AION
For orchestra
Duration 38 minutes
Instrumentation: 2+afl.0.2+bcl.2+cbn / 4021 / 3perc / str

Written for the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, co-commissioned by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
AION is a symphony-scale orchestral work in three parts written in 2018. The movements are titled Morphosis, Transcension and Entropia.

The piece was premiered at the Point Music Festival with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

AION is nominated for the 2021 Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco Music Composition Prize

About the work
AIŌN is a symphony-scale orchestral work in three movements, titled Morphosis, Transcension and Entropia.

AIŌN is inspired by the abstract metaphor of being able to move freely in time, of being able to explore time as a space that you inhabit rather than experiencing it as a one-directional journey through a single dimension. Disorienting at first, you realize that time extends in all directions simultaneously and that whenever you feel like it, you can access any moment, even simultaneously. As you learn to control the journey, you find that the experience becomes different by taking different perspectives – you can see every moment at once, focus on just some of them, or go there to experience them. You are constantly zooming in and out, both in dimension and perspective. Some moments you want to visit more than others, noticing as you revisit the same moment, how your perception of it changes.

This metaphor is connected to a number of broader background ideas in relation to the work. AIŌN is a reflection on how we relate to our lives, to the ecosystem, and to our place in the broader scheme of things. At any given moment, we are connected both to the past and to the future, and not just of our own lives but across – and beyond – generations. In the work, this reflection is envisioned by being able to move freely in time where we are invited to get perspective, to learn, and to grow. AIŌN is characterized by an embracing and resilient energy, combining strength, tenderness and hope. It evokes both the ancient and things to come, seeking refuge in the possibilities of resurrection, of rebuilding ourselves.

 

METACOSMOS

METACOSMOS
For orchestra
Duration 14 min.
Instrumentation: 4(picc.afl).2+ca.3+bcl.4+cbn / 4222 / 3perc / str

Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Society with the generous support of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music.

METACOSMOS was premiered in Lincoln Center’s Geffen Hall by the New York Philharmonic April 4th 2018, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

The European premiere was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, in Jan 2019. Performance available in the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall.

The UK premiere was performed at the BBC Proms in July 2019, by the joint orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music and the Juilliard School, conducted by Edward Gardner.

The Iceland Symphony Ochestra’s recording of METACOSMOS, conducted by Daníel Bjarnason, was among the NY Times’s “25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2019”

[More info on artist’s page]