Music of Jefferson Friedman

Today's Youth
Perform
Today's Music

The New England Conservatory Preparatory School's annual contemporary festival, "Today's Youth Perform Today's Music" was founded in 1991 by faculty members Rodney Lister and John Ziarko to give students and faculty the opportunity to study the performance skills needed for contemporary music. Featured composers work closely with students in workshops, seminars, and coachings.

In the recent past, there has been a surge of interest among Preparatory School students to study composition, and perform their own music and that of their friends. This has become an integral part of the festival.

This year's visiting composer is Jefferson Friedman, a 1992 NEC Prep alumnus who is a 2004 Rome Prize recipient and who is also currently nominated for a Grammy Award for a 2011 recording of his String Quartet No. 3—the composition he worked on as an outcome of his Rome Prize.

In addition to his work in such classical idioms as the string quartet, Friedman has performed with rock bands, including Crom-Tech, Shudder to Think, and Matmos. Following on Friedman's string arrangements for Matmos's album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast, Matmos returned the favor with remixes that are paired with the recordings of Friedman's second and third string quartets.

Today's chamber music performances begin at 10am, 1pm, 2:30pm, and 4pm, and include works written by current NEC Prep students, past and present NEC faculty, and other contemporary composers, with a work by Jefferson Friedman on each concert.

10am concert
Jefferson Friedman 78 (2006) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
Wesley Leavers Walt Whitman
Donald Martino Suite of Medieval Tunes
Benjamin Adams Chess
Nicholas Davies Solitudes
Lev Mamula Hallucinations
Matthew Woodard Intermezzo
Christopher Stacknys The Pier
Morley Calvert Suite from the Monteragian Hills
Rachel Walker Sonata

1pm concert
Jefferson Freidman 5:54:42 (1995) for piano
Geoff Poole Look Behind You
Stephen Fiegenbaum Clap Your Hands
Avik Sharkar Three Movements of Joy
David Williams Suite

2:30pm concert
Jefferson Friedman String Quartet No. 2 (1999)
Malcolm Peyton 'Cello Piece
Hannah Ryu Frog Prince Waltz
Zlatomir Fung Animal Pieces
Jake Bernstein Ritual
Michael Einwright Sonata
Rodney Lister Sure of You/Imaginary Sheep Fact
Benjamin Yee Paulson Fantasie No. 4
Bryan McGuiggan Fantasie

4pm concert
Jefferson Friedman Eight Songs (1997/2004) written in collaboration with Crom-Tech
Daniel Kim Sextet
Milton Babbitt It Takes Twelve to Tango
Joshua Fineberg Til Human Voices Wake Us
Forrest Eimold Sonata

Jefferson Friedman also gives a masterclass on January 28.