Beautiful, richly textured, lyrical. A total pleasure to listen to.

by Miles Walter (2022)
Aspen Chamber Symphony (majority student orchestra; some faculty alongside), Nicholas McGegan, conductor
World premiere, rec. live July 8, 2022
Commissioned by Aspen Music Festival and School, Robert Spano, Music Director

This is the first movement of a work in progress, a two-movement symphony.

[NB Other than the closing movement, I very well might never write anything that sounds like this ever again... but it was a joy to write, and I somehow feel that the way the architecture unites in the latter half of the movement justifies the borrowings and anachronisms of the whole... but I do feel a bit self-conscious about this one, it's an odd pet project!]

[Walter] Symphony (2022), I. Broad, in flexible tempo

premiered 4/16 at Duncan Recital Hall - Houston, TX
conductor: Molly Turner
piano: Wesley Ducote

flute: Megan Torti
clarinet/bass clarinet: Justin Best
oboe: Julia Simpson
bassoon/contrabassoon: Kipras Mazeika
horn: David Tarté
trumpet: Ansel Norris
trombone: Caleb Knight
percussion: Erin Graham, Brandon Lim
violins: Francesca Bass, Likai He
viola: Sebastian Stefanović
cello: Jaeyoung Chong
bass: Jesse Fischer

Piano Concerto

Premiered by the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra under Hugh Wolff, August 14, 2019 at Benedict Music Tent, Aspen

Program note:

	“On Its Way” is an orchestra piece commissioned for the Jacob Druckman Prize of the Aspen Music Festival. This kinetic composition shows the vivid color of something often overlooked as grey and mundane: a life in transit, actions existing seemingly only for the purpose of a final destination. Pondering on the oversimplified idea of a final stop brings one to realize that the commute never stops—there is always something to wait for, always somewhere to be. Coupled with this year’s theme, “Being American”, the endless exploration towards a different, novel place is an element that is indelible in the history here. The work, and most importantly, the spirit of American composers show that the music here is no different than its history—it is one continuous path of evolution, never ceasing to find an ultimate conclusion. Striving to capture the beauty of movement, “On Its Way” brings excitement and energy to the wait.

On its way (2019)

Jack Lawrence: guitar
Miles Walter: piano
Max Vinetz: bass, composer
Griffin Brown: drums

fives

Leo Sussman, flute
Jasper Dutz, bass clarinet
Jasmine Lavariega, horn
Miles Walter, piano
Alec Goldfarb, electric guitar
Madeline Ehlinger, soprano
Leah Asher, violin
Meaghan Burke, cello
Paul Mortilla, conductor

The text is a poem entitled "Reunion," written by the composer.

Engineered and mixed by Alessandra Roubini at Good Child Music, Brooklyn, NY in February and October 2019.

Reunion

Presently working on:
-30-minute solo work for Bertrand Chamayou (Venice Biennale)
-duo for vibraphone and marimba (consortium, Zach Gutierrez and Jacob Gutierrez, lead commissioners) 

lover of all kinds of music | Composer, pianist in many styles 

-Current PhD candidate, King's College London (but still in and out of Brooklyn, NY)
-MM '20 Yale School of Music (Composition)
-BA '18 Yale College (Music)
- New Hampshirite... born/raised in Keene NH

Some additional stuff lives here (incl. score-videos):
https://www.youtube.com/@milesvwalter

BIO:
American composer and pianist Miles Walter’s music, praised as “densely contrapuntal” and for its "churning, Romantic-era-infused harmonies'' (Aspen Times), has been commissioned and performed by (among others) the Venice Biennale, Bertrand Chamayou, Aspen Music Festival and School, Yale Percussion Group, New York Virtuoso Singers, Argento Ensemble, Ensemble Lontano, and Merz Trio, and has received awards from BMI, AMFS, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. As a pianist, Miles is an avid collaborator and chamber musician, and has worked with artists and ensembles including Rolston, Callisto, and Isidore Quartets, Cantata Profana, icarus Quartet, Orchestra New England (world-premiere Ives recordings on Naxos), choreographer Jennifer Jancuska (Hamilton) & the BringAbout, New Chamber Ballet, and Mark Morris Dance Group. Committed to an eclectic and wide-ranging performance practice, he has premiered over four dozen works by his peers, students, and mentors alike, and plays fluently in numerous non- and semi-notated styles, in- and outside the concert hall. Miles holds a BA and an MM from Yale, where he studied Piano with Wei-Yi Yang and Composition with Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis, and David Lang. Further studies and festival credits include Norfolk, Ostrava Days, Bowdoin, and Prussia Cove. Miles is presently a PhD candidate at King’s College London, where he studies with Sir George Benjamin.

[Walter] Symphony (2022), I. Broad, in flexible tempo

Miles Walter

Recent comments

ava and the lemon seeds

Fred Leventhal

Joel Thompson Music

ava and the lemon seeds

Related tracks