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You are here: Home / Archives for Mason Bates

Mason Bates

Santa Fe Opera to premiere Bates/Campbell The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs

August 7, 2015 by Bill

Composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell collaborate on an original opera based on the life of one of the greatest innovators of our time in a new production

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SANTA FE, NM – General Director Charles MacKay announced today Santa Fe Opera’s next commission, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which will have its world premiere in 2017 as a part of the company’s 61st season. The opera will be composed by Mason Bates, one of America’s most acclaimed and popular composers, with an original libretto by Mark Campbell, who was the librettist for the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Silent Night. This will be Bates’ first produced opera. Stage Director Kevin Newbury, who brought both Theodore Morrison’s Oscar (2013) and Lewis Spratlan’s Life is a Dream (2010) to the stage in Santa Fe, will be joined by Michael Christie, Music Director for Minnesota Opera, who makes his company debut leading the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra.

“Riding on the heels of Jennifer Higdon and Gene Scheer’s Cold Mountain, which received both audience and critical acclaim at its world premiere on Saturday, it is a thrill to announce Santa Fe Opera’s next major commission, “ said General Director Charles MacKay. “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs will mark the Company’s 15th world premiere, continuing the tradition of producing work that pushes the boundaries of the art form. We are delighted to take this journey into the life and legacy of a distinctly American figure through the creative genius of Mason Bates and Mark Campbell.”

MORE ABOUT THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs is a new opera that examines the life of one of the most fascinating figures of our time; an innovator who simplified communication with sleek devices, but who paradoxically learned that complex human relationships require more than one button to work. The opera starts at a moment in Jobs’ life when he must face his own mortality and circles back to the events and people in his past that shaped and inspired him: his father Paul, Zen Buddhism, his relationship with a woman whose child he initially disowned, his quick rise and fall as mogul, and – most importantly – his wife Laurene, who showed him the power of love and connection. The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs seeks to capture the buzzing creative realm of Silicon Valley with a kinetic electro-acoustic score, lush vocal writing, a compelling non-linear narrative, and a production as innovative as the man himself.

“Santa Fe Opera’s impact on the creation and dissemination of new opera is simply astonishing, and I’ve been so thankful to visit several times over the past ten years,” said composer Mason Bates. “The superb productions of works new and old, combined with the stunning setting, have made it an essential pilgrimage for me. I’m honored to bring the story of Steve Jobs to this wonderful house and look forward to many more visits in the course of its creation.”

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs is librettist Mark Campbell’s first collaboration with composer Mason Bates: “Mason’s brilliance at infusing the orchestra with electronica makes him uniquely poised to create a score for this opera that will evoke the innovative and mercurial nature of its subject,” said Campbell. “Audiences at Santa Fe Opera will be treated to a new kind of energy coming from the stage and the pit.” This production also signifies Campbell’s tertiary collaborations with both director Kevin Newbury and conductor Michael Christie, who with composer Kevin Puts, most recently collaborated on The Manchurian Candidate for Minnesota Opera.

This commission will receive its first workshop in San Francisco (September 2015) in collaboration with Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, and with additional support from San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Workshops play a key role in the commissioning process of Santa Fe Opera, illuminating what works well dramatically and musically, and allowing both composer and librettist to test their ideas before the work reaches the stage.

Filed Under: Mark Campbell, Mason Bates Tagged With: opera

Kennedy Center names Mason Bates as their First Composer in Residence

January 28, 2015 by Bill

One of today’s most innovative and in-demand composers, Mason Bates will join the Kennedy Center in the 2015-2016 Season as its first Composer-In-Residence. During his three-year residency, Bates will compose music across artistic genres and curate a new music series. He will also advance initiatives that use technology to educate audiences and will encourage the inclusion of local artists and DJs in performances at the Kennedy Center. The new music concerts will present the works of living composers using Bates’s signature re-imagining of the classical music experience. His innovative ideas have been extremely effective at bringing large and enthusiastic audiences to new music concerts throughout the United States and abroad.

Mason’s compositions use an expanded electro-acoustic palette to bring to life unusual and imaginative narrative forms, a uniquely 21st century approach to musical storytelling. He was recently named the second-most performed living composer, and the widespread embrace of his music has done much to change the sound of the orchestra. When he received the Heinz medal in the Humanities in 2012, Teresa Heinz said of Mason’s work:

“Mason Bates illustrates what can happen when a truly talented artist dares to stretch and even reinvent the boundaries of an art form. By merging symphonic orchestration with electronic sound and tackling broad creative themes, he is breathing new life into orchestral music and translating it for a new generation.”

Under the new vision of President Deborah F. Rutter, the Kennedy Center is re-imagining ways of presenting the arts in the 21st century through immersive audience engagement and inter-disciplinary programming. The artist’s creative vision will be at the center of the dialogue between the Kennedy Center and its patrons, allowing audiences to experience the vibrancy of the creative process more directly. By presenting new art to new audiences in new ways, Mason Bates will initiate a new era of creative programming at the Kennedy Center that will advance the Center’s ambition of discovering and nurturing the next generation of artistic expression.

Planned Kennedy Center commissions over the course of Bates’s residency include works for the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, and performances of his contemporary dance programming. He will also be featured as a performer at many Kennedy Center performances across genres.

Read the Washington Post announcement here.

Filed Under: HomePage, Mason Bates

Joshua Roman premieres Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto

December 17, 2014 by Bill

Mason Bates, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla (conductor) and Joshua Roman (cello)

Mason Bates, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla (conductor) and Joshua Roman (cello)

Joshua Roman, the former 22-year-old principal of the Seattle Symphony, returned as soloist in December to give the premiere of Mason Bates’ new Cello Concerto. The Seattle Times writes “Bates’ history in techno music is evident in the strong rhythmic pulse of the concerto, which culminate in a fast-moving ‘Leger’ finale that starts off as a high-spirited jig and moves on to passages of phenomenal dexterity.”

The Seattle Times Review

Filed Under: HomePage, Mason Bates

Mason Bates’ Orchestra Performances at All-time High

October 29, 2014 by Bill

The Baltimore Symphony surveyed the 2014/15 season and prepared some fascinating statistics on programming. Mason Bates soars to the top as the second most performed living composer. Among the information they collected is the news that works by living composers amount to 11.4% of all works performed.

You can view the complete statistics here.

Beethoven still gets more performances, but he’s had quite a head start.

Filed Under: HomePage, Mason Bates

UBC Wind Ensemble performs Bates’ MOTHERSHIP

December 26, 2012 by Bill

The University of British Columbia performed Mothership in the wind ensemble version, conducted by Robert Taylor, with solos for clarinet, ukulele, violin and cello.

Filed Under: Mason Bates Tagged With: Band, Wind Ensemble

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