String Quartet N. 1, commissioned by the Gulbenkian Foundation for the JACK Quartet, will be premiered at the Gulbenkian Foundation Grand Auditorium, in Lisbon, Portugal, on January 27th, 2018.

Deemed “superheroes of the new music world” (Boston Globe), the JACK Quartet is “the go-to quartet for contemporary music, tying impeccable musicianship to intellectual ferocity and a take-no-prisoners sense of commitment.” (Washington Post) “They are a musical vehicle of choice to the next great composers who walk among us.” (Toronto Star)

The recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, New Music USA’s Trailblazer Award, and the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, JACK has performed to critical acclaim at Carnegie Hall (USA), Lincoln Center (USA), Miller Theatre (USA), Wigmore Hall (United Kingdom), Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ (Netherlands), IRCAM (France), Kölner Philharmonie (Germany), the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), La Biennale di Venezia (Italy), Suntory Hall (Japan), Bali Arts Festival (Indonesia), Festival Internacional Cervatino (Mexico), and Teatro Colón (Argentina).

The Horszowski Trio at the Trianon Theater in San Jose

“The San Jose Chamber Music Society presented a superb concert of the Horszowski Trio on November 12 at the Trianon Theater in San Jose. The program leaned heavily on the early Romantic period with trios by Schumann and Mendelssohn. But the central work was the world premiere of Night Migrations by Lisbon-born Andreia Pinto Correia, commissioned by Chamber Music America for the Horszowski Trio.

Night Migrations was inspired by the poem of the same title by Louise Glück. As explained in the program notes by the composer, “The composition’s structure consists of four nocturnal movements, each of which features contrasting sections; mystical and dark music alternates with fleet, darting episodes that emulate the flight of birds.” The work is best described as coloristic, at times whimsical, and using a vast array of string techniques, including pizzicato, harmonics, glissando and sul ponticello.

(…)The listener is awarded ample contrast of texture and sonority. The work is engaging, with a sense of continuity and flow. A striking feature of the writing is that the piano is always held in check to allow even the most delicate string sounds to be clearly heard. This might be the first ever-piano trio that accomplishes a balance of piano and strings where each part can be appreciated.”

Roger Emanuels, Peninsula Reviews

Mike Roylance, Principal Tuba with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will give the Japanese premiere of Stellae errantes in Tokyo on November 6th, 2017. The work was commissioned by and dedicated to him.

Stellae errantes (Wandering Stars) is inspired by Cicero’s (106-43 BC) work De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), written in 45BC. In the second book of this philosophical dialogue, the Roman orator and philosopher writes about the incorrectly named Stellae errantes. These five wandering stars, described as “fiery heat and translucent throughout” are, according to Cicero, “formed from the most mobile and the purest part of the aether (upper atmosphere)”. They are known today as planets.

I. Phaenon (The Shiner)

II. Phaethon (The Blazing)

III. Pyroeis (The Fiery)

IV. Stilbon (The Gleaming)

V. Phosphoros–Hesperos