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 an incomplete, two-movement symphony.

I might never write anything that sounds like this 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...

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

Any Thing Passes

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 Ale Roubini at Good Child Music, Brooklyn, NY in February and October 2019.

Reunion

La Trace du Papillon pour violon et orchestre (2020)

Violon : Meiko Nakahira
Direction : Pierre Bleuse
Orchestre de la HEM

Jeudi 1er Octobre 2020
Studio Ernest Ansermet, Genève

La Trace du Papillon pour violon et orchestre (2020)

mileswalter.net

Upcoming:

-Orchestra work for London Symphony Orchestra (3', 25/26 Panufnik Scheme Composer)
-Residency with Unsuk Chin, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence (summer 2025)
-Piano quartet commissioned by Classeek, premiere Switzerland, May 2025
-Orchestra work commissioned by Orpheus Sinfonia (UK), 10', premiere June 2025, London

SHORT BIO (2025)

American composer and pianist Miles Walter’s Fantasy for piano solo (2024), a three-movement, 25-minute work commissioned by the Venice Biennale for Bertrand Chamayou, was recently hailed as “evoking the young Messiaen” (Classica) and as “one of the most refreshing piano compositions one has heard in recent times…. Don't forget this name” (Scherzo). Miles’s music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Sinfonia (UK), Aspen Chamber Symphony, Classeek, Argento Ensemble, Lontano Ensemble, New York Virtuoso Singers, Merz Trio, Linos Trio, and Yale Percussion Group, has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and RAI Radio 3, and has received recognition from BMI, Classeek, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. As a pianist, Miles performs fluently and joyfully in numerous styles in and out of the concert hall with many esteemed collaborators. Festival and masterclass credits include Aspen, Norfolk, Bowdoin, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Prussia Cove. Twice graduated from Yale (BA, MM), Miles also holds a piano degree from the Musik-Akademie Basel where he studied with Claudio Martínez Mehner, and is presently pursuing doctoral studies with Sir George Benjamin.