They think this is the next Gorecki

Carnegie Hall commissioned four young composers–Shawn Jaeger, Aviya Kopelman,Christopher Mayo, and Shen Yiwen–to write new voice and ensemble works for selected singers, three chosen by audition and seven from The Bard College Conservatory of Music graduate program in vocal arts, where Ms. Upshaw is Artistic Director. Ms. Upshaw and Mr. Dennehy mentored these musicians through the collaborative compositional process, leading up to these premiere performances.

The singers selected in this year’s workshop include: Fanny Alofs, mezzo-soprano; Julia Bullock, soprano; Jeongcheol Cha, bass-baritone; Leroy Davis, bass-baritone; Jeffrey Hill, tenor; Mellissa Hughes, soprano; Clarissa Lyons, soprano; Margot Rood, soprano; Nian Wang, mezzo-soprano; and Ilana Zarankin, soprano.

Mr. Jaeger describes his Letters Made with Gold–with texts drawn from Appalachian sacred and secular songs–as a piece about “being in love and knowing that you, and your beloved, will die. The cycle traces a progression from youthful passion and optimism through denial and anger to acceptance.” Texts in Mr. Mayo’s Death on Three-Mile Creek are drawn from death notices written by 20th century poet and essayist Jonathan Williams, who was greatly influenced by Uncle Jake Carpenter’s “Jot-em-down Book” of the 1800s, which was later transcribed as Uncle Jake Carpenter’s Anthology of Death on Three-Mile Creek, now considered one of the most important records of 19th-century rural North Carolina.

Ms. Kopelman’s Grief Measure is in three different languages–English, Russian, and Spanish–but are unified, according to the composer, by the universal emotions they express, each in its powerful way. Mr. Shen’s Taking Leave of a Friend, explores the eighth century, Tang dynasty poetry of Li Po beginning with a drinking song, With a Man of Leisure, moving through Ballades of Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, which tell of romances from the past, and ending with a combination of two poems, <
em>Taking Leave of a Friend and Sit Alone With the Ching-Ting Mountain.

About the Workshop Leaders:
Donnacha Dennehy, who lives in Dublin and teaches composition at Trinity College, has received critical acclaim for his work, with The New York Times calling a recent piece “magnificently energetic,” and The Wire saying that he “has a sound world all his own.” His debut recording for the Nonesuch label, Grá agus Bás, featuring Irish singer Iarla O’Lionáird and Dawn Upshaw will be released on May 3, 2011. He has received commissions from WNYC (for the Bang on a Can All-Stars), Icebreaker, Percussion Group The Hague, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, among others. Upcoming commissions include a new work for Nonesuch artists Kronos Quartet and one for Ms. Upshaw and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.