Composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery won the category for the Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her work Rounds, performed by pianist Awadagin Pratt and A Far Cry chamber orchestra.
Composer Jessie Montgomery was awarded the GRAMMY in the category of Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her composition “Rounds,” performed by pianist Awadagin Pratt and the A Far Cry chamber orchestra on the album Stillpoint…
“A pair of string quartets — Montgomery’s “Voodoo Dolls” and Kendall’s “Glances / I Don’t Belong Here” opened the evening and set the tone. Montgomery’s 2009 quartet — originally composed…
“Pratt points out that the concert will also be a unique experience, particularly for fans of Montgomery’s work. ‘A lot of times music is just played once. You know, there’s…
“These days, Chicago just makes sense for Montgomery, now 42 and among the most avidly commissioned composers of her generation. Many of her closest collaborators are based here, like violinist…
“On “Strum” (2006), which opens with an instantly unforgettable plucked violin part, their 20 rhythmic strings filled every corner and cranny of the Sheldon. In this intimate setting with such…
“Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds, a mini-piano concerto, is built on a traditional foundation, allowing a stormy cadenza and flourishes of high Romanticism. It’s got legs. Pratt has already performed the work with…
“The three standing ovations that Pratt received immediately after Rounds, a Grammy-nominated piece for piano and strings, reinforced the consistently enthusiastic affirmative response the 2022 work has received in more…
“Montgomery’s Rounds and the Bach Keyboard Concerto No. 4 pair exceptionally well, and both are suited to Pratt’s unique technical and interpretive gifts, which include a strong, percussive tone and the…
“‘You could say that it is a debut performance of the Blacknificent 7 as a group,’ said Jessie Montgomery of New York, one of its most prominent members. She curated…
“One of the outcomes of this collaboration was the creation of the opening program in the Chicago Symphony’s 2023–2034 MusicNOW Series, taking place on Dec. 3 and curated by Montgomery. It will…
“Jessie Montgomery’s Grammy-nominated Rounds for solo piano and string orchestra created a dappling watery world, as Debussy met Glass in repeating figures. At times we heard a very strong metric four…
“‘I think our collective is a signifier of things to come,’ says Montgomery, who curated the program of original works — by Thompson, Okpebholo, Ragland, Barnes and Geter — addressing…
“This program connects audiences with the music and ideas of a group of composers and performers who support one another and grow together in our ongoing work. The Blacknificent 7…
Nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition: “Montgomery: Rounds,” Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry and Roomful of Teeth)
“Montgomery’s Banner was commissioned in 2014 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner which became America’s national anthem. As an African American, Montgomery felt that the anthem didn’t apply…
“Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music will welcome acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator, Jessie Montgomery, to Ingram Hall on Thursday, November 9. Montgomery will perform with bassist Eleonore Oppenheim, a…
“Pine is also impressed by composers who are also performers. ‘Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a composer who wasn’t also a performer, or a performer…
“The penultimate movement was Montgomery’s Space. A violinist herself, the composer has written a striking solo cadenza for Bell, and orchestral textures that glittered with touches of harp and percussion.”
“The piece opens with glowing washes and surges of sound, before brass chatterings set the whole orchestra dancing in dotted and syncopated rhythms, with lots of percussion. A dreamy, shimmering…
