James Ilgenfritz releases Thirlwell composition for solo contrabass

a1596461489_10JG Thirlwell was commissioned by James Ilgenfritz to write a composition for solo contrabass. The piece, entitled “Xigliox“, has finally been recorded and will be released on Ilgenfritz’s second solo album, Origami Cosmos on Infrequent Seams on March 24 2017. “Xigliox” is described as “a work that constantly careens from lyricism to ferocity, from precision to frenetic abandon.”

The album also feature pieces written for Ilgenfritz by Annie Gosfield, Elliot Sharp and Miya Masaoka.

Origami Cosmos is described as : “From hypnotic drone works involving Just Intonation and use of multiple bows to astounding feats of technical virtuosity, this collection of works brings hyper- complexity, improvisation, and lyrical beauty together into a deeply personal tour-de-force of musical invention. “

JGT Meets the Great Learning Orchestra

DSC04363JG Thirlwell has been meeting and work-shopping with The Great Learning Orchestra in Stockholm, with a view to JG creating a major composition for them. When completed the piece would likely premiere in 2015. The Great Learning Orchestra is a network of a little more than one hundred musicians from different genres, cities and countries, meeting up to explore music with listening in the center. They are based in Stockholm, but collaborates with composers and musicians from all over the world. They have performed pieces by Terry Riley, Gavin Bryars, Lou Reed, Arnold Dreyblatt and many more, as well as performing a multitude of visual and instruction scores from a wide gamut of artists and composers. As their name suggests, they are structurally based on a model suggested by Cornelius Cardew‘s Scratch Orchestra.