Go into the rehearsal studio with conductor Brad Lubman and Ensemble Signal as they prepare for their Carnegie Hall concert featuring music by Steve Reich. Preview the New York premiere of Runner and hear Pulse in raw form, without technical equipment or sound reinforcement. Between performances, Reich and Lubman discuss the works, moderated by WNYC's John Schaefer.
Steve Reich's Runner was commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Ensemble Signal, through New Music USA's Commissioning Music/USA program, made possible by generous support from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Helen F. Whitaker Fund; Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley; Washington Performing Arts, with the support of the Library of Congress Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund; and Ensemble Modern, with kind support by the City of Frankfurt am Main.
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Lead funding for Works & Process is provided by The Florence Gould Foundation, The Christian Humann Foundation, Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Caroline M. Sharp and Evelyn Sharp Foundation with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Steve Reich has been called "America's greatest living composer" (Village Voice), "the most original musical thinker of our time" (The New Yorker), and "among the great composers of the century" (The New York Times).
Reich's musical legacy has been influential on 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 color, and also embraces harmonies of non-Western and American vernacular music (especially jazz). His studies have included Balinese gamelan, African drumming (at the University of Ghana), and traditional forms of chanting of the Hebrew scriptures.
Different Trains and Music for 18 Musicians, as well as an album of his percussion works, have earned Grammy Awards, and Double Sextet won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
Reich's documentary video opera works-The Cave and Three Tales, done in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot-have pushed the boundaries of the operatic medium and have been presented on four continents.
Reich's music has been performed by major orchestras and ensembles around the world, including the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics; London, Sydney, San Francisco, Boston, and BBC symphony orchestras; London Sinfonietta; Kronos Quartet; Ensemble Modern; Ensemble Intercontemporain; Ensemble Signal; International Contemporary Ensemble; Bang on a Can All-Stars; Alarm Will Sound; and eighth blackbird. Several noted choreographers have created dances to his music, such as Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Jiří Kylián, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Wayne McGregor, Benjamin Millepied, and Christopher Wheeldon.
Reich was awarded the Gold Medal in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2012. He was named Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, as well as member in the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. His honors include the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo, the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, the BBVA Award in Madrid, the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, the 2016 Nemmers Prize in Music Composition from Northwestern University, as well as the Schuman Award from Columbia University, the Montgomery Fellowship from Dartmouth College, and the Regent's Lectureship at the University of California at Berkeley. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Music in London, the Juilliard School, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and the New England Conservatory of Music, among others.
During the 2017-2018 season, Runner-Reich's new work for large ensemble that debuted at London's Royal Opera House in November 2016-continues to be championed by Ensemble Signal and Brad Lubman, who perform the East coast premiere at the Library of Congress and the New York premiere at Carnegie Hall. Additional season highlights include a production of Three Tales at Wuppertaler Bühnen in Germany, as well as major presentations of his music at the Staatsoper and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Southbank Centre in London, Cité de la Musique in Paris, and the Philharmonie in Cologne.
Born in New York and raised there and in California, Reich graduated with honors in philosophy from Cornell University in 1957. For the next two years, he studied composition with Hall Overton, and from 1958 to 1961, he studied at the Juilliard School of Music with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti. Reich received his master's degree in music from Mills College in 1963, where he worked with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud.
Brad Lubman, conductor/composer is founding Co-Artistic and Music Director of Ensemble Signal. Lubman is one of the foremost conductors of modern music and a leading figure in the field for over two decades. A frequent guest conductor of the world's most distinguished orchestras and new music ensembles, he has gained widespread recognition for his versatility, commanding technique, and insightful interpretations. His flexibility in a variety of settings has led him to conduct a broad range of repertoire from classical to contemporary works, and to direct projects including orchestra, opera, multimedia, and mixed ensemble. Lubman has led major orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Dresden Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, RSO Stuttgart, WDR Symphony Cologne, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Finnish Radio Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, and the National Symphony. In addition, he has worked with some of the most important ensembles for contemporary music, including London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, musikFabrik and Steve Reich and Musicians. His own music has been performed in the USA and Europe, and can be heard on his CD, Insomniac, on Tzadik. Brad Lubman is on faculty at the Eastman School of Music and the Bang on a Can Summer Institute.
Ensemble Signal, described by the New York Times as "one of the most vital groups of its kind," is a NY-based ensemble dedicated to offering the broadest possible audience access to a diverse range of contemporary works through performance, commissioning, recording, and education. Signal was founded by Co-Artistic/Executive Director Lauren Radnofsky and Co-Artistic Director/Conductor Brad Lubman. Since its debut in 2008, Signal has performed over 150 concerts, given NY, world or US premieres of over 20 works, and co-produced 9 recordings. Signal has appeared at Lincoln Center Festival, Walt Disney Concert Hall, BIG EARS, Cal Performances, Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, and Miller Theatre, and has worked with artists including Reich, Lachenmann, Wuorinen, Gordon, Lang, Wolfe and Irvine Arditti. Their recording of Reich's Music for 18 Musicians released in May 2015 on harmonia mundi received a Diapason d'or and appeared on the Billboard Classical Crossover Charts. Throughout 2017-18, they will give the US premieres of a new work for 19 musicians by Steve Reich entitled Runner at venues across the US. Their educational activities include community performances and educational outreach, as well as workshops with emerging composers.
Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Described by The New York Times as "an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process," for over 33 years and in over 500 productions, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Most performances take place in the Guggenheim's intimate Frank Lloyd Wright-designed 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. In 2017, Works & Process established a new residency and commissioning program, inviting artists to create new works, made in and for the iconic Guggenheimrotunda.worksandprocess.org.
