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Julia Wolfe has written a major body of work for strings, with pieces commissioned by the Lark, Ethel, Kronos, and Cassatt quartets. Three of her quartets - Dig Deep, Four Marys, and Early That Summer - can be heard on the disc Julia Wolfe: The String Quartets. As described by the New Yorker, these one-movement works "combine the violent forward drive of rock music with an aura of minimalist serenity [and] use the four instruments as a big guitar, whipping psychedelic states of mind into frenzied and ecstatic climaxes." My Beautiful Scream, a string quartet concerto, was written for Kronos Quartet and the Orchestre National de France and was premiered in the US at the Cabrillo Festival under the direction of Marin Alsop. The work was inspired by the idea of a slow motion scream and was written shortly after September 11, 2001. The influence of pop culture can be heard in many of Wolfe's works, including Lick and Believing for the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Lick, based on fragments of funk, has become a manifesto for the new generation of pop-influenced composers. The raucous My Lips From Speaking for six pianos was inspired by the opening riff of the Aretha Franklin tune Think. Wolfe's Dark Full Ride is an obsessive and relentless exploration of the drum set, beginning with an extended hi-hat spotlight. In LAD, Wolfe creates a kaleidoscopic landscape for nine bagpipes. Wolfe has also composed for Anna Deveare Smith's House Arrest and won an Obie award for her score to Ridge Theater's Jennie Richie. Wolfe recently created the city-wide spectacle Travel Music with architects DillerScofidio+Renfro in Bordeaux, France, filling the streets of the old city with 100 musicians walking and riding in pedi-cabs. Julia Wolfe's music has been heard at BAM, the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, Settembre Musica (Italy), Theatre de la Ville (Paris), Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and has been recorded on Cantaloupe, Teldec, Point/Universal, Sony Classical, and Argo/Decca. Recent projects include Steel Hammer - an evening length art ballad for Trio Mediaeval and the Bang on a Can All-Stars that premiered at Zankel Hall this past season. Upcoming projects include the New York premieres of Wolfe's string orchestra works Cruel Sister and FUEL performed by Signal at the Miller Theater on February 3, 2011. New works coming up are for Monica Germino, Evelyn Glennie, the Asko Ensemble, Ethel, and a percussion concerto for Collin Currie. Her CD Dark Full Ride, with works for 9 bagpipes, 4 drumsets, 6 pianos, and 8 double basses, was released on the Cantaloupe label in November 2009. Wolfe joined the NYU Steinhardt School’s composition faculty in the fall of 2009. She is co-founder of New York's music collective Bang on a Can.
juliawolfemusic.com