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25 Sep  


Odaline de la Martinez has been a force in the London contemporary music scene for many years, as composer, conductor and founder of the ensemble Lontano and the recording label Lorelt.

Busily preparing for the September 30th start of Lontano's Third Festival of American Music, a series of five concerts focusing on contemporary composers, Odaline stopped to talk a bit about her musical background, experience and inspiration.

Tell us something about your background.

I was born in Cuba. My sister and I were sent to the States when we were eleven and were brought up by my aunt and uncle in Tucson, Arizona. Then my mother and brother arrived and I left for New Orleans. I studied at Tulane University and upon graduation received several awards and scholarships that brought me to the UK. I studied at the Royal Academy of Music where I founded Lontano and at University of Surrey where I did a composition MMus with Reginald Smith Brindle.

My early childhood is full of memories of Afro-Cuban drumming and dancing. They have always remained.

How did you start composing and conducting?

I've been composing since I was a young girl. I had pieces performed in high school in Tucson. I wanted to be a conductor since I can remember, but was told (not by my family) that women didn't conduct. It wasn't until I had been with Lontano for 5 or 6 years that I started conducting. Then I studied privately with Jan Harrington, who was conducting professor at Indiana University.

How did you come to settle in the UK?

I was brought here by a Marshall Scholarship from the British Government. Even before I left the Academy Lontano was already recording for the BBC, something quite unusual at the time. So as it happens I stayed.

Tell us something about Lontano and Lorelt.

You read already a little a about how Lontano started while we were students at the RAM, etc. At the time (1976) a lot of good composers like George Crumb, Rochberg and others were completely unknown over here. I also felt that there were many other British composers that were ignored as well. So we decided to concentrate on composers that I felt were original and good. We also began to incorporate the work of many women composers and Latin Americans as well. After all I thought, "I'm a woman, Latin American and a composer. I should be paying lots of attention to them."

Lorelt (Lontano Records Ltd) began in 1992 for similar reasons as Lontano.  I saw really good pieces being recorded and deleted. This happened much too often. By then CDs had begun and it was no longer necessary to print thousands of LPs. You could start out with 1000  CDs and then reprint.

But the point of Lorelt was never to delete a CD and to concentrate on the three categories: contemporary and living composers, women composers and Latin American classical repertoire.

In 2006 when Lontano were 30 years old, we began to offer Digital Downloads on the Lorelt web site. We were also taken on worldwide by an excellent Digital Download Distributor. So we march on.

Which trends and ideas interest you as a composer, and as a conductor?

As a conductor I am open to all trends. I just like good pieces regardless of style. As a composer, I follow my own thing. I came to Europe and the UK looking for the Avant garde and discovered I was not an avant garde composer. Somehow a lot of my works have been written in search for Cuba. The memories of Afro-Cuban music and dancing are always there. And so they find their way into my music.

What is your musical philosophy, or your musical mission?

I don't have a philosophy as such. My mission: to try and do my bit to change the world by promoting music and composers that are in my opinion good and great but that have been neglected for whatever reasons.

Composing happens on its own - it's not attached to any philosophy or mission.

Tell us about the Festival of American Music:  What are some of the Festival's themes and composer connections?

Some of the themes are Latin American composers living in the States, Connections with Pierrot Lunaire - a piece that has influenced many generations of composers, and American Voices - slightly opening the door to a myriad of choral music from the States. The festival begins with an "Open Recording" on 30th September with Lontano and the BBC Singers at St. Giles Cripplegate.

You can read more about the Festival and see the schedule and featured composers here:

http://www.lontano.co.uk/london_festival_of_american_music

What does the future hold for you?

I have no idea. I want to finish my opera trilogy and keep recording lots of CDs - I think recording is truly the future and I try to change the world in my own little way.

Links to Odaline de la Martinez and Lontano

Lontano Website: www.lontano.co.uk

Lontano on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LontanoUK

Lontano on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lontano-Ensemble-London-UK/133166410061576



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16 Jul  

Focus on Composers... The size and scale of the UK's foremost classical music festival, the BBC Proms, deservedly gets notice worldwide. But for us composers, it's also a fantastic way to hear who is working now in the genres of orchestral and chamber music.

The 2010 season offers a survey of some of the most highly-regarded British and international composers, as well as neglected masters and up-and-comers. And thanks to the BBC's excellent links, anyone anywhere can tune in to the Proms on line.

Here's a listing of composers with premieres coming up:

Hans Abrahamsen (born 1952)

Julian Anderson (born 1967)

George Benjamin (born 1960)

Cornelius Cardew (1936–1981)

Tansy Davies (born 1973)

Brett Dean (born 1961)

James Dillon (born 1950)

Jonathan Dove (born 1959)

Morton Feldman (1926–1987)

Brian Ferneyhough (born 1943)

Alissa Firsova (born 1986)

Graham Fitkin (born 1963)

Robin Holloway (born 1943)

Simon Holt (born 1958)

Gabriel Jackson (born 1962)

Jouni Kaipainen (born 1956)

James MacMillan (born 1959)

Martin Matalon (born 1958)

Colin Matthews (born 1946)

Stephen Montague (born 1943)

Thea Musgrave (born 1928)

Betty Olivero (born 1954)

Tarik O’Regan (born 1978)

Arvo Pärt (born 1935)

Albert Schnelzer (born 1972)

Gunther Schuller (born 1925)

Bent Sørensen (born 1958)

Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 1960)

Huw Watkins (born 1976)



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25 May  

Something for everyone... With the warm weather, parts of the London scene seems to be crossing over: A 'borderless' concert by the LS Collective, short operas by 'non-operatic' artists with ROH2, and the London debut of New York's 'genre-bending' Alarm Will Sound. But there are offerings for fans of modernists in traditional genres as well, with new and recent works by Lachenmann, Barry and Goehr.


Shadoworks / LS Collective

3 June 2010 / 1930 / Queen Elizabeth Hall

New multimedia work with music by Fujikura, Clementi, Goves, Ligeti, and Abrahamsen

http://www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk/event/ls-collective-shadoworks

 

London Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Adès

6 June 2010 / 1930 / Barbican Hall 


Gerald Barry's  La Plus Forte (UK premiere) with works by Adès and Bartok

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=8651

 

The Shadow of Night / Fretwork

17 June 2010 / 1930 / Kings Place 


The world premiere of Alexander Goehr's The Shadow of Night (written for Fretwork with Michael Chance)

http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/weekly-themes/the-shadow-of-night

 

OperaShots

18 to 26 June 2010 / 1930 / Linbury Studio Theatre 


ROH2 presents new works by Gough, Pook, and Sawney

http://www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=13699

 

London Symphony Orchestra / Peter Eötvös

20 June 2010 / 1930 / Barbican Hall 


A program including Lachenmann's Double (Grido II) for string orchestra composed in 2004

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=8605

 

Alarm Will Sound


24 June 2010 / 1930 / Wilton's Music Hall 


AWS hits London for the first time, with works by Gordon, Rihm and Orfe and a brace of Aphex Twin transcriptions

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=10546



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24 Apr  

May starts bright and early at 7am for Vexations with London Sinfonietta players and 10am for an Alexander Goehr Study Day with musicians from the RNCM at Wigmore Hall. We then move on to major 20th c. orchestral statements, a multimedia opera, string quartet improv. with silent film, and other goodies.


Vexations

London Sinfonietta

1 May 2010 / from 7:00 / Kings Place


London Sinfonietta's performance of this Satie 'happening' can be visited any time during the day - the music will be set against a moving image installation.


http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/out-hear/codex-from-elision-out-hear-contemporary-music-kings-place-london



 

Alexander Goehr Study Day

Musicians From the Royal Northern College Of Music, Clark Rundell conductor


1 May 2010 / from 10:00 / Wigmore Hall

The day’s three concerts will feature works of instrumental, vocal and chamber music that span a period of nearly fifty years and closes with a performance of Sing, Ariel, a cantata from the 1990s which pays homage to, among others, his teacher Olivier Messiaen.


http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/alexander-goehr-study-day-25364



 

London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev

Turangaglila-Symphonie and Lutoslawski Piano Concerto


13 May 2010 / 19:30 / Barbican Hall 


Masterpieces from 1948 and 1988, soloists Joanna MacGregor piano, Cynthia Millar ondes martenot , and for the Lutoslawski, Sergey Babayan piano.


http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?id=8646



 

After Life - ASKO / Schoenberg Ensemble / Tausk


15 May 2010 / 19:30
 / Barbican Hall

After Life, a multi-media opera by Dutch composer and filmmaker Michel van der Aa, based on the film by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda.


http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=8560


Music of Today: Georg Friedrich Haas


20 May 2010 / 18:00 / Royal Festival Hall 


An exploration of the work of this highly original Austrian composer.

http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/20may10mot/



 

London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev

Turangaglila-Symphonie and Dutilleux Métaboles


20 May 2010 / 19:30 / Barbican Hall


A second chance at Messiaen’s Turangaglila, paired this time with the deft and striking Métaboles by Henri Dutilleux.


http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=8648



 

Mary Pickford in My Best Girl with the Elysian Quartet


28 May 2010 / 19:30 / Kings Place


Improvisation by the Elysian Quartet to a film by silent screen legend Mary Pickford
.

http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/weekly-themes/mary-pickford-in-my-best-girl-with-the-elysian-quartet




2 comments

26 Mar  

My concert picks for April in London:
Full-on Varèse, new sounds at Kings Place, and a good selection of contemporary and still-in-progress opera around town.

Exploring Sound and Time, Monday 12 April
Music by Harrison, Saunders and Xenakis
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/out-hear/exploring-sound-and-time

Exposure at ROH2:
Two alternating programmes of opera snapshots from recent works, new works and works still under construction.
April 14/15/16/17
http://www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=13544

London Sinfonietta Varèse 360° Weekend
Complete works of Varèse over 16/18 April
http://www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk/project/var%C3%A8se-360%C2%B0

Max de Wardener, Nick Ramm and Dave Price, Monday 26 April
Featuring Harry Partch instruments including a 12 foot replica of his bass marimba, prepared autoharp and microtonal synths tuned to just intonation.
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/out-hear/max-de-wardener-dave-price-and-nick-ramm

American Experiments, Thursday 29 April
Celebrating the works of John Cage, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff and Frederic Rzewski
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/weekly-themes/american-experiments

Plus two opera productions coming up:

Ades' Powder Her Face
April 26 through May 7th
http://www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=10790

Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers
April 24 through May 8th
http://www.eno.org/see-whats-on/productions/production-page.php?&itemid=182



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22 Feb  

An amazing crop of new music concerts coming up next month in London:

Ensemble 10/10 at Wigmore (5 March)
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/ensemble-10-10-24679
The acclaimed contemporary ensemble of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Atsuhiko Gondai portrait - Philharmonia Music of Today (9 March)
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/09mar10mot/

Barbican Total Immersion: Wolfgang Rihm (12/13 March)
http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=9272

Barry and Ayres - London Sinfonietta (17  March)
http://www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk/event/sound-music
Two love stories - Gerald Barry's 'Beethoven' and Richard Ayres quirky 'In The Alps' (below)



Celebrating Birtwistle's 75th at Wigmore (24 March)
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/nash-ensemble-24685
Including Five Distances for Five Instruments  and a new oboe quartet

Kagel and Casken, spoken text and silent film - Counterpoise at Kings Place (29 March)
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/out-hear/counterpoise-%E2%80%93-loved-to-death

Also each Tuesday in March: http://www.prsformusicfoundation.com/news/spnmsolospotlights.htm
Solo Spotlights is a series of concerts of cutting edge music each Tuesday in March in the atmospheric setting of London’s Wapping Hydraulic Power Station.



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25 Jan  
The BBC NOW has done a lot for new music in Cardiff recently, in addition to regular commissions and premieres, the appointment of Simon Holt as composer-in-residence is a refreshing development, as is a new series of Composer Portraits including figures from the continent such as Christian Jost and Bruno Mantovani whose work is too seldom heard on these shores. (Coincidentally, Hear and Now will broadcast a BBC NOW new music concert on Feb 6 with works by Jost, Watkins, Sawer and yours truly - links to the podcast soon...)
 
As well as widening the scope of the orchestra's new music programming, the NOW is also initiating an important platform for area talent, providing a wonderful opportunity for Welsh-born and/or Welsh-educated composers of any age. I'm delighted that postgraduates from my department at Cardiff University are so well represented (Max Charles Davies, Christian Morris and Jack White) and it's lovely to see a local professional composer, Timothy Raymond, in the line-up as well.

Welsh Composers Showcase with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Jac van Steen
In collaboration with Composers of Wales, Ty Cerdd and the Welsh Music Guild
Thursday 28th and Friday 29th January 2010 – BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff Bay

Workshops and culmination concert at BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff Bay:
Thursday 28 January 2010
- Workshops - 10.00-13.00 and 14.00-17.00

Friday 29 January 2010
- Workshops - 14.00-17.00
- Concert - 19.00

The project will be led by Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jac van Steen who has also selected the scores to be featured:

 Max Charles Davies - Exultet
Iestyn Harding - Foray:Symphonic Movement for Orchestra
Chris Petrie - Percolation
Jack White - Y Deildy
Tim Raymond - Dreaming of Easter
Andrew Wilson Dickson - Blaen Myherin
Christian Morris - Lyra Davidica

All of these events are open to public audiences and free to attend. To reserve a tickets call the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line on 0800 052 1812.



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18 Jan  
My concert picks for Feb in the London area:
 
NY Philharmonic / Magnus Lindberg /John Adams
Newly appointed Director of the NY Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert brings the orchestra to London for the first time for the UK premiere of Magnus Lindberg's  EXPO, 3 Feb, Barbican
 
also John Adam's Wound Dresser and Berg 3 Orchestral Pieces on the 4th Feb
 
 
London Sinfonietta / George Benjamin 7 Feb, QEH
The London Sinfonietta celebrates George Benjamin's 50th birthday, 7 Feb, QEH
 
Pianocircus 15 Feb, Hoxton Hall 
Programme to include works by Yumi Hara Cawkwell, David Lang, Andrew Morgan, Lynne Plowman and Kenneth Hesketh.
 
Prokofiev's The Gambler (all through Feb), at Covent Garden


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