The Floating Lounge is a community-focused, online listening series produced by Spektral Quartet to bring curious listeners together during a time of isolation. Events feature high-quality streaming audio, special guests, and an interactive format that invites listeners to join in on the conversation.
This June 17th, we are pleased to pull back the curtain on two new commissions – Rabbit Hole by Martha Callison Horst and una breve canzone senza parole by Laura Elise Schwendinger – written as homages to their colleague and mentor, Bernard Rands.
Bernard Rands
Chicago is lucky to call the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Bernard Rands one of its own, and we are tenacious in our admiration for his artistry and ingenuity. So when the Chicago Composers’ Consortium approached us about a tribute to his music, we eagerly jumped on board. When live concerts are again possible, 8 new works by C3 composers will be launched out into the world – each inspired by Rands’ new quartet for Spektral.
How are we going to play these quartets for you? By getting creative. Each of us has recorded excerpts of these pieces in our own homes, and we’ve layered them on top of one another to bring you our very first, long-distance performance. We’ll interview Martha and Laura live, digging into what aspects of Bernard’s music motivated their compositions. And because this is a listening party, we’ll drop the needle on some of their best work.
This is a unique collection of talent, gathered in one virtual room, and we can’t wait to share this music with you and hear what you think.
Martha Horst
Martha Horst is a composer who has devoted herself to the performance, creation, and instruction of classical music. Her music has also been performed by musicians and groups such as the Fromm Players, CUBE, Earplay, Alea III, Empyrean Ensemble, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, ~Nois, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Susan Narucki, Left Coast Ensemble, and Dal Niente. Ms. Horst has won the Copland Award, the Symphony Number One Commissioning Prize, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Evolve Contest, the Alea III International Composition Competition, and the Rebecca Clarke International Composition Competition for her work Cloister Songs, based on 18th century utopian poetry. She has held fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Wellesley Composers Conference, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Dartington International School in the UK. Her works have been recorded by the Avanti Trio, Durward Ensemble, Symphony Number One Wind Ensemble, and pianist Lara Downes. While living in San Francisco, Ms. Horst served as a professional member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. She served as a soloist in the PBS presentation of Sweeney Todd starring Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone. Dr. Horst currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at Illinois State University and as composer-in-residence at the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also taught at the University of California, Davis, East Carolina University, and San Francisco State University. She has studied with Ross Bauer, David Rakowski, Mario Davidovsky, Milton Babbitt, and Donald Martino and has degrees in composition from the University of California, Davis and Stanford University.
Laura Schwendinger
Laura Schwendinger is a Professor of Music and Head of Music Composition at UW Madison and the first winner of the Berlin Prize in Music. Her music has been championed by Dawn Upshaw, the Arditti & JACK Quartets, Jenny Koh, Janine Jansen, Matt Haimovitz, ICE, Eighth Blackbird, Lincoln Trio, New Juilliard, Trinity Wall St, American Composers Orchestra, Liszt Chamber Orchestra, NewMusic USA, American League of Orchestras; At Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Berlin Philhaermonic, Wigmore Hall, Théâtre Châtelet, Carnegie Hall, Miller Theater, and the Tanglewood, Aspen, Bennington & Ojai Music Festivals. Her honors include Fellowships from the Guggenheim, Fromm, Koussevitzky Foundations; Chamber Music America, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard Musical Assoc, Copland House, and the MacDowell, Yaddo, Bellagio, and Bogliasco fellowships. She was the1st Prize winner of ALEA III and a recipient of two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, one for “mid-career composers..exceptional talent.” Reviews include a “captivating disc..sketches musical stories of…fragility…purpose”,“darkly attractive, artful..moving”, “evokes serene mystery.. infinite beauty” in the NYT, an “acute sonic imagination, sure command of craft” in the Chic Tribune, and “shrewd composing..genuine article. Onto ''season's best list” in the Boston Globe. About her opera Artemisia, SF Classical voice review read “Artemisia is sumptuous on every level…” Of her Albany CD with the JACK Quartet, Colin Clarke wrote in Fanfare “the sheer intensity of the music…is spellbinding, as if the passion of the composer for her subject shines through like a light.”
This commission of a new quartet by Bernard Rands is made possible through the generosity of Spektral friend, mentor, and all-around shining light of a human being, John Bierbusse.
Spektral Quartet’s programming is supported by our members, our donors, and by the following foundations and organizations:
