Music06 Returns to CCM This June

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) presents

Music06

, the annual festival of new and unique music,

June 10-18, 2006

. Internationally recognized composers

Derek Bermel, George Tsontakis and Frederic Rzewski

join CCM faculty, resident artists and a select group of visiting young composers for a week of performances, master classes and seminars.

Centered on the practice and performance of new works and chamber music classics, Music06 features veteran composers leading young composers and students in the rehearsal, performance and recording of their work. Each day of the festival culminates in an evening concert that is free and open to the public.

"Music06 presents a lineup of outstanding concerts this year," says

Artistic Director Joel Hoffman

. "In addition to the featured composers and artists, there will also be performances of work by about 30 young composers invited from around the country."

This year's concert schedule includes the premiere of Rzewski's Snaps, commissioned specifically for Music06 to be performed by the Amernet Quartet, and the regional premiere of Tsontakis's Violin Concerto No. 2, for which the composer won the University of Louisville's coveted Grawemeyer Award. New music group eighth blackbird performs the music of visiting composer Bermel, and the Athenaeum Quartet, comprised of members of the Berlin Philharmonic, performs new music from Italy.

The festival also features CCM Professor of Percussion Allen Otte and other guest artists including Emanuele Arciuli, piano; Gao Ping, piano/composition; Gian Maria Bonino, harpsichord; Dorotea Vismara Hoffman, viola; Michael Kugel, viola; Nikola Ruzevic, cello; and Alan Bern, improvisation.

A competition for short compositions for three instruments is a featured component of the festival. The competition is part of both Music06 and Accent06, a music day camp for young musicians that runs in conjunction with Music06 promoting in-depth study of musical language and performance techniques. This year's finalists are Jennifer Jolley, Shawn Okpebholo (a CCM student) and David Schneider. Their compositions will be performed June 16.

All Music06 performances will be held in Werner Recital Hall on the UC campus and are FREE and open to the public. Parking is available for all performances in the CCM garage. For more information visit the Music06 website: www.ccm.uc.edu/musicx.

Derek Bermel
Derek Bermel is respected across the globe for his creativity and theatricality as a composer and his versatility and virtuosity as a clarinetist, conductor and musician. His compositions reflect his intense study of world folk music and The New York Times describes his clarinet playing as "brilliant" and "first rate." A graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan, he is a recipient of the Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, a Millennium Prize from Faber Music (UK), and he has completed residencies at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Tanglewood, Bowdoin, Banff, Yaddo, and Civitella Ranieri (Italy), and Sacatar (Brazil). In Fall 2006 Bermel will begin a three-year term as Composer-in-Residence with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall as part of a Music Alive residency, sponsored by Meet the Composer and the American Symphony Orchestra League. His music is published by Peermusic Classical (US) and Faber Music (UK).
Related Music06 event: Bermel's music will be performed by eighth blackbird on Sunday, June 18 at 8 p.m.

eighth blackbird
Regarded as one of the world's premier new music groups, eighth blackbird has established a reputation for provocative and engaging performances. The winners of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the first contemporary ensemble to win first prize in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the group is a three-time recipient of the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Other awards include top prizes at the Fischoff and Coleman National Chamber Music Competitions. The group has been featured on CBS's "Sunday Morning" and was the subject of a profile in The New York Times. The ensemble is currently in residence at the University of Richmond in Virginia and the University of Chicago.
Related Music06 event: eighth blackbird performs the music of Derek Bermel on Sunday, June 18 at 8 p.m.

Frederic Rzewksi
Frederic Rzewski studied with Walter Piston, Roger Sessions and Milton Babbitt at Harvard and Princeton Universities. In 1960 he studied with Luigi Dallapiccola and began a career as a performer of new piano music. In Rome in the mid-60s, together with Alvin Curran and Richard Teitelbaum, he formed the Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) group, which quickly became known for its pioneering work in live electronics and improvisation. A professor of composition from 1977-2002 at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Liege, Belgium, he has taught at numerous other institutions including CCM.
Related Music06 events: Rzewski will perform his music on Thursday, June 15 at 8 p.m., and the Amernet Quartet will premiere Rzewski's Snaps on Friday, June 16 at 8 p.m.

George Tsontakis
George Tsontakis's most recent honor for composing was the 2005 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for his Violin Concerto No. 2, written for violinist Steven Copes and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Recent premieres of his work include concertos for Evelyn Glennie with the National Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and hornist David Jolley in Santa Fe, in addition to a work titled "October" for the Baltimore Symphony and a violin concerto for Cho-Liang Lin with the Oregon and Albany Symphony Orchestras. In September 2005 Tsontakis began a three-year Meet the Composer residency with the Albany Symphony. He is Distinguished Composer in Residence at Bard College, a post he will also hold at Mannes College next year. Mr. Tsontakis studied at Juilliard with Roger Sessions and has taught at the Aspen Music School since 1976. He was founding director of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble from 1991-99 and his music is recorded on Hyperion, Koch, New World, INNOVA, CRI and Opus One.
Related Music06 event: The regional premiere of Tsontakis's Violin Concerto No. 2 will take place Tuesday, June 13 at 8 p.m.

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
Music06

Description:  A nine-day festival of new and classic chamber music, featuring visiting composers and guest artists in collaboration with CCM faculty and students. Composer Frederic Rzewski returns for his sixth year and is joined by composers Derek Bermel and George Tsontakis. Guest ensembles include the premiere new music ensemble eighth blackbird, the Amernet Quartet and the Athenaeum Quartet.

Dates & Times: Saturday, June 10 - Sunday, June 18 at 8 p.m. daily (unless otherwise noted)

Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (unless otherwise noted)

Tickets: All concerts are FREE and open to the public.

For Information: (513) 556-9198 or www.ccm.uc.edu/musicx

Parking: CCM Garage (at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the University of Cincinnati campus. For additional parking information or directions, please visit www.ccm.uc.edu.

Schedule: 

Saturday, June 10
8 p.m.: CCM Young Composers

Sunday, June 11
6 p.m.: Accent06 Faculty Concert

Monday, June 12
6 p.m. & 8 p.m.: CCM Young Composers

Tuesday, June 13
8 p.m.: Music of George Tsontakis, including his Violin Concerto No. 2

Wednesday, June 14
6 p.m.: Young Composers
8 p.m.: Gao Ping and Emanuele Arciuli: Music of Frederic Rzewski, Chick Corea, Derek Bermel, Gao Ping and Dmitri Shostakovich

Thursday, June 15
8 p.m.: Music of Frederic Rzewski with Frederic Rzewski, piano

Friday, June 16
6 p.m.: Young Composers
8 p.m.: Amernet Quartet: Music of Frederic Rzewski (world premiere), CCM faculty composer Joel Hoffman and Shostakovich; Accent06 Composition Competition Winners

Saturday, June 17
8 p.m.: Athenaeum Quartet: New music from Italy and the US premiere of Joel Hoffman's 4th String Quartet

Sunday, June 18
8 p.m.: eighth blackbird: Music of Derek Bermel, Joseph Schwantner and a world premiere by Joel Hoffman

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading conservatories for the performing arts and electronic media.
CCM also is the largest single source of performing arts events in Ohio with an annual calendar of nearly 1,000 performances and presentations, ranging from solo recitals to full-scale opera and musical theater performances.

Visit www.ccm.uc.edu for more information and a schedule of events.