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THE SCOOP | EarShot Readings Holds Their First Event In Canada With The National Arts Centre Orchestra

By Anya Wassenberg on October 24, 2024

L-R top: Composers Shanti Sivarulrasa; Saman Shahi; Osnat Netzer; Bottom: Estrella Cabildo; Charles Chen; Edna A. Longoria (Photos courtesy of the artists)
L-R top: Composers Shanti Sivarulrasa; Saman Shahi; Osnat Netzer; Bottom: Estrella Cabildo; Charles Chen; Edna A. Longoria (Photos courtesy of the artists)

How do orchestras choose which works to program? Of particular importance also to the composers, how can they choose pieces of music that they’ve never heard of?

The EarShot Readings program aims to address that essential dilemma by introducing orchestras to a variety of new works and composers all at once at a single event.

EarShot Readings is a program of the League of American Orchestras. They’ll be holding the first Canadian EarShot Reading in Ottawa’s Centrepoint Theatre on October 28 and 29, featuring the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, and the work of several emerging composers.

Henry Kennedy, the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s newly-appointed Resident Conductor, will lead the readings, with mentor composers Jimmy López Bellido, Ana Sokolović, and Dinuk Wijeratne.

The works they’ll hear come from an international call for composers.

Featured artists and works include:

  • Charles Chen, Merging with Andromeda
  • Edna Longoria, La Banda
  • Estrella Cabildo, Perenne Mar
  • Osnat Netzer, Common Ground
  • Saman Shahi, Chained
  • Shanti Sivarulrasa, Plutonian Revival

EarShot Readings

EarShot is an ongoing program that works to foster relationships between composers and orchestras, up till now, on the national level in the United States, along with introductory events in Mexico and China. Ottawa’s EarShot Reading brings the concept north of the border.

EarShot Readings are organized via a partnership between the American Composers Forum, New Music USA, and the League of American Orchestras. It’s a program designed to offer working experience at the professional level for orchestras and composers, and has operated in the US for about 25 years. More than 275 composers have participated, including now-famous names such as Jesse Montgomery, Courtney Bryan, Jennifer Higdon, and many others. Alumni of the program have gone on to win Pulitzers, Grammys, and other accolades. Orchestras can find out more here.

As an industry event, it’s not open to the public. We asked a few questions of participating Toronto composer Saman Shahi, and Loki Karuna, Director of Artist Equity, to take a closer look into the program and what it offers to the classical music industry.

An EarShot Reading with the American Composers Orchestra on June 14, 2024, with Mentor composes Marcos Balter, Curtis Stewart, and Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and emcee Loki Karuna, featuring works by Anuj Bhutani (After the Freeze); Malachi Brown (Statements- a journal entry), Eunsung Kim (Kaleidoscope for Orchestra); Madeline Merwin (Dirty Ice); Sofía Scheps (Demografía acústica: % / Acoustic Demography), and Samuel Torres (Frailejón)

Toronto composer Saman Shahi

What made you apply to be part of the Earshot Reading in Ottawa? How did you hear about it?

I have been aware of the Earshot readings by the ACO for quite a few years through various channels such as the Canadian Music Centre, Canadian League of Composers and also by observing my colleagues’ activities. I have always wanted to take part in an educational and professional setting where I can deepen my technical prowess when it comes to writing for an orchestral medium, and the Earshot readings are a perfect opportunity for exactly that.

You work in diverse genres — what kind of music will you bring/write for the Reading?

I will bring a short work titled “Chained” to the reading. I wrote this piece in the early onset of the pandemic lockdowns. I had been listening to a lot of music by Varese and Ligeti, and I wanted to experiment with their methods in writing music, namely writing music with colour, and only very minimally using melodic or rhythmic motifs. Writing this work was a huge challenge but I really liked how free, and organic the piece turned out! So I kept sending it around for performance opportunities for 4 years, and finally it was picked up for this opportunity, and also with a Canadian Orchestra too; it was a lesson in not giving up on your music for me!

What can you add about the experience so far? How do you feel about working with an organization like the National Arts Centre Orchestra?

NACO is one of Canada and North America’s top orchestras, and for me to have my music performed by them is a notable career moment in terms of the notoriety, and visibility I will receive. I am confident that I will absorb many important lessons that have lain in my blindspot as a composer, which will propel me forward in my artistic path. I am also excited to connect with the orchestra members, the artistic team at the NACO, as well as the ACO team to forge relationships for future collaborations.

Note: Toronto audiences will be able to hear some of his work when the Happenstancers premiere a commissioned piece in 2025.

Loki Karuna, Director of Artist Equity

How important is a program like Earshot, and the Readings to new composers?

For early to mid career composers, this opportunity is invaluable. There are virtually no other programs built specifically to connect composers with orchestras across the Americas; I believe that this is evident in current programming practices across orchestras, conservatory, ensembles, et cetera.

It should also be noted that for many composers who participate in this program, it’s their first opportunity to work with a professional orchestra, which gives them experiences that can be found in few other arenas. EarShot alumni include some of the field’s most performed living composers today — it’s our goal to continue this work of creating significant career expanding opportunities for living composers toward an ultimate shift in what it means to be an orchestra in the Americas.

It seems like there is a new wave of interest in contemporary composers — is that your impression as well?

Today’s audiences connect best and most genuinely with music that is written from a perspective or lived experience that matches their own. I’ve seen this not only as an orchestral musician, myself, but as a radio host, curator of live orchestral concerts, and now in my work with ACO. There are many conversations that are being had about what should be done with the traditional repertoire; while I affirm the significance of the music that served as the entry point for many people curious about orchestral music, I believe that the future success of this art form will be solidified by composers who write music that reflect today’s world. I am extremely proud to do my part in creating this future through my work with ACO.

Given your position and experience, what would you say is the biggest concern of contemporary composers starting out?

Composers writing orchestral music today need an opportunity to realize their visions. While technology gives composers the opportunity to write and test music on their own through various digital programs and platforms, there will never be a replacement for live human beings playing orchestral instruments in harmony with a composer’s vision.

In addition to supporting composers through my work at ACO, I hope to also encourage those working for other orchestras to consider a shift in programming that centres composers who can most benefit from an opportunity to engage their musicians, audiences, and other stakeholders. The bright and vibrant future that I see for orchestras across the Americas requires this new engagement of living composers, and a reframing of how we all think about the orchestral concert experience.

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