MADE IN USA

Composer and conductor Ivan Josip Skender, together with the Cantus Ensemble, devised a concert by the Cantus Ensemble with a program that introduced a new generation of composers coming from the US. The American composers of the younger and middle generations are not very well, if at all, familiar to the Croatian audience, so this concert was extremely important for the local area.

 

Peter Askim, Roger Zare and Nico Muhly are a new generation of American composers. Their diverse orientations and backgrounds, as well as the scenes on which they are most active, illustrate the present-day American avant-garde, experimental music scene well.

 

Roger Zare’s music is inspired by science, math, mythology, while Nico Muhly is also an active member of the indie rock scene, as is clearly visible in his opus.

 

In the introductory chat, composer and musicologist Tomislav Oliver, was joined by Peter Askim who talked about his own professional blend of being an active double-bass player, conductor, organizer and composer, as well as the position, style and school of American music today. You can listen to this chat here.

 

The program also included the iconic piece The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives, written back in 1908, but performed in 1946 as the composer’s brilliance was slow to be recognized.

Contemporary American music is, perhaps now more than ever, propulsive, a living force and need of the American culture, equally present in the US and on all other continents.

 

The program of the MADE IN USA concert / Lauba, 5 March 2018

 

MADE IN USA

Cantus@Lauba Concert Cycle

 

 

The Cantus Ensemble

Ivan Josip Skender, conductor

 

Peter Askim: A Late Winter, An Early Spring, for chamber ensemble – first performance

Roger Zare: Lunation 1113, for violin, bass clarinet and percussions

Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question, for trumpet, woodwind instruments and string ensemble

Nico Muhly: Step Team, for large ensemble