'Julia Wolfe' (born December 18, 1958) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
. She was born in Philadelphia and works in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Wolfe's music is rhythmically vigorous and often clangorously dissonant. As a composer associated with the
downtownDowntown music is a subdivision of American music, closely related experimental music. The scene the term describes began in 1960, when Yoko Ono—one of the Fluxus artists, at that time still seven years away from meeting John Lennon—opened her loft at 112 Chambers Street to be used as a...
style of new music she is not averse to drawing on rock and
minimalismMinimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady pulse , stasis and slow transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells...
as primary influences. Her music, however, shows a good deal more rhythmic complexity than is generally found in these genres, hence her music can properly be considered and described as postminimalist.
In 1987, Wolfe co-founded
Bang on a CanBang on a Can is a multi-faceted musical organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. It is a major force in the presentation of new concert music, and has presented hundreds...
together with composers
David LangDavid Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
and
Michael GordonMichael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...
, her husband.
In 2000 she was awarded a grant from the
Foundation for Contemporary ArtsFoundation for Contemporary Arts , originally known as Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, is a nonprofit based in New York City founded by artists Jasper Johns and John Cage in 1963...
Grants to Artists Award.
As of 2003, Julia Wolfe is on the composition faculty of the
Manhattan School of MusicThe Manhattan School of Music is one of the world's leading music conservatories located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
.
She has recently become head of the composition department at
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Orchestra
Amber Waves of Grain (1988) - 8 minute(s)
Orchestration 2(pic).222/432+btbn.1/4perc/hp/str
Cruel Sister (2004) - 35 minute(s)
Orchestration str (min 65431)
Tell me everything (1994) - 8 minute(s)
Orchestration 111.asx.1/1110/2perc/hp.pf/str
(111.asx.1/1110/2perc/hp.pf/amp 2vn, amp va, amp vc, amp db)
The Vermeer Room (1989) - 15 minute(s)
Orchestration 1(afl).11(bcl).1/11.btbn.0/2perc/pf/str
(fl(afl), ob, cl(bcl), bn, hn, tpt, btbn, 2perc, pf, hp, 2vn, va, vc, db)
Window of Vulnerability (1991) - 9 minute(s)
Orchestration 3(2pic).3.3(bcl).2+cbn/4.3.3(btbn).1/timp.4perc/hp.syn.pf/str
Soloist(s) and Orchestra
My Beautiful Scream (2003) - 25 minute(s)
Soloist(s) amplified string quartet
Orchestration 3(pic).2+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn/4.3.2+btbn.1/4perc/amp pf.hp.ebgtr/str
Large Ensemble (7 or more players)
Arsenal of Democracy (1993) - 9 minute(s)
Orchestration 1(pic).00.ssx+asx+barsx.0/132+btbn.0/bgtr/pf
Girlfriend (1988) - 18 minute(s)
Orchestration all instruments amplified: fl(afl,pic), cl(bcl), full-size MIDI kbd with Electric Organ sound, perc, twelve cheap wine glasses (to be stomped on, 2 per player), vn, vc, audio tape with click track
Steam (1995) - 7 minute(s)
Orchestration fl, vc, eorg, Harry Partch instruments
Soloist(s) and Large Ensemble (7 or more players)
Accordion Concerto ("True Love") (2005) - 20 minute(s)
Soloist(s) Accordion
Orchestration 1.1.1(bcl).1/1.1.1.1/perc/hp.pf/str (1.1.1.1.1)
Works for 2-6 Players
Believing (1997) - 9 minute(s)
Orchestration amplified sextet
Believing (expanded version) (1997) - 20 minute(s)
Orchestration amplified sextet
Close Together (2000) - 18 minute(s)
Orchestration cello, percussion, electronic tape
Dark Full Ride (2002) - 18 minute(s)
Orchestration four drum sets
Dig Deep
Orchestration string quartet
Early That Summer (1993) - 12 minute(s)
Orchestration str4t
Four Marys (1991) - 12 minute(s)
Orchestration str4t
Lick (1994) - 8 minute(s)
Orchestration all instruments amplified: ssx, perc, pf, egtr, vc, db
Mink Stole (1997) - 10 minute(s)
Orchestration vn, pf
on seven-star-shoes (1985) - 6 minute(s)
Orchestration fl(pic), ob, cl(bcl), bn, hn
Strong Hold (2008) - 25 minute(s)
Orchestration 8 Double Basses
Solo Keyboard(s)
6 Pianos
Orchestration 6 pf
Compassion (2001) - 7 minute(s)
Orchestration piano
Earring (2001) - 2 minute(s)
Orchestration piano
East Broadway (1996)
Orchestration toy piano, toy boombox
my lips from speaking (1993) - 13 minute(s)
Orchestration 6 pianos
Film
- New York Composers: Searching for a New Music (1997). Directed by Michael Blackwood. Produced by Michael Blackwood Productions, in association with Westdeutscher Rundfunk. New York, New York: Michael Blackwood Productions.
Recordings
- Julia Wolfe: The String Quartets including artists Ethel
ETHEL is the name of an American string quartet based in New York City that is dedicated to the performance of new music.ETHEL was formed in 1998. Unlike most string quartets, ETHEL plays with amplification and integrates improvisation into its performances. Its members include Cornelius "Neil"...
, Cassatt String Quartet, and Lark Quartet (2003)
- Arsenal of Democracy by Julia Wolfe (1996)
- Lost Objects with artists Michael Gordon, David Lang, Roger Epple, Andrew Watts, Daniel Taylor, and Concerto Köln (2001)
- Bang on a Can Live, Vol. 1 with artists David Mott, Robert Black, Anna Cholakian, Karl Parens, and Andrew Sterman (1994)
External links