Jennifer Koh Launches "Alone Together"
Violinist Jennifer Koh has launched an online commissioning project and performance series. The series, Alone Together, supports freelance composers during this trying time. 21 composers with salaried positions have agreed to donate new 30-second works for solo violin. Each of these composers has recommended a freelance composer, who will receive a $500 commission fee. The new micro-commissions, developed through this initiative, will be livestreamed every Saturday at 7pm EST, beginning April 4 via Instagram TV (@jenniferkohmusic) and Facebook Live (/jenniferkohviolin).
Classical Post reached out to three of the commissioned composers, inti figgis-vizueta, Cassie Wieland, and Darian Donovan Thomas for statements about participating in Alone Together.
New York-based composer inti figgis-vizueta's music focuses on combinations of various notational schemata, disparate and overlaid sonic plans, and collaborative unlearning of dominant vernaculars. She shares, “Alone Together is an incredibly thoughtful outlet for creativity & collaboration in uncertain times. I’m delighted to pair music with Jen Shyu and work closely with Jennifer Koh in the development of this new piece & poem, quiet city.”
Cassie Wieland is a Brooklyn-based composer whose works “send chills up your spine”. She says, “Although there is a lot of uncertainty right now, I am so grateful for artists like Jenny who are doing what they can to support freelance artists. I am super excited to be working alongside Missy Mazzoli on this project; I have been working for Missy as her assistant for a little over a year now and I look up to her in so many ways, so it means a lot to be able to do this commission together with her.”
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and interdisciplinary artist Darian Donovan Thomas is interested in combining genres and mediums into a singular vocabulary that can express ideas about intersectionality. He shares, “I’m excited about Alone Together for a bunch of reasons. First, I’ve loved Jennifer Koh’s playing for a while now. I get to write for one of the best violinists out there - it’s such an amazing opportunity. I’m also excited to collaborate with Ian Chang (who recommended me). He’s one of my favorite musicians in the world, and we know and trust each other’s intuitions and sound worlds. Add into that the power of Koh’s playing and I think it’s going to be a powerful crystalline moment in all this chaos. To work with others now means more than ever. We get to prove that nothing keeps us from each other - we can work together and create together in the darkest, most uncertain times.”
Leading up to the weekly performances, Koh will share related content including insights from each composer, behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, and each musical score posted on social media.
This week, Koh will premiere Wang Lu’s Hover and Recede; Joungbum Lee’s Hovering Green, Vijay Iyer’s For Violin Alone; and Morgan Guerin’s Together, But Alone (In Quarantine).
Here is the complete composer list, with the commissioned composer on the left, and the recommending/donating composer on the right.
To be announced — Kati Agócs
To be announced — Marcos Balter
To be announced — Du Yun
To be announced — Augusta Gross