Commissioning Rushes
by Dana Jessen

http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/commissioning-rushes/

As musicians, we frequently talk about the process of composing music. Most often we discuss the various methods a composer goes through to realize his or her work. Yet there is another facet of such an undertaking that often isn’t discussed—the performer’s side of commissioning a large-scale work. On September 15th, six colleagues and I gave the world premiere of Rushes, a new 60-minute composition for seven bassoons by Michael Gordon…

Mantra Percussion’s New York premiere of Timber at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, December 13-15, has been listed as one of the top ten performances for 2012 by Alex Ross (The New Yorker) and Steve Smith (TimeOut New York).

Michael Gordon’s percussion sextet Timber, “six players, six two-by-fours, one hour of aural hypnosis” (TimeOut NY) is toured from Canada to Ireland to Germany and beyond by co-commissioners Slagwerk Den Haag and Mantra Percussion.

• 8 March Muziekgebouw — Amsterdam (SDH)
• 9 March Vancouver New Music — Canada (MP)
• 15 March Maerzmuzik — Berlin (SDH)
• 21 March den Toonzal — Den Bosch, Holland (SDH)
• 7 April Music Biennale Zagreb — Croatia (SDH)
• 30 April TimberRemixed — Brooklyn, NY (MP)
• 4 May Drogheda Arts Festival 2013 — Louth, Ireland (MP)
• 26 May Landgoedconcerten Oranjewoud — Langezwaag, Holland (SDH)

Recognized by The New Yorker Magazine as one of the ten most memorable performances of 2012, Timber is a mesmerizing and unique evening-length work…

On March 25, Cantaloupe Music releases Michael Gordon’s latest CD, Rushes. From March 26 – 29, Michael Gordon’s Rushes, for 7 bassoons, goes on tour in the Northeast culminating in a much-anticipated performance at Peak Performances at Montclair State University.

March 26: Tufts University
March 28: Crane Arts Center
March 29: Peak Performances

Gordon describes the concert-length, mesmerizing work:

Years ago I pursed my lips and blew into a bassoon, and felt the entire instrument buzz as I droned on the very bottom note, a B flat…

When a Critic Hosts the Premiere
[link to article]

Zachary Woolfe
February 14, 2020

“Please silence your cellphones.”

There are few phrases I hear more often in my life as a music critic. But it was strange — like a child playing dress-up — to speak the sentence myself, and in the incongruous setting of my own living room on a rainy evening earlier this week…

The perpetually groundbreaking Kronos Quartet welcomes a once-in-a-lifetime lineup of guest artists and ensembles to celebrate its 50th anniversary at Carnegie Hall, including a preview performance of Michael Gordon’s gfedcba, which receives its world premiere in March by the Kronos Quartet at Cal Performances in Berkeley.