Miller Theatre's Composer Portraits Series Presents UNSUK CHIN Featuring Ensemble Signal Tonight

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues the 2013-14 Composer Portraits series with Unsuk Chin featuring Ensemble Signal: Brad Lubman, conductor, Rachel Calloway,mezzo-soprano, Oliver Hagen, piano, Bill Solomon, percussion, and Ning Yu, piano. The show is tonight, March 13, 2014, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street) and Tickets are $20-$30 and for Students with valid ID they are $12-$18.

COMPOSER PORTRAITS

Miller Theatre's "ever-intriguing" (The New Yorker) signature series continues to celebrate the best contemporary composers from around the globe-emerging and established-with evening-length musical profiles. This season, all seven composers will participate in onstage discussions during their Portraits.

Composer Portraits

Thursday, March 13, 2014, 8:00 p.m.
Unsuk Chin

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th street)

Born and raised in 1960s South Korea, Unsuk Chin developed a one-of-a-kind musical voice from an early age. Largely self-taught, she received her first formal training at Seoul National University, where encounters with avant-garde Western forms, sounds, and techniques made a big impression. She moved to Europe and studied with Ligeti. Her music-colorfully orchestrated, rhythmically vital, and influenced by studies in electronics-has since won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award and been championed by orchestras, new-music bands, and conductors worldwide.

Unsuk Chin

Unsuk Chin was born in 1961 in Seoul, South Korea, and has lived in Berlin since 1988. Her music has attracted international conductors including Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Kent Nagano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Robertson, Peter Eötvös, Neeme Järvi, Markus Stenz, Myung-Whun Chung, George Benjamin, Susanna Mälkki, François -Xavier Roth, Leif Segerstam and Ilan Volkov, among others. It is modern in language, but lyrical and non-doctrinaire in communicative power.

Chin has received many honors, including the 2004 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for her Violin Concerto, the 2005 Arnold Schoenberg Prize, the 2010 Prince Pierre Foundation Music Award, and the 2012 Ho-Am Prize. She has been commissioned by leading performing organizations and her music has been performed in major festivals and concert series in Europe, the Far East, and North America by orchestras and ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, and Arditti Quartet. In addition, Unsuk Chin has been active in writing electronic music, receiving commissions from IRCAM and other electronic music studios.

In 2007, Chin's first opera, Alice in Wonderland, was given its world premiere at the Bavarian State Opera as the opening of the Munich Opera Festival and released on DVD by Unitel Classica. Her second opera, Alice Through the Looking Glass, is commissioned by The Royal Opera in London for premiere in the 2018/19 season. Since 2006, Chin has overseen the contemporary music series of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, a series which she founded herself. Since 2011, she has served as Artistic Director of the "Music of Today" series of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. Portrait CDs of her music have appeared on Deutsche Grammophon, Kairos, and Analekta. Unsuk Chin's works are published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes.

Ensemble Signal

Ensemble Signal, described by The New York Times as "one of the most vital groups of its kind," is a NY-based ensemble dedicated to offering the broadest possible audience access to a diverse range of contemporary works through performance, commissioning, recording, and education. Since its debut in 2008, the Ensemble has performed over 90 concerts, has given the NY, world, or U.S. premieres of over 20 works, and co-produced five recordings. At home in concert halls, clubs, and international festivals alike, Signal has performed at Lincoln Center Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, the Guggenheim Museum (NY), Miller Theatre at Columbia University, (le) Poisson Rouge, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Bang on a Can Marathon. They have worked directly with nearly all the composers they perform in order to offer the most authentic interpretations, a list that has included Steve Reich, Helmut Lachenmann, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Oliver Knussen, Hilda Paredes, and Charles Wuorinen. Other notable collaborations include those with violinist Irvine Arditti and with longtime Philip Glass Ensemble Music Director and producer Michael Riesman, who has joined Signal as piano soloist and produced three of their recordings. Recent highlights include the 2013 Lincoln Center Festival's production of Monkey: Journey to The West, with music by Damon Albarn, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng. Upcoming highlights include the co-commission of a new work for large ensemble by Steve Reich, to be premiered in 2016-17.

Brad Lubman

Brad Lubman, conductor/composer, is founding co-Artistic Director and Music Director of Ensemble Signal. He has gained widespread recognition during the past two decades for his versatility, commanding technique, and insightful interpretations. His guest conducting engagements include major orchestras such as the DSO Berlin, Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie, WDR Symphony Cologne, Cracow Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Dresdner Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, New World Symphony, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has worked with some of the most important ensembles for contemporary music, including London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, musikFabrik, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, and Steve Reich and Musicians. Lubman's own compositions have been performed in the USA and Europe and can be heard on his CD, insomniac, on Tzadik. Lubman is Associate Professor of Conducting and Ensembles at the Eastman School of Music, where he has directed the Musica Nova ensemble since joining the faculty in 1997, and on the faculty of the Bang-on-a-Can Summer Institute. He is represented by Karsten Witt Musik Management.

Rachel Calloway

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway has established herself as one of the most versatile singers of her generation. Praised by the New York Times for her "penetrating clarity" and "considerable depth of expression" and by Opera News for her "adept musicianship and dramatic flair," her 2013-2014 season includes performances with Ensemble Signal, Gotham Chamber Opera, the contemporary vocal chamber ensemble Ekmeles, the 2013 Next Wave Festival at BAM, Chameleon Arts Ensemble in Boston, the Amernet String Quartet at Bowdoin University, the Copland House, and American Opera Projects. She joins the faculty of the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Italy this June. Ms. Calloway has sung with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival and CalArts, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella Series, and the Berkeley Symphony, and at Tulsa Opera, Central City Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, Opéra de Lille, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jovet (Paris, France), and Glimmerglass Opera. She has appeared in concert at The Kennedy Center, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Strathmore Mansion in Maryland, New York Society for Ethical Culture, and Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Ms. Calloway is a founding member of Shir Ami, an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of Jewish art music suppressed by the Nazis and Soviets. She holds degrees from both the Juilliard School (BM) and Manhattan School of Music (MM) and maintains an active teaching studio. www.rachelcalloway.com

Oliver Hagen

Conductor and pianist Oliver Hagen was born in New York City in 1986. In 2010 Hagen was named Assistant Conductor of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. During his time there, Hagen worked with Pierre Boulez, former music director Susanna Mälkki, and current music director Matthias Pintscher, among others. Hagen has appeared with ensembles and orchestras such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre National de Lyon, American Composers' Orchestra, East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Firebird Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, Ensemble soundinitiative, and the Orchestra of the League of Composers. Hagen has served as Assistant Conductor at the Paris Opéra Comique, the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, and "Face the Music," a contemporary music ensemble for high school students, at the Kaufman Center. Hagen has worked closely with composers such as Steve Reich, Helmut Lachenmann, Charles Wuorinen, and Oliver Knussen. In September of 2009, Hagen appeared as one of the solo pianists in Pierre Boulez's Répons, under the direction of the composer at the KKL in Lucerne. Hagen holds a bachelor of music degree in clarinet and composition, and a master of music degree in conducting-both from the Eastman School of Music.

Bill Solomon

New York City-based percussionist Bill Solomon was called "a stand out among unfailingly excellent performances" in the Boston Globe. He performs with Ensemble Signal, including appearances at Lincoln Center Festival, Tanglewood, Miller Theatre, June in Buffalo, Eastman School of Music, Guggenheim Museum, The Stone, Cleveland Museum of Art, EMPAC and (Le) Poisson Rouge. He's worked with composers including Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Charles Wuorinen, Brian Ferneyhough, Hilda Paredes, Terry Riley, Oliver Knussen and Georg Friedrich Haas. In addition to performing with Signal, he also serves as the organization's Assistant Executive Director. In 2009 he performed the solo vibraphone part for Pierre Boulez's Répons in collaboration with the Lucerne Festival, IRCAM, and Ensemble InterContemporain with Mr. Boulez as conductor. Mr. Solomon also performs in vigil ensemble with flutist Kelli Kathman. Recordings can be found on Mode, EUROArts, Cantaloupe, Naxos, New World, Capstone, Tzigane, and Equilibrium labels, as well as Philip Glass's soundtrack to the documentary "Project Rebirth" and a forthcoming release of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians.

Ning Yu

With the same vigor and dedication to traditional and avant-garde repertoire of the 20th and 21st century, Ning Yu takes on some of the most demanding music ever written for piano, including pieces that incorporate extended techniques, multi-media, and improvisation. Ning is the winner of the Boucourechliev Prize at the Ninth International Concours de Orléans in France - a competition devoted to piano repertoire from 1900 to today. Ning has given dozens of world premieres, including the works of Terry Riley, Michael Gordon, and Enno Poppe. As a chamber musician, Ning has performed with leading new music ensembles such as Bang on A Can - All Stars and Talea Ensemble. Ning is a member of the percussion and piano quartet, Yarn/Wire, counter)induction, and Signal Ensemble. In theater, Ning performed with Mabou Mines' Dollhouse-a critically acclaimed production directed by Lee Breuer. Ning has also collaborated with director Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project on the development of the Tony award-nominated play 33 Variations. A native of China, She currently works and lives in New York City. She is a graduate of Eastman School of Music and Stony Brook University. (ningyupiano.com)