New Music Ensemble

About the Program

Program notes by Mark Bilyeu except where noted.

Yaz Lancaster
Gender Envy
Premiered July 27, 2022, Bang on a Can Summer Festival
Duration 7 minutes

Yaz Lancaster is an experimental artist whose practice is grounded in queer, DIY, and liberatory frameworks. Their work utilizes improvisatory forms, electroacoustic composition, sampling/collage, and relational aesthetics. Cultivation of care & intimacy, Marxist praxis, and accessibility are priorities of their artistic ethos.They holds degrees from NYU in both violin & poetry, and perform as violinist, vocalist, electronic musician & steel pannist in a variety of genres and settings. Their poems have appeared in both print & online sources including Potluck Magazine, The Minetta Review, and three self-published collections. “I don't understand why we pay so much just to live,” writes Yaz in the premiere performance recording. The term ‘gender envy’ refers to having envy for an individual’s expression of gender, and can be felt by people of all gender expressions.  

Jiaxin Zhang
As if Waking From a Dream
Composed 2022
world premiere

“It is very interesting to say that I wrote this piece because I rarely dream, or I do not usually realize that I do,” shared Jiaxin Zhang, “so I tried to map reality into the dream, like a parallel dimension, to create the dream world.” The composer crafted the first movement of “As if Waking From a Dream,” with the intention of it being a stand-alone work; within the context of the larger work, it serves not just as the entry point to this dreamworld, but also as a microcosm of the whole, in which we oscillate between wakefulness and a fuzzy consciousness. The second movement offers instruments which act as individual voices, seeking to muddle and confuse, while the third movement collects these divisive voices into one room, seeking a resolution that is more vibrant than oppressive. The final movement echoes the opening, beckoning one to wake from the dream, enter back into reality, where future dreams undoubtedly await. 

Hilá Plitmann
In This Circle
Born August 9, 1973
Composed 2022
Premiered October 9, 2022, The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor, Bates Recital Hall, Austin, TX

Poetry has the power to transform us. In the winter of 2017, my soul was shrouded in darkness, searching for clarity. A beautiful book of Rumi poems, with translation by Coleman Barks fell into my lap. The poems therein led me back on the road of listening to the call of Loveland relearning its path. One particular poem “A Community of the Spirit “, spoke so personally to my heart that ideas, words, melodies poured out from me in response. The community of Spirit has become a palpable force in my life. Appearing in the form of two angels for IN THIS CIRCLE- Professor Jerry Junkin, who took a chance, and with wisdom and gentle guidance gave the work the time, space and support it required; and Christopher Drew Dickey, whose collaboration on the piece has been an immeasurable gift. Crystalline and effortless understanding bloomed organically between Drew and Was to what we wish the piece to convey. Drew’s brilliant orchestration allow all the hidden within to be revealed and brought to life, growing the seeds that had awakened inside me into a magnificent tree. 

– Hilá Plitmann

Steven Bryant
Hummingbird
Born May 28, 1972 Little Rock, Arkansas
Composed 2003
Duration 4 minutes

Steven Bryant Steven studied composition with John Corigliano at The Juilliard School, Cindy McTee at the University of North Texas, and Francis McBeth at Ouachita University.  His seminal work Ecstatic Waters, for wind ensemble and electronics, has become one of the most performed works of its kind in the world, receiving over 250 performances in its first five seasons. In 2015, the orchestral version was premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra. The son of a professional trumpeter and music educator, he strongly values music education, and his creative output includes a number of works for young and developing musicians. “Hummingbird is a happy, lively little piece I wrote over one weekend,” wrote Bryant in his introduction to the work, “primarily as a test drive of a new piece of software, Melodyne. Every sound in the entire piece is from my own voice (I didn’t use any synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, etc.). I’d never attempted anything quite like this before, and found it incredibly fun to do.”
 

Hilá Plitmann & Drew Dickey
The Wish
Composed 2024
world premiere 

When I moved to Austin, Drew Dickey and I sat and talked about life, kids, the state of things. This was in May 2024, and much in the way of civil conversation about any number of matters in which people tend to take different ‘sides’ felt frayed and volatile. As happens often between us, the discussion centered on the depths of what Drew and I wish for the world: to see the bridge of gentleness and interconnection form in the midst of any conflict and disagreement. We decided to collaborate once again, and wrote The Wish together over the summer months. The work speaks of the essence of divisiveness, and of giving voice to the hope in us all that—in the midst of fear— is oftentimes kept silent. The Wish seeks to uncover our commonality, and open the windows of love, peace and resolution that reside within. A cycle in four movements, The Wish is commissioned and premiered by the New Music Ensemble, under the direction of Marc Sosnowchik.

– Hilá Plitmann
 

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About the Artists

Hilá Plitmann

Two-time Grammy Award-winning soprano, songwriter, and actress Hilá Plitmann is known for opera, concert, film, and theater performances filled with emotionally-charged fearlessness, unique expressivity, and mesmerizing drama. She rose to prominence after premiering a work by Del Tredici with the New York Philharmonic just one year after graduating from Juilliard – on only two weeks’ notice – and has since become a frequent soloist on major stages across the world. Widely-recognized as one of today’s foremost interpreters of contemporary music, she regularly performs new works by a diverse array of composers, as well as traditional repertoire, and boundary-pushing projects in non-classical genres. With jazz guitarist Shea Welsh and tabla virtuoso Aditya Kalyanpur, she co-founded global music project Renaissance Heart. Her tour-de-force role in Eric Whitacre’s groundbreaking electro-musical Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wingsat Pasadena’s Boston Court Theatre, involving singing, acting, dancing, and martial arts, won her a nomination as “Best Actress in a Musical” from the Los Angeles Ovation Awards and L.A. Ticketholder Awards. She leads innovative residencies and workshops at campuses across the U.S., bringing diverse pedagogical methods combining technical focus, tools and approaches for connecting, and a sense of inner confidence, mindfulness, centering, and presence.

Tyler Ehrlich

Tyler Ehrlich (he/him) serves as an assistant instructor and doctoral candidate in wind conducting at The University of Texas at Austin. In this role, he assists with conducting and administrating the university’s concert bands, athletic bands, new music ensemble, and conducting and wind literature courses. Tyler also curates and hosts 89.5 KMFA’s From the Butler School, a weekly program that brings student and faculty performances to the station’s 100,000 weekly listeners. Tyler previously lived in Atlanta, Georgia where he served as conductor of the Emory University Wind Ensemble, director of bands at Decatur High School, and associate conductor of the Atlanta Wind Symphony. He has given invited talks on topics including exoticism, pedagogy, and interpretation at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference, the College Band Directors National Association National Conference, and the Texas and Georgia Music Educators Conferences. Ehrlich has a Master of Music degree from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Cornell University. He lives with his partner Brent and their dog Milo. Tyler’s website is tylerehrlich.com.

Drew Dickey

Christopher Drew Dickey serves as Associate Director of the Longhorn Band and as Assistant Director of Bands at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his appointment at Texas, Dr. Dickey also serves as the Music Design Coordinator with the Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps in Diamond Bar, California and on the brass instructional staff with The Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps in Canton, Ohio. Prior to his current appointments, Dr. Dickey held positions at The South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University and Southwood Academy of the Arts, spending a number of years as an educator and administrator in the public schools. He holds the degrees of Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the University of Texas, Master of Music in Music Education from the Ithaca College School of Music, Master of Music in Wind Conducting from Louisiana State University, and Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of South Carolina  

Jiaxin Zhang 

Jiaxin Zhang is currently pursuing her doctor of musical arts degree in composition at the University of Texas at Austin, under the guidance of professors Donald Grantham and Januibe Tejera. As a composer, Jiaxin has composed music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo, microfilm, dance, and commercials. She seeks to discover the sonic potentialities of acoustic instruments and explore the intersection between eastern and western instruments. Traditional Chinese music, architecture, painting, and other art forms are the main inspiration for her works. Influenced by electronic and spectral music, she is currently experimenting with interdisciplinary collaborations, utilizing multimedia to interpret her musical ideas. As a performer, Jiaxin is enthusiastic about bringing toy instruments onto the stage, her goal is not only to produce new sounds but also to resonate deeply with people by rekindling nostalgic memories of their first encounters with music. Jiaxin graduated from the Hartt School with a master’s degree in composition, where she studied composition and electronic music with Robert Carl, Anthony Green, and Kyle Grimm. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in composition from Xinghai Conservatory of Music in China. 

Marc Sosnowchik

Dr. Marc Sosnowchik is a conductor, educator, arranger, and clinician based in Austin, Texas. His current duties as Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Texas include conducting the New Music Ensemble and Concert Bands, instructing courses in conducting and wind literature, and teaching the Longhorn Bands. Before his appointment at UT, Dr. Sosnowchik served as Associate Director of Bands at the University of South Florida, Assistant Director of Bands at Oklahoma State University, and Associate Conductor of the Florida Wind Band.  Dr. Sosnowchik maintains an active schedule as a clinician, conductor, and arranger. He conducts ensembles throughout the U.S., and in the summer teaches at the World Youth and Adult Wind Orchestra Projects as part of the Mid-Europe Festival in Schladming, Austria.  Dr. Sosnowchik earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Alabama, and both his master’s and doctoral degrees in conducting from The University of Texas at Austin.

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New Music Ensemble

Violin
Mei Liu
Summer Bradshaw

Viola
Ying-Chen Chen

Cello 
Yilin Xu
Double Bass
Rosemary van de Lint

Flute
Eunha Kim

Oboe
Rachel Marquez 
Mary Creel

Clarinet
Nathan Richey

Bassoon        
Mallory Mahoney

Saxophone
Marina Sakellakis

Horn
Chia-Ling Chiang

Trumpet
Paladino, William

Tenor Trombone
Arsene Bien-Aime

Bass Trombone
Luis Cadena

Euphonium
Shelby Burton

Tuba
Mason Clark

Percussion
Caroline Richards
Justin Cooperman

Harp
Ahmann Tate

Keyboard
Tim Jones

Graduate Assistant
Mojgan Misaghi

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