Alarm Will Sound
Encyclopedia
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary music
. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the Financial Times
and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco Chronicle
. The New York Times said that Alarm Will Sound is "one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene."
Alarm Will Sound's repertoire ranges from European to American works, from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. The group has worked with contemporary composers, premiering pieces by Steve Reich
, John Adams
, David Lang
, Anthony Gatto
, Cenk Ergün, Aaron Jay Kernis
, Michael Gordon
, Augusta Read Thomas
, Stefan Freund, and Wolfgang Rihm
.
From 2004 to 2007, they were musical artists-in-residence at Dickinson College
. ASCAP recognized Alarm Will Sound with its Concert Music Award in 2006 for "the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century."
Alarm Will Sound's 2005 album Acoustica
(released July 2005 on Cantaloupe Music
) features acoustic arrangements of music by Aphex Twin
. Its first two recordings were of music written by Steve Reich
.
Their 2009 album a/rhythmia, released on Nonesuch Records
is an eclectic mix of rhythmically complex music by Benedict Mason
, Michael Gordon
, György Ligeti
, Mochipet, Johannes Ciconia
, Conlon Nancarrow
, Harrison Birtwistle
, Josquin des Prez
, and Autechre
.
In 2010, the group collaborated with Dirty Projectors
to develop and perform The Getty Address
in its new identity as a live performance piece at Lincoln Center, Disney Hall
and the Barbican Centre
. Music that Dirty Projectors front-man Dave Longstreth created on a computer by meticulous and complicated sampling, looping and layering was translated and arranged by Matt Marks, Alan Pierson, and Chris Thompson for 23 musicians of both bands.
Members of the ensemble began playing together while studying at the Eastman School of Music
in Rochester, New York
, and have diverse experience in composition, improvisation, jazz, popular styles, early music, and so-called world music.
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. The New York Times said that Alarm Will Sound is "one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene."
Alarm Will Sound's repertoire ranges from European to American works, from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. The group has worked with contemporary composers, premiering pieces by Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, David Lang
David Lang (composer)
David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
, Anthony Gatto
Anthony Gatto (composer)
Anthony Gatto is an American composer of music for theater, dance, film, opera, and concert music. He is also the founder of The Festival Dancing in Your Head. His quintet for guitar and string quartet "Black Dog/Lucky Dog" was performed by the new-music string quartet Ethel with Mark Stewart...
, Cenk Ergün, Aaron Jay Kernis
Aaron Jay Kernis
Aaron Jay Kernis is an American composer and professor at the Yale School of Music.-Biography:Aaron Jay Kernis is Jewish, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Yale University .,Notable works include the...
, Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon (composer)
Michael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...
, Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer.Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of...
, Stefan Freund, and Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
.
From 2004 to 2007, they were musical artists-in-residence at Dickinson College
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...
. ASCAP recognized Alarm Will Sound with its Concert Music Award in 2006 for "the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century."
Alarm Will Sound's 2005 album Acoustica
Acoustica (Alarm Will Sound album)
Acoustica is a 2005 album by American band Alarm Will Sound. The album consists of acoustic arrangements of electronic tracks originally composed by Richard D. James , and originally appearing on his albums Selected Ambient Works Volume II, Richard D. James Album and Drukqs.-Track listing:Bonus...
(released July 2005 on Cantaloupe Music
Cantaloupe Music
Cantaloupe Music is a record label founded in March 2001 created by the three founders of New York's legendary Bang on a Can Festival: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and Bang on a Can Managing Director Kenny Savelson. Cantaloupe Music has made a massive impact in the new music...
) features acoustic arrangements of music by Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
. Its first two recordings were of music written by Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
.
Their 2009 album a/rhythmia, released on Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
is an eclectic mix of rhythmically complex music by Benedict Mason
Benedict Mason
Benedict Mason, born on 23 February 1954, is a British composer.Mason was educated at King's College Cambridge and took a degree in film-making at the Royal College of Art . He did not turn to composition until his early 30s, but his first acknowledged work, Hinterstoisser Traverse , attracted...
, Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon (composer)
Michael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...
, György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
, Mochipet, Johannes Ciconia
Johannes Ciconia
Johannes Ciconia was a late medieval composer and music theorist who worked most of his adult life in Italy, particularly in the service of the Papal Chapels and at the cathedral of Padua....
, Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow was a United States-born composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. He became a Mexican citizen in 1955.Nancarrow is best remembered for the pieces he wrote for the player piano...
, Harrison Birtwistle
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Paul Birtwistle CH is a British contemporary composer.-Life:Birtwistle was born in Accrington, a mill town in Lancashire some 20 miles north of Manchester. His interest in music was encouraged by his mother, who bought him a clarinet when he was seven, and arranged for him to have...
, Josquin des Prez
Josquin Des Prez
Josquin des Prez [Josquin Lebloitte dit Desprez] , often referred to simply as Josquin, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance...
, and Autechre
Autechre
Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are one of the most prominent acts signed to Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music and through which all Autechre albums...
.
In 2010, the group collaborated with Dirty Projectors
Dirty Projectors
The Dirty Projectors aka David Longstreth includes Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian McOmber , Nat Baldwin , and Haley Dekle during live performances...
to develop and perform The Getty Address
The Getty Address
The Getty Address is an album by indie band Dirty Projectors. It is described as "a glitch opera" about musician Don Henley, although it also explores themes like ancient Mexico, post-9/11 America, and oil. The album boasts over 25 musicians on it, most of whom contributed to the orchestral and...
in its new identity as a live performance piece at Lincoln Center, Disney Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
and the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
. Music that Dirty Projectors front-man Dave Longstreth created on a computer by meticulous and complicated sampling, looping and layering was translated and arranged by Matt Marks, Alan Pierson, and Chris Thompson for 23 musicians of both bands.
Members of the ensemble began playing together while studying at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, and have diverse experience in composition, improvisation, jazz, popular styles, early music, and so-called world music.
Members
- Erin Lesser – flute
- Elisabeth Stimpert – clarinet, sax
- Bill Kalinkos – clarinet, sax
- Michael Harley – bassoon, voice
- Matt Marks – horn, keyboards, electronics, composer
- Jason Price – trumpet, electronics
- Michael Clayville, trombone
- Payton MacDonald – percussion, tabla, composer
- Christopher Thompson - percussion
- John Orfe – keyboards, composer
- Courtney Orlando – violin, voice, keyboards, accordion
- Caleb Burhans – violin, viola, voice, mandolin, banjo, electric guitar, composer
- John Pickford Richards – viola, accordion
- Stefan Freund – cello, composer
- Miles Brown – bass
- Alan PiersonAlan PiersonAlan Pierson is an American conductor. He is the conductor of Alarm Will Sound, Crash Ensemble, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic....
– Artistic Director, conductor, keyboards - Gavin Chuck – Managing Director, composer
- Nigel Maister – Staging Director
- Jason Varvaro – Production Manager
Discography
- 2001. Steve Reich, Music for Large Ensemble (CD) Nonesuch RecordsNonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
- 2002. Steve Reich, Tehillim/The Desert Music (CD) Cantaloupe MusicCantaloupe MusicCantaloupe Music is a record label founded in March 2001 created by the three founders of New York's legendary Bang on a Can Festival: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and Bang on a Can Managing Director Kenny Savelson. Cantaloupe Music has made a massive impact in the new music...
- 2005. Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound performs Aphex Twin (CD) Cantaloupe MusicCantaloupe MusicCantaloupe Music is a record label founded in March 2001 created by the three founders of New York's legendary Bang on a Can Festival: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and Bang on a Can Managing Director Kenny Savelson. Cantaloupe Music has made a massive impact in the new music...
- 2006. Reich at the Roxy (CD/DVD) Sweetspot Music
- 2007. Michael Gordon, Van Gogh (CD) Cantaloupe MusicCantaloupe MusicCantaloupe Music is a record label founded in March 2001 created by the three founders of New York's legendary Bang on a Can Festival: Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and Bang on a Can Managing Director Kenny Savelson. Cantaloupe Music has made a massive impact in the new music...
- 2009. a/rhythmia (CD) Nonesuch RecordsNonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
External links
- Official site
- Alarm Will Sound at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Alarm Will Sound at FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...