Celebrating Australian Composers!

Australian Composers

Stars and Stripes - American Classical Composers!

America is home to some of the worlds most iconic and prolific classical composers.Inspired by the great classical composers from Europe, yet with a distictly American twist, these artists have redefined the classical genre, drawing influence from folk, jazz, blues, Native American and pop styles. 
A small selection of these composers and some of their most famous and popular works are listed below.

	Leonard Bernstein Composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, thinker, and adventurous spirit, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) transformed the way Americans and people everywhere hear and appreciate music. Bernstein's successes as a composer ranged from the Broadway stage to concert halls all over the world, where his orchestral and choral music continues to thrive.  Bernstein was the recipient of many honors, including the Antoinette Perry Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Theater, eleven Emmy Award, the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and the Kennedy Center Honors. Works include:  Candide - Individual songs available for Orchestra West Side Story - Individual songs available for Orchestra Mass - Theatre piece - full and reduced version Trouble in Tahiti - One act opera for Orchestra or Ensemble Times Square - 5 mins - Orchestra On the Waterfront(Symphonic Suite) - 22 mins - Orchestra
	George Gershwin Critics were often at a loss as to where to place Gershwin's classical music in the standard repertoire and some simply dismissed him, but the music always found favor with the general public. He was very soon widely acclaimed in the concert world as piano virtuoso, conductor and composer.  Of Thee I Sing dealt pointedly with social issues of the time and became the first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize. Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess is now recognised as one of the seminal works of American opera and includes such timeless favorites as "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "Summertime.". Gershwin's collaboration with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, began a partnership that would continue for the rest of the composer's life and would elevate the musical comedy to an American art form. Works include:  An American in Paris - 16 mins - Orchestra Rhapsody in Blue - 16 mins - Piano & Orchestra      Porgy and Bess - individual songs available for Orchestra    Cuban Overture - 10 mins - Orchestra Piano Concerto in F - 33 mins - Solo Piano & Orchestra
	Aaron Copland Aaron Copland's name is synonymous with American music. It was his pioneering achievement to break free from Europe and create concert music that is characteristically American.   Aaron Copland was one of the most honored cultural figures in the history of the United States.  The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Kennedy Center Award and the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "Oscar" were only a few of the honors and awards he received. In addition to composing, Copland conducted, organised concerts, wrote books on music, and served as an American cultural ambassador to the world. Works include:  Appalachian Spring - 25 mins - Chamber or Full Orchestra Billy the Kid Suite - 22 mins - Orchestra Old American Songs Set 1 - 13 mins - Voice & Orchestra Fanfare for the Common Man - 3 mins - Brass & Percussion Eight Poems of Emily Dickenson - 20 mins - Voice & Orchestra El Salón México - 12 mins - Orchestra
	John Cage John Cage was a pioneer of aleatoric music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a concert pieces. Works include: Dance Four Orchestras - 18 mins - Orchestra Etcetera 2/4 Orchestras - 30 mins - Orchestra & Tape Quartets I - VIII - 40 mins  24 piece Orchestra Seventy Four - 12 mins - Full Orchestra Suite for Piano - 8 mins - Piano and Orchestra Twenty Nine - 29 mins - Percussion and Strings
	Steve Reich Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for 2008, Steve Reich has been called  "...the most original musical thinker of our time" (The New Yorker). His music has been influential to composers and mainstream musicians all over the world. His music is known for steady pulse, repetition, and a fascination with canons; it combines rigorous structures with propulsive rhythms and seductive instrumental colour. It also embraces harmonies of non-Western and American vernacular music (especially jazz). His studies have included the Gamelan, African drumming and traditional forms of chanting the Hebrew scriptures. Over the years his music has significantly grown both in expanded harmonies and instrumentation, resulting in a Pulitzer Prize for his 2007 composition, Double Sextet. Works include: Desert Music - 46 mins - Chorus & Orchestra New York Counterpoint - 11 mins - Clarinet/Sax Ensemble Different Trains - 25 mins - String Quartet & Tape Daniel Variations - 30 mins - Large Ensemble & Solo Voices Sextet - 28 mins - Percussion & Keyboards
Photo credit: Robyn Holland	Michael Torke The music of Michael Torke has been called "some of the most optimistic, joyful and thoroughly uplifting music to appear in recent years" (Gramophone). Hailed as "a master orchestrator whose shimmering timbral palette makes him the Ravel of his generation" (New York Times), Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre, each with a characteristic personal stamp that combines restless rhythmic energy with ravishingly beautiful melodies. Works include:  Adjustable Wrench - 11 mins - Mixed Ensemble Rapture - 28 mins - Percussion & Orchestra Vanda 12 mins - Keyboard, Brass & Percussion Slate - 32 mins - For Concertante Group & Orchestra Purple - 7 mins - Orchestra
Photo credit: Margaretta Mitchell	John Adams Composer, conductor, and creative thinker - John Adams occupies a unique position in the world of American music.  His works, both operatic and symphonic, stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. Over the past 25 years, Adams’s music has played a decisive role in turning the tide of contemporary musical aesthetics toward a more expansive, expressive language, entirely characteristic of his New World surroundings. Works include:  Nixon in China - Full length opera On the Transmigration of Souls - 27 mins - Chorus & Orchestra Son of Chamber Symphony - 23 mins - Chamber Ensemble Gnarly Buttons - 24 mins - Clarinet and Chamber Ensemble Short Ride in a Fast Machine - 4 mins - Fanfare for Orchestra Doctor Atomic Symphony - 25 mins - Orchestra
	Michael Daugherty Michael Daugherty is one of the most frequently commissioned, programmed, and recorded composers on the American concert music scene today. Daugherty first came to international attention when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performed his Metropolis Symphony at Carnegie Hall in 1994. Since that time, Daugherty’s music has entered the orchestral, band and chamber music repertoire and made him, according to the League of American Orchestras, one of the ten most performed living American composers Works include:  Dead Elvis - 10 mins - Bassoon & Chamber Ensemble Motown Metal 7 mins - Brass Ensemble           What's that spell? - 13 mins - Chamber Ensemble & Voice Letters from Lincoln - 25 mins - Baritone & Orchestra Strut - 6 mins - String Orchestra

From the libraries of.....
           
           

For more information about any of the listed composers and their works or
to find out about other composers from our catalogue please email
ausclassical@halleonard.com.au

 We look forward to working with you on your next performance!  

 With warmest regards,
Music Licensing & Hire Department
Stuart Hendricks, Nikol McKail, Megan Stapleton,
Neveen Byrnes, Nikki Aitken

Please note:
Standard Terms and Conditions Apply – please visit our website for details.

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The festive season is fast approaching and now is the perfect time to plan
your Christmas program! With a range of works from classic carols,
orchestral pieces, works for massed choirs and more we have something for
everyone - beginner to professional! We've listed a small selection below:

	St Nicolas by Benjamin BrittenCantata for tenor solo, chorus (SATB), semi-chorus (SA), four boy singers, and orchestra (1948) Duration: 50 minutes Description: Originally written for the centenary of Peter Pears’ old school Lancing College in 1948, Britten’s cantata tells the life of the fourth-century Bishop of Myra in a work of great poetry and sensitivity. It was conceived and composed with semi-amateur performance in mind and the technical demands of the choral and orchestral writing are appropriately straightforward. The audience also gets to join in two well-known hymns, All people that on earth do dwell and God moves in a mysterious way.
	In Terra Pax, op.39 (Christmas Scene) by Gerald FinziChristmas Scene for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra (also available for chamber orchestra) Duration: 14 minutes Description: Written just two years before Finzi’s death in 1956, In terra pax skilfully juxtaposes words of Robert Bridges (which are set for the baritone soloist) with the familiar Christmas passage from St Luke (set for the soprano soloist and chorus). With a childlike serenity of style, the work unites all its feelings, images and familiar events into one simple, shapely musical narrative. Given the varied possibilities of accompaniment, In terra pax is a work that is suited to choirs of all sizes. With its seasonal theme, it makes the most attractive centre-piece for any Christmas choral program.
	Star Carol by John RutterSATB & brass ensemble (SATB & orchestral version also available) Duration: 6 minutes Description: John Rutter is well known for his choral music. His compositions embrace choral, orchestral, and instrumental music, and he has edited or co-edited various choral anthologies including four Carols for Choirs volumes with Sir David Willcocks and the Oxford Choral Classics series. Star Carol is a simple melodic Christmas tune including the lyrics "Sing this night, for a boy is born in Bethlehem."
	Fantasia on Christmas CarolsSolo baritone, SATB or TTBB, organ and strings with optional wind and percussion Duration: 10 minutes Description: A single movement workwhich consists of the English folk carols "The truth sent from above", "Come all you worthy gentlemen" and "On Christmas night all Christians sing", all folk songs collected in southern England by Vaughan Williams. These are interposed with brief orchestral quotations from other carols, such as "The First Nowell."
	Christmas Fantasy by Gilbert VinterFor orchestra and choir (orchestral only version also available) Duration: 34 minutes Description: Born in Lincoln, Vinter was one of the finest conductors in the radio field during his day, and one of the foremost composers of contemporary brass music. Christmas Fantasy is inspired by some of the worlds most famous Christmas carols, artfully intertwined by Vinter.

Our classic carol selection includes: Once in Royal David's City, Away in a

Manger, Silent Night, O Come all ye Faithful, Joy to the World, Mary's
Lullaby, Good King Wenceslas, In Dulci Jubilo and many more. Email ausclassical@halleonard.com.au to check if we have your favourite carol!

From the libraries of.....


                  
           

Please note: Standard Terms and Conditions Apply – please visit our website for details.

Manhasset Quality Guide

Manhasset is known as one of the most honest, respectful and ethical in the musical instrument business. Manhasset’s mission is to continually strive for innovative design improvement. They often lead the way in the music stand category (friction adjustment, chromed greaseless shafts, ribbed aluminum desks, powder coated finish, coloured stands). Manhasset backs all carts & stands with a 10 year unconditional warranty. (Five year warranty on all accessories).

Check out this great guide that lists all the wonderful options available in the Manhasset range:

British Liaisons - Australian Ballet

Photography Georges Antoni and Justin Smith

British Liaisons

Dramatic. Romantic. Deadly.

"Heart-stopping"

The Australian on After the Rain©

"Lyrical and sensuous"

The Australian on Concerto

This August, The Australian Ballet brings together three generations to celebrate its British beginnings. From the savage to the sublime, British Liaisons is a diverse triple bill showcasing the very best Britain has to offer.

The program features Concerto, a modern classic combining rigorous dance with undeniable wit; Checkmate, a cut throat spectacle of sharp choreography, in which kings, queens and pawns battle to the death; and Christopher Wheeldon’s 21st-century masterpiece After the Rain©, an unspoken love affair consummated on stage.

Don’t miss this exhilarating encounter with Britain’s best!

British Liaisons

25 August – 3 September
the Arts Centre, State Theatre
with Orchestra Victoria

Checkmate (1937)
Choreography Ninette de Valois
Music Arthur Bliss

Concerto (1966)
Choreography Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Music Dmitri Shostakovich

After the Rain©(2005)
Choreography Christopher Wheeldon
Music Arvo Pärt

Book now!
Tickets from $33

Online: australianballet.com.au
Phone: 1300 369 741
In person: The Australian Ballet Box Office
Level 4, The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre

Symphonia Eluvium by Elena Kats-Chernin - World Premiere

Celebrated Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin had already begun work on composing a symphony for Brisbane before the city embarked on its most eventful year in a generation. But in January, as the waters subsided, she realised she had to start the special commission for Brisbane Festival 2011 from scratch. Symphonia Eluvium came to life.

"Symphonia Eluvium is Latin for symphony of the floods," Kats-Chernin explains. "It will tell the stories of these times in four movements, inspired by turbulence and noise, survival and loss, the mud army and resilience, optimism and moving on."

In what will be a special night for Brisbane and Queensland, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, lead by internationally acclaimed conductor, Asher Fisch will bring Kats-Chernin's richly symbolic work of art to life.

Audiences will also be treated to the Australian premiere performances of renowned Israeli composer Avner Dorman's Variations Without a Theme and American musical genius John Adams' stunning Grand Pianola Music.

In a rare treat for classical music lovers, Symphonia Eluvium will be performed on the same day that the world's greatest pianist, Evgeny Kissin, will appear at QPAC for his Australian debut.

Phone QTIX on 136246 to book or email entertaining@brisbanefestival.com.au for further information.

Stephen Hough - New Works and Catalogue

With a singular artistic vision that transcends musical fashions and trends, Stephen Hough is widely regarded as one of the most important and distinctive pianists of his generation. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, joining prominent scientists, writers and others who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.

Check out the below catalogue which lists all his works including Sonata for Piano and Other Love Songs which have just had their world premieres at London's Wigmore Hall.




"The most perfect piano playing conceivable"
– The Guardian

"A virtuoso who begins where others leave off"
– Washington Post

Stephen Hough returns to Australia in 2011 for his third tour with Musica Viva.Winner of the 2010 Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award, Hough loves heated discussions, bowler hats and finding unlikely connections between contrary composers. He has devised a program which will take audiences on a journey from the familiarity of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata to a work many regard as Liszt’s greatest composition, his Piano Sonata in B minor, and through the twisted paths of two Scriabin sonatas.

Hough will also premiere one of his new works, jointly commissioned by Musica Viva and Wigmore Hall for this tour. The performance will take place at the Conservatorium Theatre, Griffith University, South Bank, Brisbane on 19th October 2011. You can book tickets here

John Cage Centenary in 2012

John Cage turns 100 in 2012 and all manner of events are underway for a worldwide celebration. Check out the specially created website here for breaking news about events in the works – music, poetry, theater, happenings, visual art exhibitions, publications, and more -- and for an ever-expanding calendar of events, to which you're invited to contribute.

John Cage was born on September 5, 1912 in Los Angeles, California and died in New York City on August 12, 1992. He studied liberal arts at Pomona College. Among his composition teachers were Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg. Cage was elected to the American National Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and received innumerable awards and honors both in the United States and in Europe.

He was commissioned by a great many of the most important performing organizations throughout the world, and maintained a very active schedule. It would be extremely difficult to calculate, let alone critically evaluate, the stimulating effect and ramifications that Cage's work has had on 20th century music and art, for it is clear that the musical developments of our time cannot be understood without taking into account his music and ideas. His invention of the prepared piano and his work with percussion instruments led him to imagine and explore many unique and fascinating ways of structuring the temporal dimension of music.

Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48).

He is universally recognized as the initiator and leading figure in the field of indeterminate composition by means of chance operations. Arnold Schoenberg said of Cage that he was an "inventor – of genius".

Britten Connections - a guide for performers and programmers

Pascal and Ami Rogé premiere Hindson's 'Double Piano Concerto' with Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony

How many pianists commission a full-blown concerto to celebrate their wedding anniversary? When Pascal and Ami Rogé decided upon this unusual plan of action, Australian composer Matthew Hindson seemed an obvious choice to them. Ami has prasied the "visual" character of his music and Pascal admires the way it speaks directly to the heart, to listeners. Hindson talks about the piece in this extended ABC interview.

The Concerto for Two Pianos is premiered by the Rogés with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, in Sydney Opera House on 12 and 13 May (the latter performance will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM). It comes to Europe in November this year.

'Hindson has amazing range. He could probably wring a concerto from the sound of a doorbell. His source material ranges from classical to Metallica to soothing melodic riffs…'
San Francisco Chronicle

Boosey & Hawkes Online Scores - Available Now!

Boosey & Hawkes, the leading independent publisher of contemporary classical music, is pleased to announce the launch of Boosey & Hawkes Online Scores, which offers free online viewing of orchestral, opera, and large ensemble scores from the B&H catalogue.


Please visit: www.boosey.com/onlinescores

The launch of the new boosey.com perusal service features over 400 scores of works by some of the most celebrated modern masters including Bartók, Bernstein, Britten, Copland, and Stravinsky, as well as leading contemporary figures such as John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, Unsuk Chin, Osvaldo Golijov, Magnus Lindberg, Steve Reich and Paquito D’Rivera. You can also explore, for the first time, works by the emerging generation of composers including Michel van der Aa, Oscar Bettison, Enrico Chapela, Anna Clyne and Sean Shepherd. Additional scores will be added regularly, and the newest music from Boosey & Hawkes’s roster will be uploaded as it becomes available.

Each of these works will be instantly accessible to any user that registers to the Boosey & Hawkes website. Users will be able to flip through scores of their favorite works via universally accessible web-based software. Searches through the vast catalogue can be narrowed by composer or genre, and users can even bookmark score sections within.

Cross-cultural opera takes 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Music

Madame White Snake
An opera in 4 acts, based on an ancient Chinese myth. Scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano or male-soprano, tenor, bass soloists, SATB chorus, childrens chorus & orchestra with Chinese flute & erhu. English libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs

Composer Zhou Long was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his first opera, Madame White Snake.The opera, published by Oxford University Press, is based on an ancient Chinese transformation myth, similar to a fairy tale, which tells the tale of a mythical snake that transforms into a woman.

Zhou drew on influences from his native China, and the US, where he is now a resident, to produce the work, which the Pulitzer jury described as: "a deeply expressive opera that draws on a Chinese folk tale to blend the musical traditions of the East and the West."

The opera is a four-act work, which tells the story of a powerful white snake demon that surrenders her immortality in order to take on human form and experience love. It was commissioned by Opera Boston and premiered in February 2010 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston, USA, and an expanded version was premiered on 27 October 2010 at the Century Theatre in Beijing, China, at the Beijing International Festival.

Zhou said of the opera: “I feel this is my dream as a composer. This opera, I feel, is the summation of all my works in the past – chamber music, vocal pieces, orchestral, and choral.”



‘Zhou Long displays a stunning (quasi-tactile) orchestral imagination that dramatically demonstrates his skill of embedding elements of the two cultures in a consistent, seamless, and original musical language.’
American Academy of Arts and Letters

‘Zhou Long is one of a group of Chinese composers, brought up during the Cultural Revolution and now living in the West, who are creating striking works that fuse memories and music from the East with Western-style compositions. Drawing on Chinese folk songs, literature, poetry and history, they are the first generation of Chinese composers to be widely performed around the world.’
Newsweek International

Please contact us at ausclasscial@halleonard.com.au should you be interested in performing this work or require any further information.

Gerald Barry’s Opera - The Intelligence Park

A production of Gerald Barry’s opera, The Intelligence Park, widely regarded as one of the most innovative and compelling operas of recent times, will be presented in a concert performance at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday 18 May 2011. Described by The Irish Times in 1990 as “the most original piece of music to come out of Ireland this century”, the opera is set in Dublin in 1753 and embraces love, power, prison and an eclipse of the sun. Presented in collaboration with Crash Ensemble, the production forms part of an exciting season of performances being staged at IMMA in May to mark the 20th anniversary of the Museum’s foundation in 1991.

The Intelligence Park, to a libretto by Vincent Deane, tells of a composer, Robert Paradies, who has lost the power to write but rediscovers it through his obsession with an Italian singer, the castrato Serafino. However, a triangular love affair involving Paradies, Serafino and Jerusha – the daughter of a wealthy merchant whom Paradies has been advised to marry but who is also the object of Serafino’s affections – complicates matters, bringing with it anger, betrayal and a conflict between private love and public duty.

When first produced in London for the Institute of Contemporary Arts/Almeida Festival in 1990, it met with an extraordinary critical response. For the Evening Standard it was “a clenched fist of an opera.” The Independent said that “the joy of the opera…is that it is driven by music of an energy and pace unheard of in most contemporary work. Barry...one of the true originals.” The Times said: "Never mind what the piece is about: it just quite shockingly is. It exists”.

A BBC recording of the opera is available on the NMC label.

Gerald Barry has written four other operas: “The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit” for Channel 4 Television, “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” for RTE/ENO/Basel Opera, “La Plus Forte” (The Stronger) for Radio France, and most recently, “The Importance of Being Earnest” for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Barbican, London. “The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit” has been performed in London, Aldeburgh, Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and Amsterdam. “La Plus Forte” has reached Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto, Miami, London and Dublin and has been described by The Arts Desk as the beginning of 21st century opera. The Los Angeles Times said that “The Importance of Being Earnest” was “sensational”, and “maybe the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since Richard Strauss’ Salome more than a century ago.”

Crash Ensemble was founded in 1997 by composer and Artistic Director Donnacha Dennehy and has since attracted enthusiastic audiences for its adventurous repertoire. The ensemble has commissioned or premiered works by composers including Gavin Bryars, Arnold Dreyblatt, Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Terry Riley, and has also worked with Louis Andriessen and Steve Reich, among others. As well as performing regularly throughout Ireland, Crash Ensemble tours internationally. Crash features on recordings by labels such as NMC, Cantaloupe and most recently Nonesuch, with the release of Grá agus Bás by Donnacha Dennehy later this month. The ensemble is conducted by Richard Baker.

The singers are Sarah Gabriel, soprano, Loré Lixenberg, alto, Roderick Williams, baritone, Andrew Watts, countertenor, John McMunn, tenor and Stephen Richardson, bass. The performance begins at 8.00pm.

Tickets €20.00, concessions €15.00. Booking on http://www.imma.ie/

‘Barry seems particularly interested in the hysteria that creeps into systems under stress. He wants them not to blow up, but to lurch on, sucking anxiety out of the air and feeding it back to us. The peculiar tone of his work comes from the balance he strikes between dogmatic control and anarchy.’
Toronto Globe and Mail

‘Each piece by Barry is like a signature in music. It’s utterly personal and instantly recognisable.’
The Musical Times

‘ . . . sounds like a barn dance devised by a chaos theorist’
Tempo (on Wiener Blut)

Boosey & Hawkes Signs Sean Shepherd

Hal Leonard Australia would like to congratulate Boosey and Hawke on their signing of world renown composer Sean Shepherd. By exclusive agreement, Boosey & Hawkes now represents Shepherd's existing catalogue of orchestral and chamber music as well as future works worldwide.

Says Zizi Mueller, Senior Vice President, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.: "We're delighted that this rising young American composer has joined the Boosey & Hawkes roster. "At a young age, Sean has accomplished a skillful compositional style over several genres, and inhabits a musical language that is deeply felt, complex and dynamic. We look forward to introducing him to generations of new audiences, alongside Boosey's catalogue of great composers."

Says Sean Shepherd: "For me, joining the roster of Boosey & Hawkes house composers, long a select group of the world's definitive musical voices, is a rare privilege and a special responsibility. I am deeply touched by this organization's commitment to and enthusiasm for my work, and I am gratified to welcome them as collaborative partners on my artistic path for many years to come."

Composer Sean Shepherd's "kaleidoscopic use of orchestral color" (The New York Times) has earned him admiration and recognition across the US and Europe. His recent works are scheduled for performances at the New World, BBC, and National symphonies, at festivals in Aldeburgh, Santa Fe, and La Jolla, and with chamber ensembles such as the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin and Amsterdam's Asko
Schönberg Ensemble. As the 2011-2012 Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow of the Cleveland Orchestra, he will participate in rehearsals, masterclasses, and educational activities in the Northeast Ohio community, take part in the orchestra's Miami residency, and compose a new work that will be premiered during the Cleveland Orchestra's 2012-2013 season. Shepherd will also continue his post as the first-ever Composer in Residence of the Reno Philharmonic, his hometown orchestra, which is performing two new works by the composer under Music Director Laura Jackson.

Shepherd's Wanderlust, for which The Times (UK) lauded his "[use of] a profuse orchestral palette," was premiered in 2009 with the Cleveland Orchestra, and will once again bring him to Severance Hall with Franz Welser-Möst in 2012. Wanderlust will also be performed by the National Symphony Orchestra in November 2011, with Oliver Knussen at the podium. In early 2012, Shepherd will see performances of two new commissioned works: one for the Ensemble Intercontemporain and conductor Susanna Mälkki, which will receive premieres in Paris and Cologne, and another for the Claremont Trio at the opening of the new concert hall at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In 2010, New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert led the world premiere of These Particular Circumstances, commissioned by the ensemble for the inaugural new music series CONTACT!, to much critical acclaim.

Shepherd has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 2009 triennial Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2008 Deutsche Bank Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, and first-prize in the 2005 International Lutoslawski Award. He has attended masterclasses at Tanglewood (2005), Aspen (2006), and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme (2007), and held a composer residency in the Fall of 2007 at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. Shepherd has been honored with additional awards from organizations such as the Sue Knussen Composers Fund, ASCAP, and the National Society of Arts and Letters.

Originally from Reno, Nevada, and now residing in New York City, Shepherd's (b.1979) graduate studies include a Master's degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with composer Robert Beaser, and doctoral work at Cornell University with Roberto Sierra and Steven Stucky. Shepherd also holds degrees in composition and bassoon performance from Indiana University. Also active as a writer on music, his commentary has appeared in Playbill, WQXR's Q2 online blog, and on the American Music Center's NewMusicBox website.

For further biographical materials and works information, please visit www.boosey.com/shepherd

Photo credit: Jamie Kingham

Orchestral offerings from Australia's finest

1 Australia is a land of diversity and this is reflected in the breadth of works written by Australian composers. The works of our great composers cover a range of colours, textures and styles that have enthralled audiences both here and abroad. Here’s a selection of new and existing Australian works to consider for your next program. BRETT DEAN The Lost Art of Letter Writing For violin and orchestra 38 minutes 3(I,III=picc,II=afl).2(I,II=corA).2(II=bcl).bcl.2(II=dbn)-4.2.ttrbn.btrbn.1-timp(=sm bells,toy bells etc).perc(4):I=marimba/steel dr/3susp.cym/med water gong/sm bells/toy bells etc; II=marimba/steel dr/3susp.Chin cym/sm tam-t/2tgl/rain maker/TD(or lg tom-t)/sm bells/toy bells etc; III=vib/glsp/3susp.cym/sizzle cym/tam-t/4tuned gongs/water gong(med-sm)/sm bells/toy bells etc; IV=glsp/crot(2octaves)/tamb/1tuned gong/sm water gong/BD/pedal DB/4tom-t/SD/hi-hat/t.bells/sm bells/toy bells etc-harp-pft(prepared)-upright pft(=cel)-strings(14.12.10.8.6) Each movement is prefaced by an excerpt from a 19th Century letter of one kind or another, ranging from private love-letter to public manifesto. Each title refers to the place and year the letter was written. The violin plays the alternate roles of both an author and a recipient of letters, but perhaps more importantly, the solo part conjures something of the mood of each of the different letters. ROSS EDWARDS Symphony No.5 (The Promised Land) For orchestra and children's choir 35 minutes 3.3.3.0 – 4.3.3.1 – timp., harp, pno/cel. – perc (3) – strings – children' s choir – recorded sounds on CD (Text by David Malouf) MATTHEW HINDSONDangerous CreaturesSuite for orchestra 23- 25 minutes picc.1.1.ca.2.1.cbsn - 4.2.2.btrbn.1 - timp - perc(2): tam-t/BD with foot ped/tom-t/BD/susp.cym/glsp/c.bell/drum kit/2 SD/vibraslap/2 mcas/wind chimes/shell chimes/bamboo chimes/bowed cym/vib/crash cym/tgl/whip/floor tom/flexatone/ hi-hat - harp - strings A contemporary take on Carnival of the Animals with nine movements including ‘Snakepit’, ‘Ants’, ‘Jellyfish’, ‘Rhinoceros Tango’ and ‘Big Black Bear’ (Movements can be performed separately.  Optional narrator’s part or own narration permitted). Great for kid’s concerts or just for fun! ELENA KATS-CHERNIN Wild Swans - Wild Swans Suite Suite from the ballet for orchestra 30 minutes picc.2.2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).alto sax.2-2.2.2.1-perc(2)-harp-pft(=cel)-soprano solo-strings This Suite includes the mesmerising Eliza’s Aria which has taken on a life of its own in the advertising world in the UK. A work of diversity, it roams through 200 years of musical genres, ranging from Hungarian Operetta through folk music and even including the influences of jazz and popular music. BRUCE ROWLAND Man from Snowy River 15 minutes 3.1.0.3.0.1.0 / 3.3.3.1 / 1.3.0.1.0 / 1 - strings This iconic Australian work is one of Bruce Rowland’s best known pieces. The soundtrack achieved double platinum status and won an AFI award. PETER SCULTHORPE Earth Cry For Orchestra with optional didjeridu Duration 11 minutes 2.2.2.2.cbsn - 4431 - timp - perc(3): tam-t/ch.cym/bongos/3 tom-t/BD - strings - (optional didjeridu - 2 insts required in Db & A) Commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Earth Cry evokes the sounds and feelings of the Australian outback. Kakadu For Orchestra with optional didjeridu Duration 15 minutes 2.2.ca.2.2.cbsn - 4431 - timp - perc(3): tam-t/beijing gong/susp.cym/cyms/BD/ bongos /3 tom-t/2 congas -strings The work takes its name from the Kakadu National Park in northern Australia. This enormous wilderness area stretches from coastal tidal plains to rugged mountain plateaux, and in it may be found the living culture of its Aboriginal inhabitants, dating back for fifty thousand years. Sadly, today there are only a few remaining speakers of kakadu or gagadju. In three parts, the outer sections are dance-like and energetic, sharing similar musical ideas. The central section is somewhat introspective and is dominated by a cor anglais solo. Apart from this solo, the melodic material in Kakadu was suggested by the contours and rhythms of Aboriginal chant. CARL VINE V Fanfare for orchestra 5 minutes 2(II=picc).2.2(II=bcl).2(II=cbsn) - 4221 - timp - perc(2): xyl/glsp/wdbl/tgl/cyms/susp.cym/tam-t/SD/BD – strings The "V" of this title refers to the Roman numeral, and hence to the five minute duration of this little orchestral fanfare. Five minutes of music, even for orchestra, doesn't seem to warrant a much longer title, nor, for that matter, a longer program note. "V" was commissioned by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and first performed by that orchestra conducted by Richard Divall on 22nd February, 2003. Descent Symphonic poem for orchestra 12 minutes 2(II=afl+picc).2(II=ca).2(II=bcl).1.cbsn - 4221 - timp- perc(3): 2 tam-t/2 anvil/SD/glsp/cyms/t.bell/bell tree/susp.cym/3 tom-t/BD - harp – strings The work is called Descent not just because the Workers live deep beneath the city, but also because of the relentless darkness of their lives. Their one ray of light turns out to be a chimera, and the only time in their lives they rise to the surface of the city it is with the sole intention of destroying everything in their path. Although their journey is one of ascension, as they near their goal they are overtaken by the lowest human instincts of anger, hate and retribution. As their bodies rise, their spirits are in hopeless descent. We would like to offer you the chance to win a Manhasset Directors Stand. Manhasset Music Stands are simply the best music stands in the world and are the longest lasting and most durable music stands in production today. Unique features include: Glare-free powder coating and a black textured finish resistant to scratches and chipping. Strong aluminium, lightweight desks. Constant tension at any tilt position delivered by the no-knob friction-tilt neck. The original “Magic Finger Clutch” solid-brass bearings, greaseless heavy-duty chrome inner shaft, to allow one-hand friction grip. Secure at any height, even with a heavy load of music. Stability provided by the heavy-gauge, all-steel welded base Guaranteed for 10 years. How to enter: Simply visit our Facebook page “Like” us and email your full name, organisation/school name and your contact phone number to ausclassical@halleonard.com.au to be in the draw to win. Entries close March 25th. All respondents will receive a copy of the Manhasset Quality Guide. If you haven’t yet “Liked” our Facebook page, now is the time to do so! In April we will be holding a “Free Give Away” week. Every day for a week we will be giving away classical books, CD’s, scores and much more. “Like” our page now so you don’t miss out! If you require information about Rates and Fees, publishers we represent or application forms please visit our website: http://www.halleonard.com.au/ Alternatively you can contact us at: ausclasscial@halleonard.com.au

Choral Resource Guide is now available!

We are pleased to announce that the 2011 Choral Resource Guide  is now available to download from our website. This guide lists all the latest choral releases from our extensive catalogue of publishers as well as timeless classics. There is sure to be something suitable for your group, no matter the size or experience - a valuable resource for any choral director! To further assist with your programming we have the                              following wonderful CD samplers available. (While Stocks Last) Boosey & Hawkes represents a wealth of respected and new choral works suitable for schools right through to the professional vocal ensemble from a range of talented international composers. An excellent reference for any choir, this CD sampler features works from masterful choral composers including MacMillan, Britten, Rorem, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Copland, Delius and more. And by Karl Jenkins... Composer of the million-selling album Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, Karl Jenkins trained as a classical musician at Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music in London. A recent survey shows that Karl Jenkins is now the most performed living composer in the world.  for contralto solo, SATB chorus and orchestra A poem set in Latin and English, a universal depiction of grief with texts- some of which originated outside the Western European tradition. for chorus & orchestra Jenkins combines the traditional Latin movements with Japanese inspired themes described as “…the ultimate in postmodern Requiems…” by Music Week for chorus and orchestra This work has firmly established itself as one of the most successful choral works of our time, with over 1000 performances in more than 20 countries, and close to 70,000 vocal scores sold to date. To receive one of the above FREE CD Samplers  please email ausclassical@halleonard.com.au with the following details*: • Name of choir, ensemble or school.   • Title of CD samplers required If you haven’t yet “Liked” our Facebook page, now is the time to do so! In April we will be holding a “Free Give Away” week. Every day for a week we will be giving away classical books, CD’s, scores and much more. “Like” our page now so you don’t miss out!