NEWS
FLUTE CONCERTO PREMIERES IN U.S. AND MEXICO
Flutist Alejandro Escuer premieres my new flute concerto, The Seas Between Us, with a consortium of five orchestras this coming year across in Boston and across México: Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, Orquesta Filharmónica de Boca del Río, and New England Philharmonic. Join us for the world premiere at Jordan Hall in Boston on October 20th with New England Philharmonic. This work was commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting.
COLLAGE NEW MUSIC SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT
Collage New Music announces its 2024-25 season, its 52nd, and my inaugural season as Artistic Director. I make my Collage conducting debut on October 6th, leading our season-opener, “New Beginnings,” which will feature my 35-minute Short Stories, alongside world premieres commissioned for the occasion by John Harbison and Wang Lu, and music by Vijay Iyer, Juri Seo and J.S. Bach.
Read our season announcement to see the exciting music in store, including soprano Tony Arnold’s appointment as 2024-25 Artistic Partner, Boston Symphony Assistant Conductor Anna Handler’s Boston debut, new institutional partnerships with Longy School of Music Goethe-Institut Boston and Korean Cultural Society of Boston, premieres of 5 new commissions, and the return of an expanded Collage Composers Colloquium with educational workshops for student composers.
MACDOWELL FELLOWSHIP
I completed a residency fellowship at MacDowell where I completed a new flute concerto, The Seas Between Us, for flutist Alejandro Escuer, commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting for a consortium of Mexican orchestras, co-commissioned by the New England Philaharmonic, for premiere October 20, 2024 at Jordan Hall, Boston. See photos from my residency below.
INAUGURAL NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC NEW MUSIC READINGS
I have been appointed inaugural Director and conductor of the New England Philharmonic New Music Readings, a program I founded with the NEP. The readings provide student composers the opportunity to hear their works performed by full orchestra. Guest mentor composers Kati Agócs and Kareem Roustom joined me to provide feedback and discussion on each work performed, as well as solicit feedback directly from the orchestral musicians.
BOSTON GLOBE HIGHLIGHTS SOME FAVORED NOOK AS ALBUM OF 2023
The Boston Globe has highlighted Some Favored Nook as an album of 2023, calling it “quietly compelling.” It is the third album of mine to be featured by the Globe. The album has received rave reviews, with the Swedish newspaper, Sydsvenskan, calling it "a striking work ...achingly beautiful," Boston’s Arts Fuse describing it as “a riveting experience!”, and Fanfare proclaiming “I have no hesitation calling Some Favored Nook the best musical tribute Emily Dickinson has ever received.”
APPOINTED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF COLLAGE NEW MUSIC
I have been appointed Artistic Director of Collage New Music, Boston’s longest-standing contemporary music ensemble, now in its 51st season. Beginning in the 2024-25 season, I will oversee all of Collage New Music’s artistic planning and programming, conduct the ensemble, commission new works, select annual guest conductors and guest soloists, and envision new local and national partnerships. I have designed and appointed an Artistic Advisory Panel that includes Tony Arnold, Matthew Aucoin, Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Tania León, and Joan Tower. Read more here.
PREMIERE OPENS BROWN’S NEW LINDEMANN CENTER
The Brown Arts Institute and the Brown University Orchestra commissioned my Open again a turn of light for orchestra and chorus which premiere October 21st by the Brown Orchestra and Chorus on the occasion of the inauguration of Brown University's new state-of-the art concert hall, the Lindemann Performing Arts Center. My piece sets a poem to music by poet and Brown Assistant Professor Sawako Nakayasu. Read a feature article about the premiere. (Photos by Nick Dentamaro/Brown University).
SOME FAVORED NOOK RELEASED ON NEW FOCUS RECORDINGS
The debut CD of my and librettist Mark Campbell’s Some Favored Nook releases on New Focus Recordings on September 15! The song cycle weaves Emily Dickinson's poetry and writings by noted abolitionist and author Thomas Wentworth Higginson, creating an evening-length dramatic work between two characters that speaks to themes of friendship, national division, morality, and conscience. Featuring soprano Tony Arnold, baritone William Sharp, pianist Seth Knopp. Produced by Judith Sherman. Listen here.
WORLD PREMIERE OF DOUBLE CONCERTO NO. 2
Yellow Barn and New England Conservatory present the world premiere of Double Concerto No. 2 for two solo violas and string orchestra at Jordan Hall with viola soloists Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory and an orchestra comprised of the Ariel, Jupiter and Parker String Quartets and Yellow Barn musicians, conducted by Eric Nathan, in a concert in memory of violist Roger Tapping. More info here.
Double Concerto No. 2 was Co-Commissioned by Yellow Barn, The Juilliard School, New York Classical Players, and Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, and composed in memory of Roger Tapping.
Watch a video of the NYC premiere below:
YELLOW BARN PORTRAIT CONCERT AND RESIDENCY
Yellow Barn presents an Composer Portrait concert of my music on June 27th, featuring sopranos Tony Arnold and Lucy Shelton, baritone William Sharp, pianist Seth Knopp and musicians of Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program. The concert will feature my dramatic song cycle Some Favored Nook for soprano, baritone, piano, as well as five chamber works: Four to One, Wing Over Wing, Far Beyond Far, Soul Perching, Omaggio a Gesualdo). As part of my residency at Yellow Barn, Yellow Barn features four additional compositions on July 29th: Bright Light, Missing Words III, Missing Words V, Missing Words VI.
DREAM SCENES PREMIERES AT TONHALLE DUSSELDORF
Pianist Saleem Ashkar, violinist Boris Brovtsyn, and cellist Claudio Bohorquez give the world premiere of Dream Scenes for piano trio, co-commissioned by Tonhalle Düsseldorf and Royal Danish Library, at Tonhalle Düsseldorf’s Schumannfest on June 17, 2023.
BOSTON CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY PREMIERE
Boston Chamber Music Society presents the East Coast live premiere of Just A Moment for two antiphonal oboes, with oboist Peggy Pearson and Jennifer Slowik, April 23, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.. Watch the 2021 premiere performance of this work, with John Ferrillo and Amanda Hardy, oboes.
CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER COMMISSION AND PREMIERE
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center commissioned my piano work, My Grandfather Played the Piano, for Gilbert Kalish to premiere on March 30, 2023 at Lincoln Center on his solo recital, alongside Bach, Janacek, and Ives, as part of CMS' "Art of the Recital" series. Read an interview with me in Playbill to learn more about this work.
IN BETWEEN II FOR ORCHESTRA PREMIERES AT OBERLIN
The Oberlin Sinfonietta and director Timothy Weiss premiere In Between II for orchestra. This work, co-commissioned by the New England Philharmonic, will receive its Boston premiere by the New England Philharmonic during the 2023-24 season.
BOSTON GLOBE FEATURES MISSING WORDS CD AS A HIGHLIGHT OF 2022
My 2-CD set, Missing Words, has been featured in The Boston Globe’s end-of-year 2022 album highlights: “The resulting large-scale composition, by turns witty and deadly earnest…makes for deeply compelling listening.”
CIVITELLA RANIERI MUSIC FELLOWSHIP
I have been awarded a fellowship at the Civitella Ranieri Music Center, a 15th century castle in Umbria, Italy, as part of a cross-disciplinary residency program form composers, writers and visual artists. I will be in-residence for two months during Fall 2022 to work on composition projects.
COPLAND HOUSE: NYC PREMIERE OF SOME FAVORED NOOK
Copland House presents the NYC Premiere on October 24th of Mark Campbell’s and my Some Favored Nook, a 50-minute song cycle for soprano, baritone and piano, based on the correspondence between Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, that takes place in Civil War America and speaks to our current moment. Performed by Tony Arnold, William Sharp and Seth Knopp (more information). Some Favored Nook was composed as part of a Copland House Residency Award.
IN BETWEEN PREMIERES WITH GROSSMAN ENSEMBLE
The Grossman Ensemble and conductor Timothy Weiss premiered In Between for 13 players in March 2022. Watch a video of the premiere performance below:
BROWN UNIVERSITY 2022 RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
I recently received a 2022 Early Career Research Achievement Award from Brown University for my contributions to music. It's an honor to be recognized by Brown and to have the opportunity to continue to support dream projects with the funding that the award provides. Read the announcement in Brown News.
AWARDED 2022 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS FELLOWSHIP
I have been awarded a 2022 Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award reads: “Two Goddard Lieberson Fellowships of $15,000 each, endowed in 1978 by the CBS Foundation, are given to mid-career composers of exceptional gifts.” Read more in the press release.
The citation in the Ceremonial Program reads: “Eric Nathan communicates meaningfully about life by presenting a range of musical emotions and characters in works such as Missing Words and Concerto for Orchestra. From serious to humorous to heartrending to joyful, his compositions are evocative and tell stories. His explorations of different inspirations, images, colors, harmonies, and textures are bound together in logical formal-designs and cohere into personal luminous soundscapes.”
COLLAGE NEW MUSIC PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF SHORT STORIES
On January 17, 2022 at 8:00 pm, Collage New Music presents the world premiere of Short Stories, which was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition and Brigham Young University. Watch the livestream on YouTube, streamed from Pickman Hall at Longy School of Music of Bard College.
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING: MISSING WORDS ON NEW FOCUS RECORDINGS
On January 21, 2022, New Focus Recordings releases the world premiere recording of the entire Missing Words (2014-2021) cycle on 2 CDs. You can read the announcement here. I am so grateful for Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Brass Quintet, cellist Parry Karp and pianist Christopher Karp, International Contemporary Ensemble, Neave Trio, and Hub New Music for lending their talents to this recording. Missing Words is a six-part series inspired by German words from Ben Schott's book Schottenfreude that describe ineffable experiences of contemporary life. Schott has contributed a foreword for the album and Robert Kirzinger wrote the liner notes.
PBS BROADCAST: MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PREMIERE OF OPENING
On December 17 at 8PM CT/9PM ET, PBS will be nationally broadcasting “Live from Bradley Symphony Center: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra,” the MSO’s season opening concert which featured the world premiere of Opening, a piece commissioned by MSO and and The Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress to commemorate the grand opening of the new Center. Stream the full PBS broadcast below and watch an interview with me about the piece on Milwaukee PBS.
AWARDED 2021 KOUSSEVITZKY FOUNDATION COMMISSION
I have been awarded a 2021 Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation Commission from the Library of Congress which is a co-commission from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for Opening for orchestra.
COMPOSERS NOW: IMPACT
Composers Now has featured a video interview with me as part of their virtual IMPACT series, with each series installment offering a composer the opportunity to reflect on their creativity, influences, pathways, and responsibilities as a living artist in our ever-changing world. Each commentary is interwoven with performance videos and other materials. Learn more and watch the video here.
BOSTON CONDUCTING DEBUT: NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC
In October, I made my Boston conducting debut leading the New England Philharmonic in their season opening concert, which featured my the space of a door. The Boston Musical Intelligencer praised the evening and said I “led a vibrant, sophisticated, and subtle concert that fittingly celebrated the return of the orchestra to live performance after Covid” with “clear, competent, and musical conducting.” You can watch an excerpt from the space of a door and the Finale from the Stravinsky's Firebird from the performance at All Saints Parish.
Check out my new Conducting website page!
ARTICLE FOR THE BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER
I wrote an article for The Boston Musical Intelligencer, published September 29, 2021. In it, I discuss the immense meaning of the return of live, in-person music and my journey as the New England Philharmonic’s Composer-in-Residence since the fall of 2019, as well as working on NEP’s season programming.
OPENING PREMIERES WITH MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has commissioned Opening for orchestra to open its 2021-22 subscription season, October 1-3, 2021, as part of the inaugural concerts in the orchestra’s brand new Bradley Symphony Center, conducted by Music Director Ken-David Masur. The performance will be broadcast nationally on a PBS television special on December 17, 2021 (8PM CT / 9PM ET).
Photo: Nick Dentamaro/Brown University
FEATURE ARTICLE ON MY TEACHING AT BROWN
Brown University has published a feature article, “In music theory class, students learn another kind of storytelling,” about my music theory class from Fall 2021. “Eric Nathan’s Theory of Tonal Music I course teaches students the mechanics of music — then calls on them to write their own pop songs.”
SUMMER NEWSLETTER
Here's a newsletter outlining summer so far, and what is ahead on the horizon, including performances at Chautauqua Institution, Yellow Barn, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. If you'd like to receive future newsletters, please sign up here.
PREMIERE OF JUST A MOMENT
The Chelsea Music Festival presented the world premiere of Just a Moment (2021) for two antiphonal oboes as the opener for their 2021 Virtual Festival in June, performed by oboists John Ferrillo and Amanda Hardy. Just a Moment is a meditation on distance and intimacy, with one oboe is placed on stage and the other in the balcony. Watch the video here, filmed in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall.
CHAMBER CONCERTO PREMIERE
The Indiana University New Music Ensemble and conductor David Dzubay, premiere Chamber Concerto (2020) for sinfonietta on April 29, 2021. IU’s commission was made possible by a grant from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University.
INTERVIEW: BACH, INTERPRETATION AND NEW BEGINNINGS
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has featured an interview article with me, where I speak about my new work, Opening, that will open the MSO’s 2021-22 season, as well as my thoughts on orchestrating Bach’s keyboard works in Dancing with J.S. Bach.
MILWAUKEE AND PORTLAND SYMPHONIES PERFORM DANCING WITH BACH
You can catch two online performances of Dancing with J.S. Bach II with:
Oboist Katherine Young Steele, conductor Ken-David Masur and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (watch here until June 20, 2021)
Oboist Amanda Hardy, conductor Eckart Preu and the Portland Symphony Orchestra (watch here until May 21, 2021)
PREMIERE AT CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
Hub New Music premieres Missing Words VI (2020) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello at Celebrity Series of Boston on March 11, 2021 at 7:30 P.M. To view the archived virtual stream, click here.
“LISTENING IN” WITH THE NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC
As Composer-in-Residence of the New England Philharmonic, concertmaster Danielle Maddon and I are co-hosting a newly-launched interview series, “Listening In: A Deep Dive Into the Music with the NEP.”
Following our inaugural session with composer TJ Cole as part of the Virtual Boston New Music Festival, the NEP has announced three interviews for Spring 2021: Bernard Rands (March 21), Stefan Jackiw/Yoonah Kim about my Double Concerto (April 25), Diego Rocha (May 9), all at 7:00 p.m. EST.
Read a review of our inaugural session in the Boston New Music Intelligencer.
BARLOW ENDOWMENT COMMISSION
I have been awarded a commission from the Barlow Endowment for a 30-35 minute sextet to be premiered by Collage New Music and conductor David Hoose, in celebration of Collage’s 50th Anniversary Season. The work will premiere during the 2021-22 season.
PORTRAIT ALBUM RELEASED ON BMOP SOUND
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and conductor Gil Rose have released “Eric Nathan: the space of a door,” a portrait album of my orchestral and large ensemble music, on the BMOP Sound label. You can purchase the CD from BMOP, Amazon, iTunes and stream the CD on all platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube.
Read the album reviews here.
CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA AT TANGLEWOOD
(Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic) The Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andris Nelsons were scheduled to perform Concerto for Orchestra at Tanglewood in the Koussevitsky Music Shed (August 2, 2020) on a program featuring Yo-Yo Ma performing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus performing Barber, as part of the Chorus’ 50th anniversary celebrations.
MISSING WORDS PREMIERE
(Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic)The Longy School of Music, the Neave Trio and Longy performance faculty were scheduled to present the world premiere of the complete Missing Words series (70 minutes) for fifteen performers on April 5, 2020. Missing Words is an homage to the newly-created German words presented in Ben Schott’s book, Schottenfreude. These Seinfeld-ian words elucidate everyday experiences for which English has no synonyms. The series speaks to the complexity of our shared human existence, and how creative we can be in describing it.
FEATURED IN “IMPACT: RESEARCH AT BROWN”
Brown University’s research magazine, “IMPACT: RESEARCH AT BROWN,” has featured my work as a composer and teacher in its 2020 issue: “Music faculty member moves into leading rank of new classical composers.” (Pictured with composer Maita Eyzaguirre and violinist Tracy Silverman)
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RELEASES THE SPACE OF A DOOR ON NAXOS
The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons have just commercially released their world premiere recording of “the space of a door” on Naxos American Classics. The album features works by Timo Andres, Sean Shepherd and George Tsontakis. To stream or purchase, click here. For more information and liner notes, click here.
The Boston Globe named the CD one of the Boston area’s best classical recordings of 2019.
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PREMIERES CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA ON 2019-20 SEASON-OPENING CONCERTS
The Boston Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of my Concerto for Orchestra (a BSO commission) on their season-opening concerts, September 19-21, 2019 in Symphony Hall, with Andris Nelsons conducting.
Later in the BSO season, on March 22 in Jordan Hall, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players will reprise my trio, “Why Old Places Matter,” that they commissioned and premiered in 2015.
APPOINTED COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE OF NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC
The New England Philharmonic and Music Director Richard Pittman have appointed me as the Philharmonic’s new Composer-in-Residence beginning in the 2019-20 season. The orchestra will give the Boston premiere of “Double Concerto” with violinist Stefan Jackiw and violinist Yoonah Kim in April 2020, and will premiere a new work for full orchestra during the 2020-21 season.
CD RELEASE: DANCING WITH J.S. BACH
WCRB Classical Radio Boston, which features the album as CD of the Week in November 2019, calls Dancing with J.S. Bach: “two irresistible, newly re-imagined orchestral suites that straddle the centuries.”
The CD, “Nathan: Dancing with J.S. Bach,” has been released on Chelsea Music Festival Records, as the label’s inaugural release. The album features premiere recordings of my two suites of orchestrations of various keyboard works by J.S. Bach (orchestrated for string orchestra, and oboe and strings, respectively). You can stream the CD on Spotify and Apple Music, purchase digital copies Amazon, iTunes and CD Baby, and hard copies directly from the Chelsea Music Festival.