DESCRIPTION:
"Hush" by Tonia Ko

Performed by New Morse Code (Hannah Collins, cello, Michael Compitello, percussion), featured on the new album from New Focus Recordings, “Simplicity Itself.”

http://www.newmorsecode.com/
http://toniako.com/

Buy the album here:
http://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/new-morse-code-simplicity-itself/

Buy the score here:
http://toniako.com/contact

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ABOUT THE PIECE:
Tonia Ko’s “Hush” operates gesturally, and her style is at times reminiscent of the type of sound painting and economy of materials one hears in the work of George Crumb. In the opening movement, “The tongue is but a clapper,” Ko integrates fragments of text from Virginia Wolff’s short story The String Quartet into the musical fabric. The ritualistic middle movement includes brief bursts of dramatic wide vibrato and nervous tremolo figures in the cello accompanied by expansive cymbal rolls. The final movement again allows Collins to show her versatility, this time on a lyrical vocal part that weaves in and out of her cello line and Compitello’s vibraphone.

“Hush” was written for and premiered by New Morse Code.

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MALLETS USED:

#vfM31 - Terry Gibbs Signature Series
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#vfM123 - Robert van Sice Signature Series
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#vfWB - Wire Brush
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ABOUT THE COMPOSER:

The music of Tonia Ko has been lauded by The New York Times for its “captivating” details and “vivid orchestral palette.”  As a composer, she has been commissioned by leading soloists and ensembles, and performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and the Tanglewood, Aspen, and Santa Fe Chamber Music festivals.  Tonia has received grants and awards from Chamber Music America, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, Composers Now, International Alliance for Women in Music, as well as residencies at Copland House, Djerassi, Pocantico Center, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and Atlantic Center for the Arts. She served as the 2015-2017 Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists.

Her interests in texture and physical movement play into a larger theme of interdependency between visual art and music. No matter how traditional or experimental the medium, Tonia's creative work reveals a core that is at once whimsical, questioning, and lyrical. 

Full bio here: http://toniako.com/about/biography/

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ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE:
New Morse Code is devoted to bold and engaging performances of music worth sharing.  Omnivorous, rigorous and inventive, Hannah Collins and Michael Compitello activate the unexpected range and unique sonic world of cello and percussion to catalyze and champion the compelling works of young composers.

To Hannah and Michael, collaboration involves drawing upon mutual influences while generating and refining material together over an extended period of time.  Through close work with colleagues such as pianist-composer Paul Kerekes, steel pan virtuoso and composer Andy Akiho, Hawaiian composer and visual artist Tonia Ko, and Pulitzer Prize-winning violinist/vocalist/composer Caroline Shaw, New Morse Code generates a singular and personal repertoire which reflects both their friends’ creative voices and their own perspectives.  Current projects include collaborations with composers Samuel Carl Adams, Matthew Barnson, Patrick van Deurzen, Stephen Gorbos, and Robert Honstein.

Together, Hannah and Michael were finalists in the 2014 Concert Artists Guild Competition and recipients of a Classical Commissioning Grant from Chamber Music America with composer Christopher Stark.  In addition to developing new repertoire for concert programs, New Morse Code also creates music for larger interdisciplinary projects.

Hannah and Michael are co-directors of the Avaloch Farm New Music Initiative, a summer residency program in Boscawen, New Hampshire designed to provide resources and support for performers and composers collaborating on new works.  Please see avalochfarmmusic.org for more information. They both teach at the University of Kansas.

Full bio here:
http://www.newmorsecode.com/about

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