On 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…
continue readingJanuary 24–26, the New York Philharmonic premiered Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth, commissioned by the orchestra, Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley; the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Wolfe’s music focuses on the garment industry in New York City at the turn of the century — specifically the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 146 garment workers, most of them young, female immigrants…
continue readingAs part of the New York Commissions to honor the New York Philharmonic’s 175th season (2016-17) with New York-themed works by New York-based composers who have strong ties to the Philharmonic, Julia Wolfe presents a new evening-length piece for orchestra and women’s choir about women in the American work force. The Philharmonic plans to present this piece in 2018-19.
Wolfe has previously explored American labor history with Steel Hammer, her reimagining of the John Henry legend, and Anthracite Fields, an oratorio about Pennsylvania coal miners…
continue readingFrom November 5-11, two European festivals feature music by Julia Wolfe:
• 11/5: Sounds of Music Festival (Groningen, NL) — the JACK Quartet performs Early that summer
• 11/7: Strings of Autumn Fesitval (Prague, CZ) — Bang on a Can All-Stars perform Anthracite Fields with Martinů Voices
• 11/8: Sounds of Music Festival — Trash Panda Collective presents Dark Full Ride
• 11/9: Sounds of Music Festival — Impatience, Lick, and Girlfriend performed by Ensemble Klang and the Prins Claus Conservatorium; Earring performed by Saskia Lankhoorn; Lick and Girlfriend performed by Ensemble Klang; Reeling performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars
• 11/10: Sounds of Music Festival — Anthracite Fields performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars with Cappella Amsterdam
• 11/11: Sounds of Music Festival — Impatience, On Seven-Star-Shoes and Believing performed by the Prins Claus Conservatorium
Julia Wolfe’s music is distinguished by an intense physicality and a relentless power that pushes performers to extremes and demands attention from the audience. She draws inspiration from folk, classical, and rock genres, bringing a modern sensibility to each while simultaneously tearing down the walls between them.
Wolfe saw three major orchestra premieres in the 2022-23 season. Pretty was premiered in June 2023 by conductor Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic…
continue reading[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLc44Ra387k width:300 height:169]From January 29 through February 2 the Aire de Jeu festival at Les Subsistances in Lyon, France — the International Laboratory for artistic creation dedicated to theatre, dance, and contemporary circus — features four works (Dig Deep, Dark Full Ride, Lad and Stronghold) by composer Julia Wolfe choreographed by Arkadi Zaides, Maud Le Pladec, Tania Carvalho and Faustin Linyekula…
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