The University of Louisville School of Music is offering the public several opportunities this spring to experience outstanding new music for free.
On March 31, the Talea Ensemble, a critically acclaimed, New York-based contemporary-classical music group, will play the winning works from this year’s Frank Robert Abell Young Composer Competition.
Abell, a longtime Louisville philanthropist with close ties to UofL’s School of Music, was inspired by the Grawemeyer Awards and wanted to help younger composers. The award is for chamber ensemble music by composers aged 18-26.
The Talea Ensemble, which has been described by The New York Times as a “A flexible group that champions toothy modern works and plays them with a compelling lucidity,” will play the winning pieces along with five new pieces by UofL student composers at 8 p.m., March 31 in Bird Recital Hall.
Another New Music event on April 14 will feature Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen, the 2016 Grawemeyer Award winner for Music Composition. His free lecture about his winning piece “let me tell you,” a song cycle for soprano and orchestra will be at 3 p.m. in Bird Recital Hall. Abrahamsen, 62, was born in Copenhagen and teaches at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he also studied music theory and history.
“These events bring living composers, both professionals of long standing and international stature such as Mr. Abrahamsen and young composers like the competition winners, to Louisville,” said Marc Satterwhite, director of both competitions. “The concert by the Talea Ensemble will provide an opportunity for local audiences to hear an absolutely top-notch new music ensemble perform works by the winning composers as well as give UofL students an opportunity few other schools can offer their students. We hope the public will take advantage of these free events.”
For more information, contact Satterwhite at 502-852-1787 or marc.satterwhite@louisville.edu.
