Premiered by CPO in March 2024.
My time as composer-in-residence with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra during 2023/24 has been tremendous. This was a new role for both me and the organisation, and I would like to thank all the members of the orchestra and its management team for their enthusiasm towards me and my music, with special thanks to Louis Heyneman for his openness, guidance, and flexibility towards the scope of this residency.
LOAD & SHED explores what happens to music when one overloads, interrupts and constrains its resources. The work is centred around a single melodic line, variations of which are added upon it. As the overall texture gains density, the music suffers from interruptions of silence that, over time, reveal other material, seemingly unrelated to the original musical idea. As time passes, both the original texture grows and these 'musical silences' become more frequent until the music reaches a metaphorical breaking point. It is here where these contrasting ideas are unified, which exposes a recognisable tune that hints at the work's wider imagery concerning what happens when demand of a critical resource outstrips its supply.
The inaugural SA Composers’ Competition was launched in 2022/2023 for young composers to develop skills and recognise talent in the local creative music industry. There were 29 entries from a diverse selection of young composers 35 or younger at the time of entering and a panel of judges headed by eminent composer Hendrik Hofmeyr after much, blind, deliberation, chose five to compete for the title. Conrad Asman and his piece Beyond the Atom was chosen by the judges to be the winner and Asman’s prize was a cash prize and commission to compose a piece, Load & Shed, which you will hear tonight. Tonight’s winner will win a cash prize and a trip to Germany to have his/her piece performed by the Junge Nord-Deutsche Philharmonie(jnp) in April in Hamburg.
Louis Heyneman - producer
Shirley Gueller - manager
CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA conducted by Jeremy Silver
The Judges:
Hendrik Hofmeyr (non-voting chairman), Alexander Valentin, Antoni Schonken (convenor), Amy Crankshaw, Arthur Feder, Bernhard Gueller, Clare Loveday, Lise Morrison
MUSICSCAPE Livestream
Marek Pinski - video production and sound recording supervision
Caitlin Mittelmeyer - Live video editing
Tony Mittelmeyer - multiple video camera setup and system coordinator
14 апр 2024
