The Lexington Philharmonic’s New Music Experiment, in partnership with the CKYO Symphony Orchestra, fosters the next generation of talent by offering young composers the opportunity to receive feedback from professional conductors and musicians, and hear their compositions performed. Works by four young composers have been selected to be work-shopped and performed to the public at LexPhil’s New Music Experiment on April 19, 2015 at 6:00 pm at Bryan Station High School.
43 composers from 35 cities, 21 states and 6 countries (USA, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Germany) submitted works to be considered by LexPhil Music Director and Conductor Scott Terrell and Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Daniel Chetel. From undergraduates to doctoral candidates, diverse backgrounds and levels of education and experience were represented in the applicant pool. The composers selected are Luke Flynn (Butler University) for his work “Quiet Snow”, composer Desmond Ikegwuonu (Forth Worth, TX) for his work “Gaba N’iru”, composer Thomas Schuttenhelm (Hartford, CT) for his work “When the surface should suffice”, and Roydon Tse (University of Toronto) for his work “Jest.”
Under Terrell’s direction, selected composers will hear their works played and receive feedback from participants to further develop their work. The selected compositions will be played by members of the CKYO Symphony Orchestra with LexPhil musicians serving as section leaders. This format is a wonderful opportunity for CKYO students to experience an in-depth intensive experience learning a lot of new music and working with living composers. While rehearsals for the New Music Experiment are private, the final performance of NME selections will be a working recording session which is open to the public on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 6:00 pm in Bryan Station High School’s auditorium.
