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'Outshines many of our more famous contemporary operas' Stan Metzler/Seen and Heard International 12/29/12

The highly innovative and conjured world of composer Jonathan Dawe joins Baroque imagery with a modernist mix, cast with dynamic dramatic flair. Cited for his "quirky, fascinating modernist variations on earlier styles" (Time Out) his music involves the recasting of energies and sounds of the past into decisively new expressions, through compositional workings based upon fractal geometry. Recent pieces and productions have been described as “music of such vitality and drama” (New York Times) "a brake-squealing collision of influence" (Boston Globe) and " bound to be provocative." (Time Out)

Bio

Nero and The Fall of Lehman Brothers (2016)

The unprecedented financial collapse of 2008, set amidst scheming trading floors of Wall Street and the forces of gods and love of imperial ancient Rome, are cast in a dynamic and beautiful musical landscape. Constructed entirely from libretto fragments of a lost Handel opera and actual commentary surrounding the 2008 financial crisis, this new work forges an entirely new narrative.  From a …

Cracked Orlando: drama per musica e fractals (2010)

Recasting energies and sounds of the Italian Baroque, CRACKED ORLANDO Drama per Musica e Fractals (2010) is a delicate opera/ballet that re-forges early eighteenth century music through compositional workings based upon fractal geometry. The affects and emotions of Love, Betrayal, and Forgiveness are augmented and intensified in this overly-mannered miniature work, running just over and …

Recent news

New Commission 'La Tragedie d'Atys'

A consortium of the cutting-edge opera, BOP -Ballet | Opera | Pantomime; the early music ensemble, Les Boréades de Montréal; and the innovative Canadian production company UBU will produce this new opera with concept and libretto by Stéphanie Jasim. Conducted by Hubert Tanguary-Labrosse.

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New Commission 'La Tragedie d'Atys'

New Commission 'La Tragedie d'Atys'

Jonathan Dawe and Stéphanie Jasmin

A consortium of the cutting-edge opera, BOP -Ballet | Opera | Pantomime; the early music ensemble, Les Boréades de Montréal; and the innovative Canadian production company UBU will produce this new opera with concept and libretto by Stéphanie Jasim. Conducted by Hubert Tanguary-Labrosse. Music by Jonathan Dawe

Coming September 2025 Montréal!

BEING ARIODANTE

The Italian Academy May 13, 14, 2022 7:30pm FREE. Reservations: rw2115@columbia.edu

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BEING ARIODANTE

Bryce McClendon  ARIODANTE

Sydney Anderson DALINDA

Richard Pittsinger POLINESSO

Cree Carrico GINEVRA

Dickie Hearts LURCANIO

Vako Gvelesiani RINALDO

Thomas Lyons THE THUG

Ensemble Échappé  Benjamin Grow, Conducting

Directed by Mari Moriarty

Karina Parker, Associate Director

Shelly Guy DASL (Director of American Sign Language 

Laura Dearman, Choreography

Ciera Miller, Production Stage Manager

Shira Harris, Lighting

Beverly Brooks, Production Assistant 

Rick Whitaker, Associate Producer

(Photo: Ronald Andrew Schvartman)

Latest Discography

The Colonials: The Trout Variations
2016, CDBaby (5638852338)

The Colonials: The Trout Variations

2016, CDBaby (5638852338)

Who doesn't love trout?

Diners love it simply, with some butter and maybe some herbs. Restaurateurs love it because it's easy to cook and fun to price. And musicians and audiences alike have agreed that Schubert's Quintet in A, nicknamed The Trout, is a masterpiece of almost unprecedented popularity.

But what gave this quintet its quirky nickname? In 1817 a 20-year old Schubert set Christian Schubart's poem Die Forelle, and it quickly rose to the top of the Viennese charts. In 1819, when the rustic country cellist Sylvester Paumgartner asked Schubert for a chamber work that could be played at his home salons, Herr Paumgartner specifically asked for a variation movement that would be based on this, his favorite song. He also asked for an unusual instrumentation: violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano. This unique combination complemented another piece programmed for the salon that week, Hummel's Septet in E-flat.


Piercing are the Darts: Early Twenty-First Century Chamber …
2014, Furious Artisans (FACD6810)

Piercing are the Darts: Early Twenty-First Century Chamber Works

2014, Furious Artisans (FACD6810)

From the liner notes:

Within the creative world of Jonathan Dawe, early music has continued to have a profound influence. His preoccupation with this source material has led him to idiosyncratic methods of transformation of musical materials using ideas from fractal geometry. The music as a result has a distinctive sound, one in which echoes of the past, familiar in its style if not in its details, and is transmogrified into a language of the present.  Dawe employs fractal models in transforming the appropriated musical figures in several dimensions; some of the results are readily audible. Some transformations take place on a deeper or more far-reaching level that may determine large-scale structure for the piece, which results in a sense of cohesion and directedness. The vibrant integration of these various elements, employed in the service of musical expression, has resulted in a body of work immediately communicative but ever open to the possibility of new discoveries.  

Robert Kirzinger
Boston Symphony Orchestra Staff Writer


A Noise Did Rise: Chamber Works 1993-1999
2006, Furious Artisans (FACD6808)

A Noise Did Rise: Chamber Works 1993-1999

2006, Furious Artisans (FACD6808)

The first CD devoted to Dawe's music featuring late Twenieth-century chamber works. Horn Trio (1993) The Siren (1997)  Fractal Farm (1999) and Towr'd Trumpets (1993)    

Excellent Perfomances  ~American Record Review


William Anderson: Hausmusik
2002, Furious Artisans (FACD6802)

William Anderson: Hausmusik

2002, Furious Artisans (FACD6802)

Hausmusik features classical guitarist William Anderson with his colleagues from the Cygnus Ensemble in stunning performances of 20th c. solo and chamber music, much of which has never been recorded before.

The disc opens with a splashy, irresistable rendition of Hindemith's Rondo for Three Guitars (1925). The recording takes its title from a composition by Kreneck entitled Hausmusik. In this set of 7 short pieces recorders, violin, guitar and piano are used in different combinations. Despite the domestic intent of the music, these are striking pieces. Hans Erich Apostel's Sechs Musiken receives spectacular treatment in Anderson's Hands. These European works are mirrored by American which relate to the home (and architecture) in obvious or surprising ways -Robert Martin's exquisite little piece called Henry's Lullaby was written for Anderson's son Henry.