This concerto, cast in one movement, was first inspired by the sounds of cows in rural Virginia. Initially they were portrayed symbolically by two offstage horns which commingle with the piano soloist, but later I decided to add actual recorded sounds of cows, creating a work that evolves around the American pastoral tradition in a time of environmental upheaval and catastrophe. About 29 minutes.

'Cow' Concerto for Piano and Wind Orchestra

A Kafka Cantata is a monodrama for tenor and ensemble (Pierrot ensemble plus percussion). The piece is framed around Bach's popular Coffee Cantata, to which it creates a kind of modern mirror, in a work that explores the writings and life of Franz Kafka, forming a theatrical piece that is at once both humorous and extremely serious. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette critic ranked it the #1 musical event of the year, after it was premiered there by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble in 1993.

A Kafka Cantata (opening)

Nathan Currier has won such awards as the Rome Prize, Guggenheim, American Academy of Arts & Letters’ Academy Award, Fulbright, NEA, NYFA, Fromm, Ives, and Barlow prizes. In 2008 he was the winner of the International Sackler Prize in Composition. His Possum Wakes from Playing Dead was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, and three of his chamber works have been played at the Berlin Philharmonic. Renowned music critic Tim Page has written that “Currier’s music is often wildly virtuosic,” and that his “engaging, virtuosic and richly inventive works do not fit into any of the pre-fabricated categories that have been set aside to describe composers.” His very first commissioned work, premiered in India, was hailed by the critic there as a “piece of genius,” with the prediction that “the world will hear a lot and drink deep of the creative cup of Nathan Currier.” His one act monodrama A Kafka Cantata was rated the #1 Musical Event of the Year in Pittsburgh by that city’s chief newspaper after its premiere there, and his music has also been broadcast nationally in the U.S. on National Public Radio with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and heard at major musical establishments such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His music is recorded on Chandos, Crystal and New World Records and has been published by Theodore Presser Co. His massive environmental oratorio Gaian Variations, an evening length work, was premiered at Avery Fisher Hall by the Brooklyn Philharmonic on Earth Day, 2004. This work also ties in with a unique aspect of Currier’s career – his strong involvement with climate science and Gaia theory. He has spoken on climate at UNICEF headquarters at the UN, Columbia University, and New York University, among many others, and is a member of Al Gore’s Climate Project, having presented to a total of almost 1,000 people about global warming, ranging from junior high school students to seniors. Currier is also involved with Gaia Theory, and will appear as co-author on an upcoming article, Plate Tectonics and Gaia, with longtime NASA scientist Paul D. Lowman, published by MIT Press. He taught at the Juilliard School between 1990-2001, and recently served on the faculty of the University of Virginia as Visiting Faculty. 

nathancurrier

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