Composers
Gabriela Lena Frank
© Sabina Frank
Born: 1972
Brief Biography:
Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank's music. Born in Berkeley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has travelled extensively throughout South America and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin-American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. She writes challenging idiomatic parts for solo instrumentalists, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and orchestras.
For a complete biography, click here.
Key Works: - Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
(2001; string quartet or string orchestra) - Illapa: Tone Poem for Flute and Orchestra
(2004; flute, orchestra) - Three Latin American Dances
(2004; orchestra) - La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra
(2007; viola, orchestra) - Quijotadas (2007; string quartet)
- Peregrinos
(2009; orchestra) - Hailíl Lírico
(2010; violin; ensemble)
| Career Highlights:- 2004 Invited to Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute led by Dawn Upshaw and John Harbison
- 2008 Premieres by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Manuel Barrueco with Cuarteto Latinoamericano
- 2008 Premieres by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Manuel Barrueco with Cuarteto Latinoamericano
- 2009 Received a Latin Grammy for Inca Dances and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- 2010-11 Premieres by St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with Dawn Upshaw, the ALIAS Chamber Ensemble and Ballet Hispanico
|
Critical Acclaim:
With each new piece, Frank becomes a more exciting and necessary voice.
— Los Angeles Times ...
crafted with unselfconscious mastery.
— Washington Post
Gabriela Lena Frank, an up-and-coming composer, is an exciting addition to the oeuvre of classical music.
— Deseret Morning News
Full Biography:
Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank's music. Born in Berkeley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has traveled extensively throughout South America and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. She writes challenging idiomatic parts for solo instrumentalists, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and orchestras.
Moreover, she writes, "There's usually a story line behind my music; a scenario or character." While the enjoyment of her works can be obtained solely from her music, the composer's program notes enhance the listener's experience, for they describe how a piano part mimics a marimba or pan-pipes, or how a movement is based on a particular type of folk song, where the singer is mockingly crying. Even a brief glance at her titles evokes specific imagery: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout; Cuatro Canciones Andinas; and La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra. Frank's compositions also reflect her virtuosity as a pianist — when not composing, she is a sought-after performer, specializing in contemporary repertoire.
A 2009 recipient of the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship to assist in research and artistic creation, Frank’s recent premieres include a new work for the band Huayucaltia and the Los Angeles Master Chorale; a cantata for The Berkeley Symphony, soprano Jessica Rivera and the San Francisco Girls Chorus; and Raíces for the Annapolis Symphony. A frequent collaborator with artists in other disciplines, Frank has developed a number of projects with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban playwright Nilo Cruz, among them La Centinela y la Paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), a song cycle for Dawn Upshaw and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra that premiered in February 2011. Other recent premieres include Escaramuza for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra; Hilos (2010) for the Alias Chamber Ensemble; Hailí Lírico (2010) for violinist Robin Sharp and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra; Puntos Suspensivos (2010) for Ballet Hispanico; guitarist Manuel Barrueco and Cuarteto Latinoamericano — which received a 2009 Latin Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition; New Andean Songs (2007) for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella new music series; Peregrinos (2009) for the Indianapolis Symphony; and Two Mountain Songs (2008) for a consortium comprised of the Young People's Chorus of New York, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and Anima.
Having collaborated with a broad range of artists, Frank's other works include Quijotadas (2007) for the Brentano String Quartet; Jalapeño Blues (2006) for Chanticleer, based on the Spanglish poetry of renowned Chicano poet Trinidad Sánchez; Compadrazgo (2007), a double concerto for David Finckel and Wu Han with the ProMusica Orchestra; La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra (2007) for the Houston Symphony with principal Wayne Brooks under the baton of Hans Graf; Dos Canciones de Cifar (2007) for baritone and piano, commissioned by the Marilyn Horne Foundation with Carnegie Hall; ¡Chayraq! (2011); and Ritmos Anchinos (2006) for the Silk Road Project; Cinco Danzas de Chambi (2006) for viola and piano, commissioned by the Aspen Summer Music Festival; Canto de Harawi (2006) for the Da Camera Society of Houston; Manchay Tiempo (2005) for the Seattle Symphony under the baton of Jun Märkl; Inkarrí (2005) for the Kronos Quartet; Illapa: Tone Poem for Flute and Orchestra (2004) for flutist Leone Buyse and the Shepherd Symphony Orchestra; and Three Latin-American Dances (2004) for the Utah Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Keith Lockhart.
Three Latin-American Dances was subsequently recorded by the Utah Symphony for the Reference Recording label and has been hailed as "dazzling" and exhibiting "wit, brilliance, atmosphere, and poetry (Classics Today), and "a rare treasure of modern orchestral music" (Hong Kong/China Hi Fi Review). Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (2001), performed by its commissioner, the Chiara String Quartet, was released in early 2007 on the New Voice Singles label. In reference to this recording, the American Record Guide called Frank "a remarkable composer." Recent recordings include an all-Frank disc on Naxos featuring Hilos, among other works, by the Alias Chamber Ensemble; Inca Dances with guitarist Manuel Barrueco and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, released on the Tonar Music Label; and several chamber/orchestral works for the Filarmonika label as part of the groundbreaking “Caminos del Inka” project under the directorship of conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
Frank attended Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she earned both a B.A. (1994) and M.A. (1996). She studied composition with Paul Cooper, Ellsworth Milburn, and Sam Jones, and piano with Jeanne Kierman Fischer. Frank credits Fischer with introducing her to the music of Ginastera, Bartók, and other composers who utilized folk elements in their work. At the University of Michigan, where she received a D.M.A. in composition in 2001, Frank studied with William Albright, William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, and Michael Daugherty, and piano with Logan Skelton.
Gabriela Lena Frank's music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer, Inc.
— September 2012
For specific inquiries about this composer, please contact Katy Tucker at katy.tucker(at)schirmer.com or (212) 254-2100 ext. 134.
|
|
|
|