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Anthracite Fields at NY Phil Biennial

On 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…

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some exciting upcoming performances!…….. Steel Hammer, Anthracite Fields, True Love concerto

Steel Hammer

After a superb premiere at The Krannert Center in Urbana-Champaign, IL, the staging of Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer by director Anne Bogart and her SITI Company with the Bang on a Can All-Stars goes on tour beginning October 23, with a final performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December!

Steel Hammer
staged by Anne Bogart with SITI Company;
Bang on a Can All-Stars

UCLA: 10/23-24
Virginia Tech: 11/17
OZ Arts, Nashville: 11/21
Brooklyn Academy of Music: 12/2-12/6

Anthracite Fields

Then On November 14, Julia Wolfe returns to the anthracite coal region in Pennsylvania, which inspired her Pulitzer prize-winning oratorio, Anthracite Fields…

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Anthracite Fields receives Grammy nomination

Julia Wolfe’s, Anthracite Fields, her Pulitzer prize-winning oratorio for chorus and amplified ensemble, has received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Click here to listen to an NPR feature on Anthracite Fields.

Wolfe wrote the work after doing extensive research about the coal-mining industry in an area very near where she grew up in Pennsylvania. Her text draws on oral histories, interviews with miners and their families, speeches, geographic descriptions, children’s rhymes, and coal advertisements…

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Two European Premieres

In April, the Bang on a Can All-Stars travel to Europe for a blockbuster set of concerts, including the European premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields and the Dutch premiere of her Steel Hammer.

On Saturday April 16, Wolfe’s Pulitzer prize-winning, Anthracite Fields, a concert-length work for chorus and instruments, receives its European premiere with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble at The Royal Library of Denmark, Copenhagen

The recording of Anthracite Fields on Cantaloupe Music was nominated for a 2016 Grammy award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition…

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Composer Residency: Univ of Michigan, Jan 20

On January 20, Julia Wolfe joins the U-M Contemporary Directions Ensemble, directed by Oriol Sans, for an evening of conversation and performances of her small ensemble works.

This concert is part of a week-long residency by Ms. Wolfe (a U-M alum) to develop Fire in my Mouth, an evening-length orchestral work co-commissioned by UMS with the New York Philharmonic, Cal Performances and the Krannert Center.

This event is free and open to the public; no tickets required…

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world premiere: Fire in my mouth

January 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…

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Fire in my mouth nominated for 2 Grammy awards

Fire in my mouth, conducted by Music Director Jaap van Zweden, is nominated for two Grammy awards:

Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Julia Wolfe)

Best Engineered Album, Classical (Bob Hanlon and Lawrence Rock, engineers; Ian Good and Lawrence Rock, mastering engineers). Lawrence Rock is Audio Director of the New York Philharmonic; Ian Good is Assistant, Digital Platforms & Experience at the New York Philharmonic.

Fire in my mouth, co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, is a searingly vivid evocation of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire…

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Fire in my mouth European Premiere

Julia Wolfe’s critically-acclaimed Fire in my mouth receives its European premiere January 26-27 by the Gothenburg Symphony, Santtu-Matias Rouvali — conductor, and the Gothenburg Symphony Womens’ and Girls’ choir, with Anne Kauffman (director), Jeff Sugg (scenic, lighting, video and production designer) and Márion Talán (costume designer).

Listen to New York Philharmonic recording

Premiered in January 2019 by the New York Philharmonic, Fire in my mouth is based on the garment industry in New York at the turn of the century, with a focus on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and its aftermath…

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Biography

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…

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