27 living composers and J S Bach
NewsThe cellist Alisa Weilerstein has been handing out commissions.
‘The largest pool of composers ever,’ she calls it. ‘I asked each one two write 10 minutes of music… that I could divide up.’
It’s a Covid thing: ‘I found myself wondering: ‘How are we going to connect with one another when we come back?’ This felt like a chance to rethink the way we experience music. I was also thinking about the ways we could improve our field without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I didn’t want to sacrifice the quality of our product, but at the same time I’m always trying to think about how to make the tent as big as possible.’
Fantastic, Alisa! I love this approach to commissioning new music. The Covid era has made us soul search in many ways. This also helps many composers share their voices and helps music evolve simultaneously. So important, and you’ve done a remarkable achievement. My own personal take during Covid was in composing the piano solo and concerto of “Three Reflections: Freedom (JFK), Justice (RBG), Equality (MLK) and, creating the first 50 state project without buy-ins from orchestras for Peter Boyer’s “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue”.
Please keep us posted for performances of all these new compositions. You’ve created legacy.
Great project by a fscinating musician
Well I guess Bach has survived 3 centuries worth of BS so a bit more can’t hurt.
Have you heard any of the works? Or is this just a spontaneous brain ejaculation?
The lament of the goners….
The bits by Bach are pretty good.