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Modified on 12/12/2003 11:37:36 PM EST
WORLD PREMIERES CONCERT SERIES
IN NEW YORK CITY & STONY BROOK
Since 1988, the STONY BROOK CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER PLAYERS has commissioned many new works by composers around the U.S. and abroad for the annual World Premieres Concert played in New York City and Stony Brook University. The concerts were begun in 1988 by composer John A. Lessard in collaboration with CCP directors Gilbert Kalish and Raymond DesRoches.
From 1990 to 1999, faculty composer Daria Semegen served as the World Premieres Concert commissions coordinator. During these years, the concert series attracted an increasing and enthusiastic interest from composers, and was established as an annual event. Since the fall of 1999, faculty composer Perry Goldstein has administered the World Premieres concert commissions.
The CCP has commissioned the premieres of over seventy new works including those of Pulitzer Prize winners Wayne Peterson and Melinda Wagner, and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Ralph Shapey among many other composers representing a wide variety of styles and aesthetic approaches.
COMPOSERS WRITE about the STONY BROOK
CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER PLAYERS (CCP)
CONTEMPORARY CHAMBER PLAYERS (CCP)
"Please extend my thanks to everyone involved with the CCP Concerts this Spring. My piece was performed with expert musicianship and technical ability. It was a highlight of my compositional career. ...The new music goings-on at Stony Brook are very uplifting and encouraging. Stony Brook has maintained that "small wonder" quality...one of the best well-rounded musical educational environments in the country."
--Kurt Rohde.
"I want to express to you my sincere gratitude for the commission of and performances of my work HAIKU. It was a pleasure to work with the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players and I feel very fortunate for the opportunity that you gave me. I think that the program's dedication to the pursuit of world premiere performances is unique and outstanding and it was a pleasure to be a part of this concert series."
-- Augusta Read Thomas.
"The Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players concert at Merkin Hall was one of the nicest experiences I've had in a long time. Not just the
performance of my trio -- though that pleased me much, indeed -- but seeing so many fine and well-schooled young performers playing new works with such distinction and enthusiasm. Would that the standard and example you are setting might be imitated across the land! I found the "Stony Brook Experience" to be a 100% positive one. I wish you great success in carrying on and extending what is by now a very important tradition both for composers and your students."
-- Harvey Sollberger.
"STONY BROOK CONCERTO was written in 1996 and dedicated to the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players for my 75th birth year. I wrote it as a gift for the players out of gratitude for their wonderful performances of my music the year before. I conducted them in my music and works of other composers; their wonderful attitudes, help and playing were a pleasure for me to be involved with."
-- Ralph Shapey.
"The Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players gave a fantastic premiere performance of my quintet "Daedalus and Icarus" on their 12th Annual World Premieres Concert in New York City in April. I was honored to have been invited to compose a work specifically for this concert and was very impressed with the high level of virtuosity and musicality displayed by the performers involved. Their collective sensitivity and attention to detail resulted in a performance remarkable in its variety of colors, textures, and moods."
--Stephen Blumberg.
"The Stony Brook performers threw themselves into my music with talent, enthusiasm, and sparkle. During rehearsal they were flexible and a joy to work with. The performances were full of clarity, warmth and bravura. The amazing thing to me was that all the other pieces on the program got the same treatment."
--Eleanor Cory.
"My deep thanks for the fine performance the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players gave of RIPRAP. Particularly impressive was the ability of the players to put the piece together without a conductor and without any personal direction from me--it is a testament both to the quality of the players and the coaching they received. Although I have had numerous professional performances in New York of my music by some very fine musicians, this was the only performance that was adequately rehearsed and, consequently, by far the best. Such a performance is worth a great deal to any composer."
-- Eric Moe.
"Working with the players was an incredibly rewarding experience. Never before have I worked with such enthusiastic, hard-working performers! Over the years, I have found that most musicians simply do not have the time, energy, or desire to overcome the technical difficulties found in my scores in order that they may reach a point where the music is understood on a 'gut level.' The Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players certainly succeeded in doing this, but they also went beyond it. The improvisatory spontaneity present in the performances was an indication to me that they were truly dealing with the poetry of the music, a quality which is, once again, quite rare. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to compose a piece for the ensemble. It was an unforgettable experience!"
-- James Boros.
"Thank you for the wonderful experience I had with the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. I was quite pleased with both the New York and Stony Brook performances of my piece, and impressed with the time and care taken by the players. What made it a truly outstanding experience, however, was the warm reception I received from the players, who appeared to be delighted to hear my suggestions and most anxious to deliver the best and most faithful performance possible. This has been without doubt one of the best performance situations I have had and, I think one of great value to both the students and the composers involved."
-- Steven Roens.
"I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how much I enjoyed The Stony Brook concert last week. The performers were first-rate, well-prepared and committed, and I thought the pieces were quite strong as well. It's nice to hear music by composers who aren't frequently performed in New York and it's always good--and unfortunately rare--to hear clear and comfortable performances. I think this series has been an important addition to the scene and I look forward to its continuation in future years."
-- Lee Hyla.
"I wish you the best success with your commissioning program; it provides a most-welcome opportunity to produce new and good pieces with the assurance that they will be competently performed. I appreciated very much the commitment the players brought to the performance."
-- Robert Moevs.
"I'm writing to congratulate you on the superb concert. It was gratifying to hear Stony Brook's young, first-rate performers enthusiastically taking on and mastering this challenging program. This is especially reassuring in these times when so many of our new music ensembles are settling for facile works which can be prepared with minimum rehearsal time. By way of these concerts Stony Brook is making a very important contribution to the new music activities in New York. You are to be congratulated and encouraged to keep it up."
-- Rolv Yttrehus.
"Working with the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players and especially Raymond Des Roches was one of the highlights of the year for me. The six percussionists who performed my commissioned piece, LADY MONDEGREEN BANGS THE CAN! had already put in an incredible forty hours of rehearsal so that by the time I got to Stony Brook for the rehearsals the day of the concert, there was hardly anything for me to say other than "bravo!" The performance was spectacular and was even better the following week in Manhattan. Few professional new music ensembles have the time to rehearse that much and actually get to make music once they have learned all of the pitches and rhythms. The enthusiasm and precision of the performers was quite evident and helped to make the piece a great success with the audience. Thank you."
--Bruce J. Taub
" It is a great pleasure for me to have composed this work for the 10th anniversary celebration (of the annual World Premieres Concert Series) of the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. The work of the ensemble's students and faculty stands among the most committed and accomplished in the country, and serves as a beautiful model for others to behold - a model made all the more inspiring by the extraordinary challenges presented by the cultural environment into which music has been deceptively led."
-- Mike Ross.
"I want to thank you again for the opportunity to participate in the World Premieres. After having worked throughout the years with several
distinguished musicians who were graduates of Stony Brook, I well knew that I could expect the highest level of artistic and technical accomplishment from the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. My expectations in this regard were amply satisfied. I was not ready, however, for the degree of commitment, warm enthusiasm, and particularly for the unwavering artistic integrity of these young musicians. Having rarely witnessed this wonderful attitude towards music making (old or new) at other music programs with comparable pools of student talent, I cannot attribute this phenomenom solely to the individual merit of the players. It makes me think that something else must be 'really right' at the Stony Brook music department."
--Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon.
"The performance by the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players of my composition "Visions" for chamber quintet was brilliant. The players captured the different moods of the three movement work and played with sensitivity and absolute technical prowess...all of the players were enthusiastic and their devotion to learning the music so well made it a fantastic success for me."
-- Ludmila Ulehla
About the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players (CCP)
Reviews from The New York Times, Musical America, Long Island Voice
Student Composers & Performance at Stony Brook
Recent Concerts