatoric structure – that is how minimalism came into existence with Riley’s 1964 piece In C. He received a diploma from the University of California in Berkley and completed a conservatory in San Francisco.

Michael Gordon’s music combines subtle rhythmic ingenuity and an incredible force, which, according to Alex Ross of New Yorker, embodies “...punk-rock impulsiveness, the nervous brilliance of free-style jazz and the uncompromising nature of classical modernism.” Pieces written by Gordon for the last 25 years show striking diversity, ranging from large-format pieces to special commissions from recording studios.