Driving Penderecki, Points of Tension, and Hustle (ft. Derek Bermel)

Composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel has been internationally recognized for his creativity, theatricality, and virtuosity. Bermel is acclaimed for music that is “intricate, witty, clear-spoken, tender, and extraordinarily beautiful [and] covers an amazing amount of ground, from the West African rhythms of Dust Dances to the Bulgarian folk strains of Thracian Echoes, to the shimmering harmonic splendor of Elixir. In the hands of a composer less assured, all that globe-trotting would seem like affectation; Bermel makes it an artistic imperative." (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle). Bermel and his works have received the Alpert Award in the Arts, Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, and the Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Formerly the Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, Bermel is also curator of the Gamper Festival at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He recently enjoyed a four-year tenure as artist-in-residence at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, and a year as Composer in Residence with the Seattle Symphony. An avid educator, Bermel mentors young composers through ACO’s many educational programs, including Earshot and the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, and directs the Copland House's CULTIVATE emerging composers institute. He also founded the New York Youth Symphony’s Composition Program, formerly known as Making Score. He has given masterclasses at conservatories and musical institutions around the world, and has led several workshops alongside frequent collaborators Wendy S. Walters and S. Ama Wray.

Bermel holds B.A. and D.M.A. degrees from Yale University and the University of Michigan. Notable among his composition teachers are William Albright, Louis Andriessen, William Bolcom, Henri Dutilleux, and Michael Tenzer. His music is published by Peermusic Classical (Americas, Asia) and Faber Music (Europe, Australia).

🌐 https://www.derekbermel.com/

💿 “Intonations,” for string quartet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HIPlvYV98Q&list=PLQbBZhbfWFNm3YMztsuR6yWfIvDllBmNe

💿 “Migration series,” for jazz band and orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3b2V2MY1Mc&list=PLQbBZhbfWFNlfuCERWth0jc4PfTvhkoMs

💿 “Mar de setembro,” for vocalist and chamber orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW6bl8g5bvc&list=PLQbBZhbfWFNn-iyTkM8AT0I-YcZIuu4xA

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🕒 Timestamps

00:00 American Composers Orchestra

04:06 Driving Penderecki: https://www.derekbermel.com/blog/2013/9/22/driving-mr-krzysztof

10:27 “Hustle” from “Intonations”

18:54 “Migration series,” for jazz band and orchestra

35:30 “Mar de setembro,” for vocalist and chamber orchestra