See behind music with Classical Evolve
Event presents a look at process of preparing finalists’ pieces
Fans of behind-thescenes opportunities may want to check out Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s Classical Evolve.
The finals of the fourth annual composer competition take place Sept. 22 at Trinity Christian College’s Marg Kallemeyn Theatre inside the Arts & Communication Center in Palos Heights where the stage is in the middle, offering a 360-degree view for the audience.
“I believe it is rare for audiences to be able to witness the process of bringing a piece to life,” said Stilian Kirov, music director of Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Apart from the opportunity for the composers to be there and communicate with the conductor live, the audience can witness this process of communication and witness a little bit of how the orchestra works — what is the process and what are the steps we go through.
“From a conductor’s perspective you never know how things will evolve. Yes, I study the scores and the musicians look at them. We start playing them together for the first time in front of the audience and I have a microphone so people can hear what I say to the orchestra.”
More than 85 compositions were submitted for 2022’s Classical Evolve, which was open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have had no more than two original
compositions performed by a professional orchestra.
“We had a very good pool of participants and extremely talented composers. We always try to give opportunities to three of the brightest. We are very happy with our selections. We have extraordinary young composers who are coming to join us,” said Kirov, of Sarasota, Florida.
“They are very brilliant. They have original ideas. We look for artistic merit in the preselection process. I’m very excited because these three young composers will be quite extraordinary to communicate with. The audience will also have
a chance to learn a little bit about them.
“It’s really a celebration of the future of American music.”
The 2022 finalists are Oswald Huynh, a composer and bassoonist from Portland, Oregon; Aaron Mencher, a composer and doctorate student at the University of California San Diego; and Max Vinetz, a composer and bassist pursuing his doctorate in composition at Princeton University in New Jersey.
Each Classical Evolve finalist will have his new score, which runs 7-10 minutes, workshopped and performed live to the audience.
“Our goal was to give opportunity to young American composers to have a platform to present their works and also within the process to find their voice,” said Kirov, who leads Classical Evolve and conducts the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra musicians performing the finalists’ pieces.
“We wanted a unique structure and to be interactive with our audiences. This is why we created the final rounds to be live in which we select three composers who compose for this particular round. They come in and there is interaction with the orchestra.
“We rehearse the piece live in front of an audience and the second part of the evening is actually the performance of the three works, one after another.”
The winner of the 2022 competition will be decided by one collective audience vote, one collective musicians’ vote, one vote from Kirov and one vote from each of the three judges.
The judges are composers James Stephenson, who has been involved since Classical Evolve’s inception; Hans Thomalla, director of the Institute for New Music at Northwestern University; and Lita Grier; who world premiered “Renascence,” which was co-commissioned by Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1996.
“Classical Evolve was an idea of creating opportunity for one new composer every year to actually be a composer-in-residence and present their works and actually have the opportunity to compose three works for orchestra and be featured in our season,” Kirov said.
“Our mission is to nurture the future of American music by nurturing the music of American composers.”
Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s composer-in-residence for the 2022-23 season is Jonathan Cziner of Dallas, who won 2021’s Classical Evolve and is scheduled to world premiere works during Nov. 12’s Mozart, Haydn & Prokofiev; Feb. 25’s Iyer & Sibelius; and May 13’s Dvorak & Beach concerts.
“Jonathan has a fantastic composition technique,” said Kirov, who is also music director of Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra in California.
“I know that he will make a difference in orchestra and American music in general going forward.”