Every piece is nearly flawless, exciting, and played with tremendous passion.

- American Record Guide

Sean Hickey – A composer who maximizes
the miniature in his savvy travelogues.

…these compositions are substantive and savvy. The aesthetic that emerges here is that of excitable conversation between the instruments – a discourse that never collapses into idle palaver. Fool’s Errand packs a wealth of material into a three-minute masterpiece.             

- Gramophone

One of the trials of constantly maintaining a website is – well – the constant maintenance. Half of what is said here is obsolete fairly quickly and the choice of writing between past and present tense is a tricky one. Though I’m unable to update as much as I’d like, rest assured that a lot is happening. Below are the highlights:

New York, NY – Naxos, the most prestigious classical label worldwide, has released a disc of the composer's chamber music, which made it onto the Billboard Classical Chart on its very first week of release, a rarity for new music. The recording is on the American Classics imprint, the premiere label dedicated to the preservation of American music with celebrated, Grammy-nominated recordings of Ives, Copland, Bernstein and many others. The disc was recorded in January 2005 with several musicians who have championed Hickey's music in the past. The sessions took place over three arduous but thrilling days at Brooklyn's Systems Two Studios. The disc features nine different compositions, ranging from solo works to a piece for voices and orchestra, Sagesse. Check www.naxos.com, or here, for updates. Please also see the Reviews and Testimony section for reviews of the disc and features on the composer from The Detroit Free Press, Gramophone, American Record Guide, Fanfare and others.

8559279 Sean Hickey - Left at the Fork in the Road

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News:

2010 is an extremely busy time for music and performances and it’s especially so in the late summer. I’m honored to have been asked by one of the most exciting musicians today – conductor Marin Alsop – to have my orchestral work Dalliance premiered at this year’s Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music. I will be in great company with the likes of Philip Glass, John Adams, Kevin Puts, Michael Hersch, Mark-Anthony Turnage and this-year’s Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon, not to mention eighth blackbird, Kronos Quartet, Collin Currie, Wendy Sutter, Maestra Alsop and all of the wonderful musicians who contribute to this important new music festival. Dalliance receives its airing on August 14th in Santa Cruz, CA. More info and to order tickets – www.cabrillomusic.org. Be sure to check out Marin’s wonderful video here.

Almost immediately afterward, my Left at the Fork in the Road, the title track on my Naxos disc, will receive a performance at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and in the care of some of the most exciting woodwind players on the planet: flutist Marya Martin, clarinetist Anthony McGill and bassoonist Judith Leclair. Date for this performance is August 18th and you’ll see the details on www.bcmf.org. I generally don’t need a reason to take a trip to the Hamptons but this year I’m particularly inspired. I’m also honored to be a part of their 27th season.

The rest of the year sees performance of my Cursive, for solo piano, by the obscenely talented Philip Fisher. Performances of this work will take place at Brooklyn’s Bargemusic and London’s Steinway Hall this fall. I can’t share exact dates as of this writing but we’re looking at September and October respectively. Watch this space for more info and some details on performances in Brazil and France also.

North/South Consonance, led by composer/conductor/pianist/teacher/polymath Max Lifschitz, is an organization I’ve followed closely for some 20 years. I’m honored to have been commissioned by them this year and the result is my recently completed Sinfonietta, a three movement work for ten instruments. Max and North/South will give the premiere in New York during the next concert season. www.northsouthmusic.org. I’m also pleased to have made the acquaintance of a wonderful ensemble from Sweden, The Pearls Before Swine Experience, who I first heard play at Scandinavia House. They have commissioned a new work for their instrumentation of flute, violin, cello and piano and I’m eager to get started. www.swinepearl.com.

Lastly, I was disappointed to have had the premiere of my Mandolin Concerto cancelled in February in New York. However, mandolinist Avi Avital is spectacular and we hope to unveil my new piece in Berlin next year. More to follow but for now, do check out Avi’s site, www.aviavital.com and prepare yourself for some stunning playing. Thanks to all for listening, in addition to all of your comments on my contributions on classical music in Library Journal, getClassical, The Wall Street Journal and the Naxos of America blog, naxosofamerica.blogspot.com, over the past year.

Other news:

With generous support from International Performing Artists, LLC, pianist Xiayin Wang has commissioned Sean Hickey for a new work for the opening of the new Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. The new piece will be performed in May 2009. For more information on this extraordinary musician, please visit www.xiayinwang.com and look for her releases on Marquis and Naxos, the latter coming later this year.

Cellist Dmitry Kouzov has commissioned a Cello Concerto. The three-movement work will have its premiere under the direction of Vladimir Lande, who leads the Chamber Orchestra of Southern Maryland, in late 2008. The work then travels to St. Petersburg, where soloist and conductor will present the work with the St. Petersburg Symphony. The performance will represent Hickey’s first performance in Russia. Kouzov is perhaps the most exciting cellist on the scene today. He performs over 100 shows annually, mostly with the Manhattan Piano Trio. His disc of CPE Bach sonatas was just released on Naxos and Marquis Classics will release a thrilling recital disc later this year. In 2007, Kouzov recorded Hickey’s Beara in St. Petersburg, a short work for solo cello. The piece is available as an exclusive eMusic download when Left at the Fork in the Road is purchased. Visit www.eMusic.com for more info.

The newly composed Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra, commissioned jointly by soloist David Gould, the Metro Chamber Orchestra, DANSR, Inc. and Vandoren, received its premiere on April 27^th, 2007, at New York’s Symphony Space. The Metro Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Phil Nuzzo gave the premiere with Gould as soloist. Hickey is composer-in-residence with the Metro Chamber Orchestra and this is the group’s first commission. He’s also recently made a chamber arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Prelude to Khovanchina. Visit www.symphonyspace.org for more info.

The chamber version of the Clarinet Concerto received its premiere at Brooklyn College on March 29^th, 2007, where the composer lectured on the work for the faculty and composition department. David Gould also performed the role as soloist. Further performances of the concerto include its Detroit debut on November 4^th, 2007 at Detroit’s Scarab Club, www.scarabclub.org. The piece makes its European debut in October at the prestigious Warsaw Autumn festival.

Flutist Koren McCaffrey, violist Erin Wight and harpist Allegra Lily gave the premiere of Pied a Terre, a new chamber work, at the Jean Hus Church in New York as part of Vox Novus’ Composer’s Voice series. The piece was performed again at ARIUM, the exciting new concert space in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. www.ariumnyc.com. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra flutist Stefan Hoskuldsson handled the flute part in this recital.

Flutist James Strauss gave the South American premiere of Fluff, for solo flute, in April 2007 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in a program of works for solo flute. Strauss will also give the South American premiere of the composer’s Left at the Fork in the Road, at a Brazilian festival in July. More info to follow.

The 60x60 Project comes courtesy of Vox Novus, the wonderful advocate for contemporary music. The project has really taken off with performances all over the US, and as far away as Romania. Visit www.voxnovus.com for more info. Sean Hickey’s 60-second piece, Rumble Strip, appears on the new 60x60 CD, now available on Capstone Records. Visit www.capstonerecords.org to purchase your copy or go to J&R or Amazon.

The Metro Chamber Orchestra, led by conductor Philip Nuzzo, performed Sagesse, for voices and chamber orchestra on Saturday, December 3rd, 2005 at New York's Society for Ethical Culture. Soprano Jennifer Greene and Doug McCormick, the soloists on the recording, sang here as well. The MCO and clarinetist David Gould have commissioned a clarinet concerto from the composer which will have its premiere in early 2007.

The Gringolts-Fiterstein-Weiss Trio commissioned a new work from the composer titled, Avatar. The group is comprised of three of New York's leading musicians - including violinist and Deutche Gramophon recording artist Ilya Gringolts, clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and pianist Orion Weiss.

Hickey's intermediate duos for mandolin and guitar, Mandolin Canons, has been published by Wolfhead Music. Please visit www.wolfheadmusic.com for more info.

2005 saw performances of the String Quartet at New York's Symphony Space, as well as the Flute Sonata and Fluff in CAMI Hall.

Early in 2004, the composer finished Funny Papers, a commission from the accordion/piano ensemble based in Spain, Duo An-Tifon, comprised of Angel Luis Castano and Ananda Sukarlan. The premiere took place in Madrid before the group traveled to the UK for the piece's second performance. More info may be found at www.musicapresente.com.

The Ludus Quartet, of Turin, Italy, has added Hickey's String Quartet to their repertoire and have included an mp3 of the first movement on their website, www.ludusquartet.it, alongside works of Beethoven and Stravinsky.

Visit www.kalvos.org for Hickey's profile on Kalvos and Damian's New Music Bazaar.

Please click on compositions for an updated list of works and check back here for further news and performance updates. Check out the piece on a trip to Patagonia, also on this site under rants, raves and ruminations.

Click here to view a list of Recent Performances

Updated 4/08