NEOSonicFest - Celebrating Northeast Ohio Composers

The program will feature works of Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer, celebrating her long artistic achievement and influence in Cleveland and around the world. Three works of hers will be featured, including a world premiere, City Life, completed expressly for CCS for this performance.

Also joining CCS on this performance will be the Ohio Contemporary Ballet, a frequent collaborator of CCS.

The works to be performed include:

Margaret Brouwer, Mandala, for chamber orchestra, with the Ohio Contemporary Ballet
Margaret Brouwer, Inner Voices, for chamber ensemble
Margaret Brouwer, City Life, for chamber orchestra, **World Premiere
Donald Erb, Harold’s Trip to the Sky, for chamber ensemble

Mandala was commissioned by The Cleveland Chamber Symphony and received its world premiere by CCS in 2001. Of Mandala, Margaret writes, “It was written during a residency at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire.  While I was there, Tibetan monks spent ten days in the adjoining town of Peterborough creating an intricate sand painting of a mandala.  After about a week, they destroyed the mandala in a ceremony of explanation, chanting and horn blowing.  At some point, I realized that the experience of the mandala was interwoven into the fabric of this piece.  The music is very much constructed in circles that spiral inward.  In addition, because some musicians are positioned in the auditorium, the music travels in circles around the performance space.”

Inner Voices was composed in 2014 and was premiered by the Blue Streak Ensemble.  Margaret describes it as follows: “Scored for flute, female voice, violin, cello, trombone, and piano, Inner Voices is a personal piece exploring inner emotions through musical expression…”

City Life has been newly composed for the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and will be receiving its World Premiere in this performance.

DONALD ERB was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1927. His orchestral music has been played by literally every major orchestra in the United States and by many eminent ensembles in Europe and Australia.