Julia Wolfe Wins 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Music for Anthracite Fields
an oratorio for chorus and instruments
“[Anthracite Fields] captures not only the sadness of hard lives lost…but also of the sweetness and passion of a way of daily life now also lost. The music compels without overstatement. This is a major, profound work.” — Mark Swed, LA Times
Read NPR interview with Wolfe here…
Read MoreClick on the WQXR streaming player to hear a live recording of Steel Hammer with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and vocalists Emily Eagen, Katie Geissinger and Molly Quinn recfrom October 14, 2014 at Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden in New York City.
This performance was presented in partnership with Arts Brookfield and WNYC’s New Sounds Live and hosted by John Schaefer…
Read MoreOn September 17, Colin Currie reprises his performance of riSE and fLY at London’s Southbank Centre, this time with conductor Ricardo Castro and the Youth Orchestra of Bahia.
Inspired by New York City street beats and the rhythms of American work song, Julia Wolfe’s riSE and fLY is a dazzling work commissioned by the BBC Concert Orchestra for Colin Currie.
Borrowing the title from a chain gang work song, Wolfe’s intention is to “take Colin to a new place and to bring something earthy and visceral to the orchestra – to break with formality and get down and dirty.”
The result is a thrilling evocation of street drummers, accordionists, singers, Chinese stringed erhus and the folk tradition of body percussion that fully encapsulates the festival’s title, Metal, Wood and Skin…
Read MoreOn May 30 and 31, the NY PHIL Biennial presents the New York premiere of Julia Wolfe’s newest work, Anthracite Fields, with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street (Julian Wachner, conductor). In the new work, Wolfe draws from oral histories, interviews, speeches, geographic descriptions, local rhymes, and coal advertisements to create a unique oratorio that provides an intimate look at an important slice of American life…
Read MoreOn Tuesday April 29, Cantaloupe Music releases Julia Wolfe’s much-anticipated recording of her evening-length art ballad, Steel Hammer.
Inspired by her love for the music and lore of Appalachia, Wolfe based her text for Steel Hammer on over 200 versions of the American legend “John Henry”, which has been recorded by everyone from Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen…
Read MorePre-order Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer before April 20 and receive advance copies, signed CDs, credit as an Associate Producer (order before February 18), and special hand-drawn score page from Steel Hammer, the hotly anticipated album by Julia Wolfe, featuring the Bang on a Can All-Stars and Trio Mediaeval.
Inspired by her love for the music and lore of Appalachia, Julia Wolfe based her text for Steel Hammer (called a “wild hybrid” by the New York Times) on over 200 versions of the John Henry ballad, exploring the subject of human vs…
Read MoreThis season Julia Wolfe’s large works for string orchestra, Fuel and Cruel Sister, are performed at Carnegie Hall by two of the country’s leading interpretors of contemporary works.
On October 25, Robert Spano leads the American Composers Orchestra in their Carnegie performance of Julia Wolfe’s full-throttled work for strings, Fuel, on a concert dubbed “Orchestra Underground: Adding Fuel to the Fire”…
Read MoreOn July 27, the Massachussetts Museum of Contemporary Art and Bang on a Can present Julia Wolfe’s mesmerizing evening-length art ballad Steel Hammer as part of the Bang on a Can Summer Festival.
The work is inspired by her love for the legends and music of Appalachia, and culls from both the music and oral traditions of the region. The text is taken from over 200 versions of the John Henry ballad – based on hearsay, recollection, and tall tales – and explores the subject of human vs…
Read MoreFrom May 9 through 13, Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer, her evening-length exploration of the American tale of John Henry, receives several European premieres with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and Trio Mediaeval.
May 9: Belgian premiere at the Concertgebouw Brugge
May 11: UK premiere at the Barbican Center in London, part of the festival A Scream and an Outrage
May 13: Swedish premiere at the Uppsala Konsert & Kongress
Wolfe explains her work:
Steel Hammer is inspired by my love for the legends and music of Appalachia…
Read MoreIt’s been a long time coming, but Shelter is finally here!
The latest collaborative work by Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe is a modern oratorio that reunites the Bang on a Can founders with Deborah Artman (author of the libretto for 2001’s Lost Objects). Produced by Michael Riesman, this premiere recording was performed by Ensemble Signal under the baton of conductor Brad Lubman, and features solo voices Martha Cluver, Mellissa Hughes and Caroline Shaw…
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