June in Buffalo 2010

Aspiring composers take note! The deadline for applying to participate in June in Buffalo 2010 is February 16, 2010.  JiB promises to be more exciting than ever in its 35th anniversary season, which also marks the festival's 25th anniversary under the direction of the Center's director, David Felder.  It will take place from May 31 - June 6 at the University at Buffalo, with the usual panoply of seminars, lectures, master classes, workshops, professional presentations, participant forums and open rehearsals as well as afternoon and evening concerts open to the general public and critics. Each of the invited composers will have one of his/her pieces performed during the festival. Evening performances feature faculty composers, resident ensembles and soloists renowned internationally as interpreters of contemporary music.

In addition to Felder, the senior faculty will also include Steve Reich, Roger Reynolds, Augusta Read Thomas, and Olivier Pasquet. Equally impressive are the resident ensembles: the Arditti Quartet, Signal, Ensemble Laboratorium, Ensemble SurPlus, and as always, the Slee Sinfonietta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Application information can be found here.

From Copland's house to ours

Praised by the New York Times for performances that are "all exuberance and bright sunshine," Music from Copland House -- the resident ensemble at Aaron Copland's National Historic Landmark home in New York's lower Hudson Valley, comes to Lippes Hall on Friday, November 13 with a program titled "Afternoons in Paris: Boulanger, Copland, and the Americans." In addition to pieces by the eponymous composers, music by Stravinsky, Astor Piazzolla, Paul Chihara, and Irving Fine will be heard. Clarinetist Derek Bermel -- an estimable composer in his own right -- and noted pianist Michael Boriskin will be joined by violinists Tim Fain and Harumi Rhodes, violist Danielle Farina, and James Wilson on cello.

In addition, the gifted musicians of Music from Copland House will bring its expertise and insight to bear on works by graduate students Paolo Cavallone, Ethan Hayden, and Moshe Shulman in a free reading session on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 4 pm, also at Lippes Concert Hall.

Copland House is the only composer's home in the United States devoted to nurturing American composers and their work through a broad range of musical, educational, scholarly, and public programs and activities. Copland House is particularly noted for the Aaron Copland Awards, which provide residencies for six to eight mid-career composers each year at the house, situated on three secluded acres in the Hudson Valley. Idyllic? You be the judge. More information at www.coplandhouse.org. 

For tickets, visit the Lippes Concert Hall website.