Art Inspiring Art is an ongoing project to commission new works based on Baroque masterpieces from emerging composers across the country.
As a historically informed ensemble, we believe that the music of the Baroque is as relevant as it was three or four centuries ago. We equally believe, however, that it is necessary to create modern-day narratives that speak to our own time and place.
For our third commission, we are excited to collaborate with Boston-based composer Benjamin Pesetsky. Ben's piece, B-Story, draws inspiration from Marin Marais's La gamme, an instrumental "opera" based on the scale.
As a historically informed ensemble, we believe that the music of the Baroque is as relevant as it was three or four centuries ago. We equally believe, however, that it is necessary to create modern-day narratives that speak to our own time and place.
For our third commission, we are excited to collaborate with Boston-based composer Benjamin Pesetsky. Ben's piece, B-Story, draws inspiration from Marin Marais's La gamme, an instrumental "opera" based on the scale.
BENJAMIN PESETSKY
Benjamin Pesetsky is an American composer of dramatic instrumental and vocal music. NOW Magazine called his opera scene Love Redux “one of the best episodes” on a program of new works staged by Tapestry Opera in Toronto and his music has also been performed by ensembles including the Albany Symphony Orchestra, The American Symphony Orchestra, and New England Conservatory’s Jordan Winds.
Recently his Piano Sonata was commissioned by Thomas Hecht and premiered on recital programs in Europe, Asia, and the United States. In 2014 the Phonochrome Collective premiered An Illusory Image, a trio for viola, cello, and piano, at the San Francisco Center for New Music. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre and the Hambidge Center and attended the Deer Valley Festival and the Vancouver International Song Institute. He has collaborated with WordSong, a presenter of new artsong in a conversational format, and was a featured composer at the Rivers School Conservatory’s Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young. Mr. Pesetsky studied with Joan Tower, George Tsontakis, and Howard Frazin and holds degrees in composition and philosophy from Bard College Conservatory and Bard College. In addition to composing, he works as a freelance writer and critic for publications including Boston.com, EMAg (Early Music America), Classical Voice North America, and The Boston Musical Intelligencer. |