excerpt of world premiere by Berlin Philharmonic, June 2023
Pretty
Houston Symphony
US premiere
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, conductor
November 17, 18, 19
November 17, 18, 19, conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Houston Symphony give the US premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Pretty, co-commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the St…
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Berlin Philharmonic
world premiere
Kirill Petrenko, conductor
June 8, 9, 10
June 8-10, conductor Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic gave the world premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Pretty. Co-commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pretty was the third premiere of Wolfe’s in as many weeks — beginning May 25 in San Francisco with the west coast premiere of Her Story, and then June 1-3 with the New York Philharmonic’s world premiere of unEarth…
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World Premiere
June 1-3
unEarth
New York Philharmonic
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
with soprano Else Torp, The Crossing (men’s ensemble),
and Young People’s Chorus of NYC
stage direction by Anne Kaufman
scenic projection design by Lucy MacKinnon
sound design by Jody Elff
lighting design by Ben Stanton
[event link]
![[IMAGE] unEarth preview article](https://juliawolfemusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/06/unearth-preview.png)
(click to read NY Times feature on unEarth)
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for orchestra, men’s chorus, and children’s chorus, Julia Wolfe’s unEarth is a large-scale work that addresses the climate crisis…
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Boston Symphony Orchestra
with Lorelei
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
March 16-18
followed by performances with:
San Francisco Symphony and National Symphony
[Her Story] has a ferocity that is literally written into the score, but also an absence of resolution as it looks back to suffrage with one wary eye toward the future steps this country still needs to take for something resembling true equality…
Read More![[IMAGE] Julia Wolfe's Her Story © 2022, Kurt Heinecke](https://mcusercontent.com/67441ca74ccaac699656b26c5/images/1a361a7c-46c7-e9e2-369f-91233ca7e488.jpg)
Her Story
Marin Alsop and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Lorelei
January 6-7, 2023
followed by performances with:
Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony,
and National Symphony
“
[Her Story] has a ferocity that is literally written into the score, but also an absence of resolution as it looks back to suffrage with one wary eye toward the future steps this country still needs to take for something resembling true equality…continue reading
Big risks and adventurous friends: How composer Julia Wolfe became a renegade
Tom Huizenga (NPR)
September 15, 2022
Sometimes, all you need is a little push. In the fall of 1976, when Julia Wolfe arrived at the University of Michigan from Pennsylvania, she was just 17 and viewed herself as a “wild teenager” with her sights on social sciences and politics. Activism was a possible path…
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read New York Times review from the premiere
listen to NPR interview with Wolfe about Her Story
Julia Wolfe’s Her Story, a 40-minute, theatrical work for orchestra and women’s chamber choir, received its world premiere September 15-17 with the Nashville Symphony and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. The world premiere is followed by performances in 2023 from co-commissioners Chicago Symphony Orchestra (January 6–7), Boston Symphony Orchestra (March 16–18), and San Francisco Symphony (May 25–27); National Symphony Orchestra concerts will be announced at a later date…
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I am excited to join the Avanti musicians for the 2022 festival entitled “Body Language.” Each concert has its own unique design – setting up sympathetic resonances and contrasts to create unfolding sonic journeys. New American music abounds. Historic renegades sit side by side with music hot-off-the press. Many of my own works will be performed in Finland for the very first time, including Steel Hammer featuring the magical voices of Trio Mediaeval, and riSE and fLY with the rapid-fire body percussion of Colin Currie, Cruel Sister, Big Beautiful Dark and Scary (version for orchestra), among others…
Read MoreJulia Wolfe’s 2021-2022 Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair residency commences with the video premiere of Oxygen, a rapid-fire composition for 12 flutes. Written during the pandemic and filmed in October 2021, Oxygen features an all-star cast of flutists coming together to collaborate after more than a year of artistic isolation. The work was commissioned by the National Flute Association and premiered in March 2021 at the Blair School of Music, led by flutist Molly Barth…
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Until February 6, the fiery Concertgebouw Orchestra, with the terrific conductor Klaus Mäkelä, streams Wolfe’s recent piece: Fountain of Youth. Click here to watch their performance.
The piece is noisy, it’s youthful. Washboards! Wild trumpet screams!
People have searched for the fountain of youth for thousands of years. The thought was that if you bathed in or drank from the fountain of youth you would be transformed, rejuvenated…
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