It’s “June in Buffalo” | Music

JUNE 9-15

June in Buffalo

A showcase of contemporary classics at UB North

arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/music, 645-2765

The long term, the new internationally renowned June in Buffalo (JIB) music festival returns to the University of Buffalo’s North Campus June 9-15. Once again, BPO Associate Conductor Fernanda Lastra leads the orchestra in a concert offering regional premieres showcasing contemporary classical music.

The Arditti Quartet and bass-baritone Nicholas Isherwood are also among this year’s featured artists. “Both have enjoyed long and successful relationships with JIB and it would be difficult to think of someone who better understands the process of bringing new musical works into the world and supporting the creative efforts of composers,” says JIB Artistic Director and the UB Music Department. cello teacher and composer Jonathan Golove. “It is also worth mentioning that the Arditti Quartet celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2024, with concerts around the world, featuring both newly commissioned works and classics from their incredibly voluminous repertoire.

Arditti’s JIB concert will include one of these works: that of Helmut Lachenmann String Quartet No. 3 Grido as well as Golove’s piece, equalizercomposed for electric string quartet.

“Nicholas Isherwood will sing with Switch and the Slee Sinfonietta, and he will also present a solo program of works he has developed with composers from around the world, as well as with composers from JIB,” shares Golove. With a presentation on composing for voice, Isherwood also participates in the JIB Morning Composers Lecture Series, which begins June 10 at 10:00 a.m.

In addition to Golove, JIB senior composers include German composer Karola Obermuller; London-based Hilde Paredes, one of Mexico’s leading composers; Buffalo-born University of Pittsburgh composer Amy Williams; and Eastman School of Music composer Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. “We try to foster a diverse mix of aesthetic positions so that all composers are exposed to a range of perspectives and there is a lively basis for discussion,” says Golove. “But it is certainly a conscious aim to improve the gender balance among senior and participating composers. This started last year, and I’m really happy that we received more applications from women this year than last time.

“Amy Williams and I met at my very first JIB,” says Golove. “We were colleagues and friends in the UB composition doctoral program. We began playing together as students in the program, and this has continued, on and off, until today. THE Portrait of the composer The recent concert performance of his music at Columbia University’s Miller Theater was a tremendous honor and a sign of the recognition his work has received. I am grateful to Amy for her friendship and support over three decades, and I am an enthusiastic fan of her work as a composer and pianist.

“I started working for JIB as a teaching assistant when I was a graduate student,” Williams says. “I helped Paul Elwood, who was assisting David Felder. Paul left and I took his place. I continued to coordinate the festival and perform there as a pianist, from 1993 to 2000. I have fond memories of playing the role of Steve Reich Sextet for two pianos and four percussions and City life with the composer at the mixing desk. My piano duo, with Helena Bugallo, also played an arrangement we made of Lukas Foss Solo observedwhat he liked.

“We performed dozens of works by participating young composers; it’s not unusual for me to ‘meet’ a composer and realize we’ve worked together before on June In Buffalo,” Williams continues. “This will be my first time back since 2000 and teaching for the first time. It’s inspiring to hear what young composers are working on and I’ll try to find something useful to teach them in masterclasses and courses. The BPO will play my short orchestral work, Flood lineswritten for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra while the Arditti Quartet will play Richter Textures; This is the first time I’ve collaborated with them, so it’s of course a great pleasure.

The legacy of the JIB

When Morton Feldman was the Edgar Varése Professor of Composition at UB in the 1970s, he realized the importance of having young, aspiring composers work with established composers and created an annual music festival to foster this type of creative interaction. After a hiatus of several years, UB faculty member David Felder relaunched JIB in 1986 and served as artistic director for over thirty-five years until 2023, when he handed over the reins to Golove. Last summer’s festival was the first non-virtual event after the COVID shutdown.

“I have a long association with JIB dating back to 1994, my first June as a participating composer, which immediately preceded my move to Buffalo,” says Golove. “I made my living playing as a cellist and have continued to perform at the festival almost every year since. I was JIB’s senior composer during the Pan American Centennial year (2001), then cellist instructor for June at the Buffalo Performance Institute, which ran concurrently with the main festival in 2013 and 2015 »

The selection process for participating emerging composers is rigorous and applications come from all over the world. Selected students have the opportunity not only to collaborate with the senior composers, but also to have their own compositions performed by world-class musicians and ensembles.

“Hopefully we’ll start to build more of the June audience in Buffalo,” Golove says. “Although JIB is primarily a workshop for composers, all of our concerts, as well as morning lectures, are open to the public and many of these events are free. If a potential audience member is interested in recent music, that is, contemporary classical composition, JIB is a place to sample the cornucopia that currently exists, and possibly get in on the ground floor. groundbreaking for the next big trend. »

For a list of events, see the calendar or visit: arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/music/events/concert-calendar.