Heralded as “A Composer to Watch” by the New York Times, Kenji Bunch has quickly emerged as one of the most prominent American composers of his generation, appealing to audiences and performers alike with a distinctive, vibrant voice in contemporary American music. As one of only three composers selected nationwide to inaugurate the Meet the Composer Magnum Opus Project, Bunch wrote his Symphony No. 1: Lichtenstein Triptych (2004), which was premiered to critical acclaim by the Bay area symphonies of Santa Rosa, Marin, and Oakland. Watch a performance of Kenji Bunch's Suite for Viola and Piano (1999) performed by violist Barbara Sudweeks and pianist Steve Harlos . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC.

Virgil Thomson was the original multi-faceted elder statesman of American composers, as well as an esteemed music critic. He was particularly famous for his two operas in collaboration with Gertrude Stein, Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and its sequel, The Mother of Us All (1947), about Susan B. Anthony, which together became a landmark of American musical theater. He was also among the first major American composers to write music for films. Among his most famous scores are the Louisiana Story (1948), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, and The Plough That Broke the Plains (1936). He also presided over the American musical scene from 1940 to 1954 as the insightful, uninhibited music critic for the New York Herald Tribune. This week at Pytheas we feature Virgil Thomson in two areas. Listen to him discuss his life and music in a fascinating interview with Charles Amirkhanian - our Pytheas COMPOSER PORTRAIT. Then, read about and listen to excerpts from the Albany Records disc Heaven Is Music, featuring choral works by Virgil Thomson - this week's FEATURED RECORDING.

Tilo Medek was born into a family of musicians and grew up in Thuringia, a region of central Germany with a rich musical culture. He studied violin and piano from the age of ten and had an early exposure to contemporary music when he attended the Darmstadt summer school in 1957, participating in classes given by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luigi Nono among others. Medek’s output encompasses works of almost every genre. His interest in the voice is reflected in a wide range of choral music and song cycles, while his instrumental works stretch from solo and chamber pieces to concertos for almost all of the standard concert instruments as well as more unusual offerings such as timpani and marimba, in addition to over thirty orchestral pieces and three ballets. Watch a performance of Medek's Abfahrt einer Dampflokomotive (Departure of a Steam Locomotive) by the Blow Up Flute Ensemble . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.

Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music