International Contemporary Ensemble

Steven Schick, conductor

Kai Wessel countertenor
Noa Frenkel contralto

Chaya Czernowin's Winter Songs is a set of linked compositions written for septets of low instruments. For Czernowin, the cycle “reflects on the aspect of winter that has to do with one being pulled into the cave of one’s interior, into the passivity of long sleep. At the same time, underneath, in the earth, the roots of vitality slowly solidify and start to blindly search for a way between the stones. The composing of the piece took place mostly in the fall and winter of 2003-4, in a period following the passing of a close friend, Mark Randall Osborn, a composer 33 years old at the time of his death.”

Although she studied composition in Tel Aviv, Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin has lived all over the globe, and her work draws upon a rich palette of textures, traditions, and instrumentations. Winter Songs, an ongoing cycle of works for low instruments, “reflects on the aspect of winter that has to do with one being pulled into the cave of one’s interior, into the passivity of long sleep,” she says. In her new work, written for Miller Theatre, Czernowin promises once again to inspire with gorgeous and exotic sonic landscapes.

Conducted by ICE Artist-in-residence Steven Schick, and featuring Kai Wessel, countertenor, and Noa Frenkel, contralto.

Chaya Czernowin:

5 pencil action - sketches (2014) world premiere, Miller Theatre commission
Winter Songs V: Forgotten Light (2014) – world premiere
Winter Songs IV: Wunds/Mistletoe (2013)
Winter Songs III: Roots (2003)