William Bolcom

William Bolcom’s setting of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience was performed in the newly-renovated Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI, on April 8, 2004. Musicians from the University of Michigan School of Music partnered with professional singers in the three-hour long work, which was conducted by Leonard Slatkin. This performance was also recorded for release on Naxos. You are invited to visit the composer’s Web sites at www.bolcomandmorris.com and www.WilliamBolcom.com.

Premieres

The world premiere of Medusa took place in March 2003, in a performance by soprano Catherine Malfitano with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies; the world stage premiere occurred on June 26 and 28, 2003, presented by Malfitano with the Cincinnati (OH) Opera Orchestra, conducted by Brian Salesky. A Seattle Overture was introduced June 28 by the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra for the opening of the Marian Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, WA, new home of the Seattle Opera and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Eleventh String Quartet was performed October 25-26 by the Mendelssohn String Quartet at the North Carolina School for the Arts in Winston-Salem; the quartet performed the work eleven more times on tour, including the New York premiere on November 14. A Wedding (libretto by Arnold Weinstein based on Robert Altman’s movie), was presented beginning December 11 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, for a total of ten performances.

Performances

During his residency at the American Academy in Rome during the fall of 2003, the composer and his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris, performed Cabaret Songs (24) and Ancient Cabaret at the Villa Aurelia.

Publications

The composer wrote a new introduction for the second edition of George Rochberg’s The Aesthetics of Survival.

Recordings

“Battle Pieces,” songs by Warren Swenson and American Civil War composers, performed by tenor George Shirley and pianist William Bolcom; Albany Records. “Songs by Lyricist E.Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg,” taken from a live performance at New York’s Lucille Lortel Theater by mezzo-soprano Morris, pianist Bolcom, and singer/songwriter Max Morath; Original Cast Recordings. Lyric Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, flutist Amy Porter with Kenneth Kiesler conducting the University Symphony Orchestra; Equilibrium. All of Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein’s Cabaret Songs (24) and Ancient Cabaret were recorded live in concert by Bolcom and Morris at The Flea Theater, New York, in September 2003, for release in 2004. An album of songs and piano pieces by George Frederick McKay featuring Bolcom and Morris, along with various other performers, was released on Naxos.

Further Information

• 2001-2002 American Composers Update
• 2000-2001 American Composers Update
• 1999-2000 American Composers Update
• SAI's Composers Bureau Online
• SAI's Music for Young People section