Tourmaline was written for saxophonists Xelo Giner and Carola Cuypers. Created in the studios of the IUA/Phonos Foundation in Barcelona, it is the sixth piece in a series of compositions for solo instrument with electronics. The crystal tourmaline often shows two or more colors, such as watermelon tourmaline, which has a red center surrounded by bright green. A small change in the complex makeup of developing crystal will result in a completely different color scheme. According to legend, wearing the stone can lend permanence and stability to friendships and love relationships. In this composition the saxophone and electronics are closely linked in a fast-paced, animated conversation. The electronic part takes on a definite personality unto itself as it weaves about, interrupting and commenting on the saxophone part. Twisting and turning through a series of moods and situations, the many possibilities for interaction between the two instruments are revealed.
Praised as "highly lyrical and provocative of thought" (San Francisco Classical Voice), "mesmerizing"(The New York Times), and "pungently
attractive" (The Washington Post), the music of composer Alexandra Gardner is thrilling audiences and performers alike with a clear, expressive sound and a flair for the imaginative and unexpected. She composes for varied instrumentations and often mixes acoustic instruments with electronics, drawing inspiration from mythology, the natural sciences, and her training as a percussionist.
Alexandra's compositions are regularly featured at festivals and venues around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Beijing Modern Festival, Centro de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Festival Cervantino, Grand Teton Music Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, Merkin Hall, Strathmore Music Center, Symphony Space, and the Warsaw Autumn Festival.
Among Alexandra's honors and awards are recognitions from American Composers Forum, ASCAP, Mid-America Arts Alliance, DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Netherland-America Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution. She is a recipient of the Vassar College W.K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts, a 2018 Rubys Artist Project Grantfrom the Robert W. Deutsch
Foundation, and most recently a 2020 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award. She has conducted residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Harvestworks, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, The MacDowell Colony, and Willapa Bay AiR, and spent two years as a visiting composer at the Institut Universitari de l'Audiovisual in Barcelona, Spain. Her music is recorded on the Innova, Ars Harmonica, and Naxos labels.
Alexandra holds degrees from The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and Vassar College. She currently resides in Baltimore, MD.
Dylan Ward holds a DMA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where he served as a graduate teaching assistant to Zach
Shemon. Ward’s creative work explores ideas of existential intelligence across natural, human, digital, and historical consciousnesses and the novel ways in which they coalesce....more
The debut album from Irish composer Anselm McDonnell examines faith, folklore, and environment through contemporary music. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 12, 2021
On "The Source," composer Ted Hearne uses bureaucratic language and poetic chat transcripts to create an electronic opera that honors its subject matter. Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 13, 2016
A remix album crafted during Covid lockdown, this LP twists classical compositions into dazzling electronic ambient forms. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 31, 2022
Through churning dynamics and elongated, arc-like melodies, clarinetist Joanna Nicholson casts a hypnotizing modern classical spell. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 2, 2022
