UMS Commissions, New Productions & World and U.S. Premieres
11/12
Nearly four decades after it was first performed and 20 years since its last production, Einstein on the Beach will be reconstructed for a major international tour; the Ann Arbor 2012 (January 20 - 22, 2012) preview performances of Einstein on the Beach mark the first time — and likely only time — that this production will be performed in the Midwest. As a co-commissioner of this revival, the University Musical Society (UMS) will host the entire Einstein on the Beach company for an intensive three-week technical rehearsal residency leading up to the preview performances.
New Work, André Previn. Commissioned for the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, John Harbison. Commissioned for Cho-Liang Lin. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
On 1/29/2012, UMS will present the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra's performance of Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars). Conducted by Jeffrey Tate, this performance is accompanied by an art film by the Israeli contemporary artist, Daniel Landau. The UMS presentation this will be the U.S. premiere of this presentation.
10/11
Paul Taylor Dance Company premiered a reconstruction of the 1966 work, Orbs on 10/8/2010.
In 1960 a group of avant-garde composers came together in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to present the ONCE Festival, a modestly-scaled, artist-run event that would occur annually for several years and came to have an enormous impact on the American contemporary music scene. In early November of 2010, UMS celebrated the 50th anniversary of this game-changing performance with a festival comprised of two concerts; a symposium; a large-scale public lecture; an exhibition of visual images and manuscripts; a dynamic multi-sensory installation featuring work by musicians, composers, performance artists; and a digital "self-guided" tour of the project.
Sextet for Strings, Lera Auerbach. Commissioned for members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
09/10
The Royal Shakespere Company (RSC) sent playwrights, directors, actors, a voice coach, a dramaturg, and others to the U-M campus for an 11 day "Creative Residency" in March of 2010 to consult with our faculty, to cooperate in classes, to present classes, to engage our students in various ways in their creative activity, and, as a cap to their presence here, to present readings of three original plays that explored the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.
Three Pieces for Piano, Bernard Rands. Commissioned for Jonathan Biss. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
08/09
Théâtre de Complicité: A Disappearing Number (2007). Written and directed by Simon McBurney. The UMS performances (9/10-14) marked this production's U.S. premiere.
Remembering Muir Bshir & the Baghdad Conservatory of Music, a concert Omar Bashir, Farida and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble, and Rahim AlHaj. This 10/4/08 performance was a new production, organized by UMS in celebration of the 08/09 global focus on the Arab World.
The Anatomy of a Box, Stefon Harris. Commissioned for Stefon Harris and the Imani Winds. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Mohammed Bennis and the Hmadcha Ensemble from Morocco performed in the U-M Museum of Art, presented by UMS on 4/18 & 4/19 of 2009. These performances were new productions that marked the artists' U.S. premiere.
07/08
Vignettes: Covered Wagon Woman, Alan Louis Smith. Commissioned for Stephanie Blythe, Warren Jones and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Piano Septet, Mario Davidovsky. Commissioned for the Gilbert Kalish and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
String Quartet No. 5 (‘The Miraculous’), Bright Sheng. Commissioned for the Emerson String Quartet, who performed its U.S. premiere on 1/4/08 in Ann Arbor. UMS co-commission with the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Stanford University.
Octet: Double Quartet, William Bolcom. Commissioned for the Guarneri and Johannes String Quartets; performed by them on 2/9/08 in Ann Arbor. UMS co-commission with the Music Accord .
Magyar Madness, David Del Tredici. Commissioned for the Orion String Quartet and David Krakauer, clarinet; performed by them on 3/5/08 in Ann Arbor. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
singing in the dead of night, David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe. Commissioned for eighth blackbird; performed by them on 4/10/08 in Ann Arbor. UMS co-commission with the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance; Millennium Park, Chicago; Jebediah Foundation; Frederica and James S. Rosenfield (specifically towards work of David Lang); and San Francisco Performances.
04/05
Bay of Pigs, Michael Daugherty. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Trio Sinfonia, Kevin Puts. Commissioned for the Eroica Trio. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
My Other Song, Bright Sheng. Commissioned for Yefim Bronfman, piano. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
04/05
Forbidden Christmas or The Doctor and The Patient, Starring Mikhail Baryshnikov. Written and Directed by Rezo Gabriadze. Produced by Baryshnikov Dance Foundation. UMS co-commission with the Guthrie Theater, the Spoleto Festival USA, Cal Performances, Lincoln Center Festival for the Performing Arts, The Carlsen Center at Johnson County Community College, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and UCLA Live.
03/04
Arboresque, composed by Palestinian-American musician and composer Simon Shaheen. UMS co-commission (with Continental Harmony) and World Premiere.
New work commissioned for Hilary Hahn. UMS Co-Commission.
New work commissioned for Richard Goode. UMS Co-Commission.
Purple Syllables, Augusta Read Thomas. Commissioned for Chanticleer. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
02/03
blessing the boats, Sekou Sundiata. UMS co-commission with Aaron Davis Hall’s Fund for New Work; New Heritage Theatre Group; Miami Dade Community College in partnership with the Flynn Center for the Arts and the National Performance Network Creation Fund (sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation); and Duke University Institute of the Arts, Durham, NC.
An Eveningsong Special, Sweet Honey in the Rock with Toshi Reagon & Big Lovely. UMS co-commission (with the University of Michigan) and world première.
Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Royal Shakespeare Company. UMS co-production with the University of Michigan and the Company. .A UMS U.S. première.
Atelier, Hubbard Street Dance Company. Choreographed by Lucas Crandall. UMS Co-Commission (not completed for performance).
New solo work by Bright Sheng commissioned for Yefim Bronfman. Should be completed in 2004 and will be part of Bronfman's 06/07 tour. UMS Co-Commission.
New work by Osvaldo Golijov commissioned for the Kronos Quartet. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Atelier, Lucas Crandall . Choreographed for Hubbard Street Dance Company. UMS co-commission.
01/02
Hallelujah: In Praise of Paradise Lost and Found, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. UMS was part of a large consortium of national supporters that co-commissioned various components of the Hallelujah project.
Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Peter Sparling Dance Company, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and UMS Choral Union. UMS co-production with the Company.
Rome & Jewels, Rennie Harris Puremovement. UMS co-commission with the Bates Dance Festival, Columbus Association for Performing Arts, and the University of Texas-Austin.
Happiness, Laurie Anderson. UMS co-commission with Cal Performances, University of California-Berkeley; Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College; PICA and Leslie B. Durst, Portland, OR; University of Florida Performing Arts, Gainesville; UCSB Arts & Lectures, Santa Barbara; Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale; and Society for the Performing Arts, Houston.
William Bolcom's From the Diary of Sally Hemings co-commissioned for Harolyn Blackwell and Florence Quivar using the poetry of Sandra Seaton. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
New work by Michael Daugherty commissioned for Manuel Barrueco. The work, entitled Bay of Pigs, received its world premiere in July 2006, and received its UMS premiere on November 19, 2006. UMS Co-Commission
New work commissioned for Thomas Hampson (composer tba). Expected to be included in Hampson's Fall 2006 tour. UMS Co-Commission.
Joan Panetti's Piano Quintet commissioned for the Tokyo String Quartet. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
00/01
Boundaries, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. Margot Greenlee and Vincent Thomas, Choreographers. Performed by All City Men's Group. UMS Commission.
Edda: Viking Tales of Lust, Revenge and Family, Benjamin Bagby and Ping Chong. UMS co-commission and co-production with the 2001 Lincoln Center Festival, New York in association with Ping Chong and Company.
The Histories (Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 & 3, and Richard III), Royal Shakespeare Company. UMS co-production with the University of Michigan and the Company.
Davenen, Pilobolus with the Klezmatics. UMS Co-Commission.
Libby Larsen's A word from your Jenny commissioned for Barbara Bonney. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Sonata by Tan Dun commissioned for Cho-Liang Lin scheduled to be completed in 2007. UMS Co-Commission.
99/00
Moby Dick, Laurie Anderson. UMS Co-Commission.
Vers la flamme, Martha Clarke. UMS Co-Commission.
New work by Peter Liberson commissioned for Pamela Frank and Peter Serkin. UMS Co-Commission.
Bruce Adolphe's A Thousand Years of Love commissioned for Sylvia McNair. UMS Co-Commission with Music Accord.
Steve Mackey's Ars Moriendi commissioned for Borremeo Quartet. UMS Co-Commission.
98/99
How! Do! We! Do! A new work by Bill T. Jones and Jessye Norman. UMS Co-Commission.
New work by Nicholas Maw commissioned for Emanuel Ax. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Kenneth Fuch's Quartet No. 3 Whispers of Heavenly Death co-commissioned for the American String Quartet. World Premiere.
Lukas Foss's String Quartet No. 5 commissioned for the Guarneri String Quartet. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
97/98
Wynton Marsalis' A Fiddler's Tale, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Jazz at Lincoln Center. World Premiere.
Tobias Picker's Suite commissioned for Lynn Harrell. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Elliott Carter's Quintet for Piano and String Quartet commissioned for Arditti String Quartet & Ursula Oppens. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
Jake Heggie's Songs to the Moon commissioned for Frederica von Stade. UMS co-commission with Music Accord.
96/97
William Bolcom's song cycle, Briefly it Enters, commissioned for Benita Valente and Cynthia Raim (piano). World Premiere and UMS Co-Commission.
The Harlem Nutcracker, choreographed by Donald Byrd for Donald Byrd/The Group. UMS Co-Commission.
94/95
Osvaldo Golijov's The Dream and Prayers of Isaac the Blind commissioned for the Cleveland String Quartet. UMS Co-Commission.
92/93
Christopher Stookey's Psalm of Life commissioned for the King s Singers 25th Anniversary Concert. World Premiere and UMS Commission.
R. Murray Schafer's Tristan and Iseult, King's Singers. World Premiere.
91/92
William Bolcom's Sonata for Cello and Piano commissioned for Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax. UMS Co-Commission.
Danzalta commissioned for the Miami City Ballet. Choreographer Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros. UMS Co-Commission.
89/90
Donald Bryant's Genesis commissioned for UMS Choral Union, soloists, and orchestra for the Donald Bryant Tribute Concert. UMS Commission.