Randall Smith gewinnt Jazz-Kompositionswettbewerb „Spheres of a Genius – Honoring Carla Bley“

2023-07-24 11:34:26

World premiere with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus on October 4, 2023

Vienna (OTS) The current third edition of the jazz composition competition “Spheres of a Genius”, launched in 2017 by the JAM MUSIC LAB private university and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, is dedicated to the work of the composer and pianist Carla Bley. The winner is the American composer and trombonist Randall Smith with his composition “Blue Bongo Fever Dream”, for which he received 5,000 euros in prize money. The work will be premiered on October 4, 2023 in the Vienna Konzerthaus with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna under the direction of chief conductor Marin Alsop. Ö1 broadcasts the concert recording on October 17 from 7:30 p.m.

The American composer and trombonist Randall Smith was able to prevail once morest top-class competition from international applicants with his composition “Blue Bongo Fever Dream” and convinced the jury, consisting of Marin Alsop (chief conductor RSO Vienna), Angelika Möser (artistic director RSO Vienna), Christoph Becher (former director RSO Vienna), Bill Dobbins (composer, pianist) and Marcus Ratka (composer, rector JAM). MUSIC LAB).

Randall Smith, born in 1991 in Provo, Utah, is Assistant Director of the Group for Experimental Music at Brigham Young University. In his work as a composer, arranger and musician he was influenced by different genres in jazz and contemporary, experimental music. According to the jury, “Blue Bongo Fever Dream” presents itself as a brilliant homage to the stylistically diverse work of Carla Bley. Smith develops the piece convincingly along the sounds of jazz, blues, Afro-Caribbean music as well as complex harmonies and rhythms with echoes of Xenakis and Stravinsky. He uses the diverse tonal possibilities of the orchestral instruments in an impressive way and uses them constructively in the course of his approximately twelve-minute composition.

Austria’s Christoph Suttner took second place, while Julia Perminova (Russia), Gabriele di Franco (Italy) and Samara Bülbül (Germany) shared third place.

The premiere of the work will take place on October 4, 2023 in the main hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna under the direction of chief conductor Marin Alsop.

With our accreditation as a private university in 2017, the cooperation with the RSO Vienna also started. In the course of the competitions, around 300 pieces of music, some of outstanding quality, were created. We are very pleased that we, as a university, can give an impetus to sustainably promote musicians in jazz and to further connect the areas of jazz-related and classical music in the music city of Viennawith JAM MUSIC LAB-Rector Marcus Ratka.

Angelika Möser, artistic director of the RSO Vienna, continues: ‘Music of our time for people of our time’ – in keeping with this motto, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is a committed partner in the ‘Spheres of a Genius’ competition. The top-class premiere by the RSO Vienna and the broadcast by the ORF is an attractive motivation for composers to create new works. With the reference to a historical personality from the world of jazz, we also build a bridge from the past to the future.

The “Spheres of a Genius” competition was launched by the JAM MUSIC LAB private university and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Since then it has attracted composers from all over the world who take up the challenge of uniting jazz and large orchestras. The prizes include the world premiere with the RSO Vienna, the recording and broadcasting of the work and bonuses for the winners. The first two editions of the competition featured artists Thelonious Monk and Leonard Bernstein. The winners were US Grammy Award winner John Beasley and Austrian composer and arranger Christoph Cech.

Questions & contact:

JAM MUSIC LAB private university for jazz and popular music
Eva Maria Bauer
eva-maria.bauer@jammusiclab.com
+43 677 63460996

ORF RSO Vienna
Isabella Henke
(01) 87 878/18050
isabella.henke@orf.at

1690198651
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