| NEWSLETTER MAY-JULY 2023 DER SAME SUCHT DAS LICHT PERFORMANCE IN GRAZ with Trio Tempestuso In the blue of branches for violin and piano CD recording with DUO KOBAYASHI/GRAY for Albany records BOOK LAUNCH 16TH JUNE- VOICES FOR CHANGE OUP COMPOSITION FELLOW AT INTIMACY OF CREATIVITY FESTIVAL IN HONG KONG Welcome to my newsletter covering the months of May to July! It's been a busy old time with lots of performances of my works all of which I am grateful for. These have included multiple performances of my piece Tangled breath in winter air as part of Illuminate Women's Music season with Trio Sonorité . At the end of May I visited Graz in Austria to catch one of the many performances that Trio Tempestoso are giving of my work Der Same sucht das Licht for accordion, clarinet and cello. Their playing was intense, emotionally powerful and fantastically precise; I could not have been happier as a composer. The performance was recorded by Austrian Radio with a short interview with myself, which will be broadcast in the coming months. The work also received a fantastic review from the trio's performance on 7th May Rathauskonzerte Landberg in the Kreisbote. This month I have had my piece for violin and piano In the blue of branches performed twice by the Kobayashi/Gray Duo at Studio Muse, Sterling Virgina and at the Mclean Community Center in Virgina. They have recently gone on to record the work for their CD with Albany Records and I am looking forward to its release later in the year! It is really wonderful to have this piece championed by such dedicated musicians. It is a piece I wrote in Tanglewood last year as part of the 'piece a day project' and I feel it shows how sometimes time pressure can lead to great focus and expression of ideas. In other news, Friday 16th June marks the official launch of Voices for Change in the Classical Music Profession: New Ideas for Tackling Inequalities and Exclusions edited by Anna Bull, Christina Scharff and Associate Editor Laudan Nooshin. This is a volume of collected interviews, essays and short chapters investigating inequalities in the classical music profession. I was invited to contribute a chapter on the ethos behind my project Illuminate Women's Music 'Illuminating Women's Music: Exploring the Canonic Ethos behind the Illuminate Women's Music Concert Series' Perhaps my BIGGEST NEWS though for this newsletter is that I have become a Composer Fellow for the Hong Kong music festival Intimacy of Creativity !! I am very excited for my trip to Hong Kong and to take part in public workshops working with the Viano quartet on my piece Distorted Light for string quartet followed by two performances of the work later in the festival. UPCOMING PERFORMANCES Saturday 1st July 7.30pm Preview Concert - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Performance of Distorted Light (revised 2023) for string quartet by Viano quartet Sunday 2nd July 4.00pm World Premiere Concert Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall, Central Performance of Distorted Light (revised 2023) for string quartet by Viano quartet Friday 4th August 2023, 6pm at New Mexico Museum of Art as part of Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival , US, Where skies aflame for string quartet performed by Flux quartet (world premiere) Reviews CBSO'S CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS I was delighted to share my work Unravelling the crimson sky with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of their Sounds New initiative on 29th January 2023 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, conducted by Clark Rundell. The work received some wonderful reviews: Twenty young composers capture the zeitgeist in Birmingham 29th January 2023 at Symphony Hall, Telegraph ‘...and a glow of Michael Tippett's dancing rituals in Angela Elizabeth Slater's beautiful Unravelling the Crimson Sky.’ Ivan Hewett Musical Opinion April June 2023 Sounds New: Twenty CBSO Centenary Commissions. Symphony Hall, Birmingham (29th January 2023) Angela Slater’s Unravelling the Crimson Sky was an intricate, sometimes turbulent and often ravishingly scored piece that exploited the full range of a large orchestra, with brass and percussion highlighted to conjure up glowing colours streaked across sky. Taut and closely argued, it began with, and developed a fanfare-like motif, while juxtaposing diverse episodes, some reflective and others dynamic, before finishing with a passage of glinting, pellucid textures. A rich mixture of a tone poem and a study in timbre, this ambitious, accomplished work was awarded a detailed and superbly played debut performance. Paul Conway Illuminate Women's Music concert review St Peter's Church 25th Feb 2023 The recital ended with another Illuminate commission. Angela Elizabeth Slater’s Tangled breath in winter air , for piano trio (2023) is a three-movement work inspired by the need for all of us to take time to breathe and reflect. In the airy, expansive opening movement, ‘Breathe’ slow, sonorous gestures were laced with clarinet multiphonics and cello harmonics. The central movement, ‘Inhale’, was edgy and urgent, conveying the stresses induced by everyday living. The closing movement, ‘Exhale’ returned to the measured pace of the opening movement, the music songlike, assured and replete with long, flowing, expressive lines. In this committed rendition, the score’s detailed narrative was given sufficient space to emerge and expand. Tangled breath in winter air made a thoughtful, gently imposing closing item in an imaginatively compiled programme. Trio Sonorité captured each work’s individual character, bringing a natural feeling for line and phrasing. This deeply rewarding concert added lustre to an invaluable concert series that never fails to delight and enlighten. Paul Conway In case you missed it.... I am so excited to be partnering with percussionist Hannah Weaver and harpist Rosanne Moore for my newest project, Mountains become oceans! Mountains become oceans is a double harp and percussion concerto set with full orchestra that follows the event of our Sun becoming a red giant and the impact that has on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Titan is a moon of frozen ice mountains, but with this event, as the Sun’s rays reach the far corners of the Solar System, Titan will see its temperature rise, and its ice will melt and form some of the last oceans of our Solar System. If you are a conductor, artistic director, or staff for an academic or professional orchestra interested in joining this consortium, please visit https://www.angelaslatercomposer.co.uk/mountains-become-oceans.html for more details and complete the form to sign up. Our goal is to have this piece showcased around the world! Stay tuned for more details surrounding this new endeavour! COMPOSER EDITION - additional scores I was delighted to announce in October 2021 that I had joined Composers Edition. Now I have added many more of my works to my catalogue. You can view and purchase my scores here THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF WOMEN'S WORK IN MUSIC I am delighted my chapter Invisible Canons A Reflective Commentary on the Formation of my Personal Canon of Women Composers has now been published. This chapter reflects on the pedagogical canon I was exposed to in my music education and begins to describe the underpinning ethos behind the formation of Illuminate Women's Music. Visit website Let's connect! |
Welcome to my newsletter covering the months of May to July! It's been a busy old time with lots of performances of my works all of which I am grateful for. These have included multiple performances of my piece Tangled breath in winter air as part of Illuminate Women's Music season with Trio Sonorité.
At the end of May I visited Graz in Austria to catch one of the many performances that Trio Tempestoso are giving of my work Der Same sucht das Licht for accordion, clarinet and cello. Their playing was intense, emotionally powerful and fantastically precise; I could not have been happier as a composer. The performance was recorded by Austrian Radio with a short interview with myself, which will be broadcast in the coming months. The work also received a fantastic review from the trio's performance on 7th May Rathauskonzerte Landberg in the Kreisbote.
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This month I have had my piece for violin and piano In the blue of branches performed twice by the Kobayashi/Gray Duo at Studio Muse, Sterling Virgina and at the Mclean Community Center in Virgina. They have recently gone on to record the work for their CD with Albany Records and I am looking forward to its release later in the year! It is really wonderful to have this piece championed by such dedicated musicians. It is a piece I wrote in Tanglewood last year as part of the 'piece a day project' and I feel it shows how sometimes time pressure can lead to great focus and expression of ideas.
In other news, Friday 16th June marks the official launch of Voices for Change in the Classical Music Profession: New Ideas for Tackling Inequalities and Exclusions edited by Anna Bull, Christina Scharff and Associate Editor Laudan Nooshin. This is a volume of collected interviews, essays and short chapters investigating inequalities in the classical music profession. I was invited to contribute a chapter on the ethos behind my project Illuminate Women's Music 'Illuminating Women's Music: Exploring the Canonic Ethos behind the Illuminate Women's Music Concert Series'
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Perhaps my BIGGEST NEWS though for this newsletter is that I have become a Composer Fellow for the Hong Kong music festival Intimacy of Creativity!! I am very excited for my trip to Hong Kong and to take part in public workshops working with the Viano quartet on my piece Distorted Light for string quartet followed by two performances of the work later in the festival.
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Friday 4th August 2023, 6pm at New Mexico Museum of Art as part of Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, US, Where skies aflame for string quartet performed by Flux quartet (world premiere)
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CBSO'S CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
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I was delighted to share my work Unravelling the crimson sky with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of their Sounds New initiative on 29th January 2023 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, conducted by Clark Rundell.
The work received some wonderful reviews:
Twenty young composers capture the zeitgeist in Birmingham 29th January 2023 at Symphony Hall, Telegraph
‘...and a glow of Michael Tippett's dancing rituals in Angela Elizabeth Slater's beautiful Unravelling the Crimson Sky.’
Ivan Hewett
Musical Opinion April June 2023
Sounds New: Twenty CBSO Centenary Commissions. Symphony Hall, Birmingham (29th January 2023)
Angela Slater’s Unravelling the Crimson Sky was an intricate, sometimes turbulent and often ravishingly scored piece that exploited the full range of a large orchestra, with brass and percussion highlighted to conjure up glowing colours streaked across sky. Taut and closely argued, it began with, and developed a fanfare-like motif, while juxtaposing diverse episodes, some reflective and others dynamic, before finishing with a passage of glinting, pellucid textures. A rich mixture of a tone poem and a study in timbre, this ambitious, accomplished work was awarded a detailed and superbly played debut performance.
Paul Conway
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Illuminate Women's Music concert review St Peter's Church 25th Feb 2023
The recital ended with another Illuminate commission. Angela Elizabeth Slater’s Tangled breath in winter air, for piano trio (2023) is a three-movement work inspired by the need for all of us to take time to breathe and reflect. In the airy, expansive opening movement, ‘Breathe’ slow, sonorous gestures were laced with clarinet multiphonics and cello harmonics. The central movement, ‘Inhale’, was edgy and urgent, conveying the stresses induced by everyday living. The closing movement, ‘Exhale’ returned to the measured pace of the opening movement, the music songlike, assured and replete with long, flowing, expressive lines. In this committed rendition, the score’s detailed narrative was given sufficient space to emerge and expand. Tangled breath in winter air made a thoughtful, gently imposing closing item in an imaginatively compiled programme.
Trio Sonorité captured each work’s individual character, bringing a natural feeling for line and phrasing. This deeply rewarding concert added lustre to an invaluable concert series that never fails to delight and enlighten.
Paul Conway
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In case you missed it....
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I am so excited to be partnering with percussionist Hannah Weaver and harpist Rosanne Moore for my newest project, Mountains become oceans!
Mountains become oceans is a double harp and percussion concerto set with full orchestra that follows the event of our Sun becoming a red giant and the impact that has on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Titan is a moon of frozen ice mountains, but with this event, as the Sun’s rays reach the far corners of the Solar System, Titan will see its temperature rise, and its ice will melt and form some of the last oceans of our Solar System.
If you are a conductor, artistic director, or staff for an academic or professional orchestra interested in joining this consortium, please visit https://www.angelaslatercomposer.co.uk/mountains-become-oceans.html for more details and complete the form to sign up. Our goal is to have this piece showcased around the world! Stay tuned for more details surrounding this new endeavour!
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COMPOSER EDITION - additional scores
I was delighted to announce in October 2021 that I had joined Composers Edition. Now I have added many more of my works to my catalogue. You can view and purchase my scores here
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THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF WOMEN'S WORK IN MUSIC
I am delighted my chapter Invisible Canons A Reflective Commentary on the Formation of my Personal Canon of Women Composers has now been published. This chapter reflects on the pedagogical canon I was exposed to in my music education and begins to describe the underpinning ethos behind the formation of Illuminate Women's Music.
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