Michael Hersch
MEDEA - (excerpt 1)
Libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann
Sarah Maria Sun, soprano
Schola Heidelberg
Bas Wiegers, conductor
Ensemble Musikfabrik
live performance - June 3, 2023
Commissioned by Ensemble Musikfabrik and Kunststiftung NRW
PROGRAM NOTE (in German, with English language libretto included)- https://www.musikfabrik.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MUFA22822-WDR-Programm-85-230511.pdf
PROGRAM NOTE (English Translation) - https://michaelhersch.com/works/program/MEDEA.html

MEDEA - (excerpt 1)

The work of composer Michael Hersch has been described by The New York Times as “viscerally gripping and emotionally transformative music ... claustrophobic and exhilarating at once, with moments of sublime beauty nestled inside thickets of dark virtuosity,” The Baltimore Sun as “work of great originality, daring, and disturbing power,” and The Washington Post as "spare, intense, fiercely inward-turning." Recent performances include those at the Aldeburgh Festival, Ojai Festival,  Lucerne Festival, and Avanti Festival; the New York City premiere of Zwischen Leben und Tod at the newly established National Sawdust, and new productions in Chicago (Ensemble Dal Niente) and Salt Lake City (NOVA Chamber Music Series) of his monodrama, On the Threshold of Winter. Over the past several years, Hersch has written works for Ensemble Klang, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Alban Berg Ensemble Wien, and the Library of Congress. Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja commissioned both his Violin Concerto, which premiered in 2015, and his chamber work ... das Rückgrat berstend, which premiered in 2017. She recently recorded the concerto with the International Contemporary Ensemble (I.C.E.), and the duo with cellist Jay Campbell. Other recent recordings include his Images from a Closed Ward with the FLUX Quartet on New Focus, and Black Untitled on Ensemble Klang Records. In 2019/20, Mr. Hersch will be  Composer-in-Residence with the Camerata Bern in Switzerland.

Known for his compelling, expressive and socially aware music, Puerto Rican composer Julio Elvin Quiñones writes works that are imbued with visceral gestures, intuition and represent every aspect of his identity.

His music has been performed by many ensembles like the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico’s Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band, the Omnibus Ensemble, the JACK Quartet, loadbang, Ensemble Dal Niente and Talea Ensemble; additionally he’s also been performed by known soloists: Katsyarina Shaposhka, James Alexander, Hakeem Davison and Katherine Needleman. 

Julio is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at the Graduate Center CUNY, having studied with Suzanne Farrin, Jason Eckhardt and Jeff Nichols. He holds a Master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory with Michael Hersch and a Bachelor's Degree from the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico with Alfonso Fuentes.

Richard Drehoff Jr. (b. 1991) is a doctoral student at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University studying composition and music theory. His compositional and research interests explore listeners' perceptions of gesture across time and examine sonic constructions of intimacy and vulnerability within the composer-performer-listener framework.

Richard is the Co-Director of earspace, an ensemble championing the presentation of immersive multimedia performances of diverse works by contemporary composers. His works have been commissioned by the Library of Congress and the New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble and have been performed by groups such as the Mivos Quartet, the ECCE Ensemble, and members of Talea Ensemble. Recent accolades include a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, a composition fellowship from the James Tenney Memorial Symposium, and conference presentations at the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic on works by Galina Ustvolskaya and Pierre Boulez.