Cassandra Miller

Cassandra Miller (born Metchosin, British Columbia, Canada, 1976)[1] is a Canadian experimental composer currently based in London, England. Her work is known for frequently utilising the process of transcription of a variety of pre-existing pieces of music.[2]

She has been widely commissioned by international orchestras, ensembles and soloists, and has won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music twice, in 2016 and in 2011.[3]

Since 2018 she has been Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK.[4]

Education

Miller studied with Christopher Butterfield at the University of Victoria (2005) and at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (2008) with Richard Ayres and Yannis Kyriakides before studying privately with Michael Finnissy in 2012.[5]

Miller returned to academic research in 2014, as a PhD candidate at the University of Huddersfield, supervised by Dr Bryn Harrison and supported by the Jonathan Harvey Scholarship.[6]

Career

Miller's music has been commissioned and performed by orchestras including BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra,[7] the Oslo Philharmonic,[8] the Toronto Symphony Orchestra[9] and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.[10] Ensembles who have performed her work include EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble, the London Sinfonietta,[11] I Musici de Montréal, Ensemble Plus-Minus, Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, and Continuum Contemporary Music.

She has ongoing artistic relationships with the soprano Juliet Fraser[12] and the Canadian string quartet Quatour Bozzini, for whom she wrote the pieces About Bach (2015),[13] Leaving (2011), Warblework (2011) and Just So (2008/2018). These four works were released as an album by the label Another Timbre in 2018,[14][15] alongside a second album of her orchestra and ensemble music.[16]

From 2010 to 2013, Miller also was artistic director of the concert series "Innovations en concert" in Montreal.[2][17] Miller moved to London to take up the post of Associate Head of Composition (Undergraduate) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in September 2018.[18]

Use of transcription

Miller often bases her work on pre-existing music, for example: a computer transcription of Kurt Cobain singing the folk song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", in For Mira (2012), written for violinist Mira Benjamin,[14][19] a recording of Maria Callas singing "Vissi d’arte" from Puccini's opera Tosca in Bel Canto (2010),[11] and a recording of an anonymous mbira player from Mozambique in Philip the Wanderer (2012).[20]

Her work takes these transcriptions as starting points, investigating her response to the music through processes of repetition and looping.[20] Often the source material is unrecognisable in Miller’s finished works.[14]

Her works employ musical notation, but also sometimes recordings of the source music, which performers learn by memory, such as a recording of the blues singer Maria Muldaur, which Miller uses in her piece Guide (2013).[21]

Selected works
  • Round (2017) for orchestra, for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra[22]
  • Tracery (2017–2018) for voice and tape, in collaboration with Juliet Fraser
    • Tracery : Handanger (2017)
    • Tracery : Lazy, Rocking (2017)
    • Tracery : The Slits (2017)
    • Tracery : attending to a task (2018)
  • Traveller Song (2017) for ensemble, for Plus Minus[23]
  • About Bach (2015) for string quartet
  • Duet for cello and orchestra (2015) for Charles Curtis and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Techtonics Festival
  • Guide (2013) for vocal ensemble, for EXAUDI
  • Philip the Wanderer (2012) for piano
  • For Mira (2012) for solo violin
  • Leaving (2011) for string quartet
  • Warblework (2011) for string quartet
  • Bel Canto (2010) for mezzo soprano and ensemble
  • A Large House (2009) for orchestra, for the Janácěk Philharmonic at the Ostrava New Music Days
  • Just So (2008/2018) for string quartet
  • O Zomer! (2007) for the Asko Ensemble
  • Orfeo (2006) for ensemble
  • Dry Bones (1998), for eight timpani, bass drum, viola and cello[20]
  • Through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year (1998) for two recorders, prepared cello and three prepared double basses[20]
gollark: How graphical.
gollark: Something something omicron something something immune escape, as they say.
gollark: Binary logic gates can be described by truth tables, yes.
gollark: As far as I know transistors don't map nicely to any particular logic gate.
gollark: I don't understand what you mean.

References
  1. "Cassandra Miller » Biography". Smcq.qc.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  2. "Cassandra Miller: Biography | Canadian Music Centre | Centre de Musique Canadienne". Musiccentre.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  3. "Jules Léger Prize : List of winners" (PDF). Canadacouncil.ca. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  4. "Guildhall School of Music & Drama| Dr Cassandra Miller". www.gsmd.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. "UVic School of Music: Alumni". finearts.uvic.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  6. "Doctoral student and renowned composer takes up major appointment – University of Huddersfield". Hud.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  7. "BBC SSO in Concert". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  8. "Only Connect 2016: Cassandra Miller". nyMusikk. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  9. "Review: BBC SSO, City Halls, Glasgow, four stars". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  10. "THE NEXT WORLD?". Winnipeg New Music Festival. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  11. Hall, George (2016-04-04). "Mix: London Sinfonietta/Volkov review – eclectic, raucous contemporary selection". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  12. "Juliet Fraser | TRACERY". Julietfraser.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  13. "At This New-Music Festival, You Can Count on Variety". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  14. Clements, Andrew (2018-08-23). "Cassandra Miller: Just So; O Zomer! CD review – profoundly haunting". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  15. "Cassandra Miller— Just So (Another Timbre)". dusted. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  16. "Boring Like A Drill. A Blog. » Cassandra Miller: 'O Zomer!' and 'Just So'". Cookylamoo.com. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  17. Arts, Rocketday. "Innovations en concert :: what we provide". Innovations en concert. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  18. "Guildhall School of Music & Drama | Cassandra Miller". Gsmd.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  19. "Documentation // Cassandra Miller: for mira | nu:nord". nunord.net. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  20. Weeks, James (July 2014). "Along the Grain: The Music of Cassandra Miller". Tempo. 68 (269): 50–64. doi:10.1017/S0040298214000060. ISSN 0040-2982.
  21. Tim, Rutherford-Johnson (February 2017). Music after the fall : modern composition and culture since 1989. Oakland, California. p. 93. ISBN 9780520283145. OCLC 958262850.
  22. Orchestra, Toronto Symphony (2016-08-30). "Nicole Lizée and Cassandra Miller". TSO Canada Mosaic. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  23. "Christine Sun Kim / Plus-Minus performs Miller / Fraser performs Miller – Kammer Klang". Kammer Klang. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
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