History of Fromm Players at Harvard

The Fromm Players at Harvard have played a large part of the Fromm musical legacy. Called the Fromm Contemporary Music Series, The Fromm Players, and currently The Fromm Players at Harvard, these concerts feature performances of new works by living and influential composers. Initially introduced as a way of engaging a select group of local musicians to perform concerts in John Knowles Paine Concert hall, these ensembles, over time, were to include groups from Boston, as well as New York, California, and Europe. 

In 1993 a collaboration know as the The Consortium was established. Supported by the Fromm Music Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, and the Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music, The Consortium presented three concerts per year at Harvard and Columbia University from 1993-96.

2024

Fromm Players 2024 Concert Poster

 

 

The Fromm Players at Harvard present Piano - Sonic Revolutions

John Knowles Paine Concert Hall

 

Concerts will feature special guests Sebastian Berweck, Simon Ghraichy, Emil Holmström, Vijay Iyer, Paavali Jumppanen, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi, Hans Tutschku, and Catherine Vickers.

 

April 5, 2024 at 7:30pm

April 6, 2024 at 7:30pm

April 6, 2024 at 10:00pm

April 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
Curated by Hans Tutschku

 

Free tickets available here.

2023

 

Procession
A Concert of New Music featuring Klangforum Wien

February 10, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall
Curated by Professor Chaya Czernowin

Enno Poppe Prozession (2015/20)
Chaya Czernowin The Fabrication of Light (2019/20)

 

2022

Fromm Players at Harvard 2022 poster

April 9, 2022 at 8 p.m.
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall
Curated by Professor Yvette Janine Jackson

Radcliffe fellow The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker presents music for a one-of-a-kind harmonics guitar built by experimental luthier John C. L. Jansen.
Raven Chacon’s trio White People Killed them, featuring Marshall Trammell and John Dieterich, performs music from their eponymous album.
2021 Fromm Commission recipient Nicole Mitchell brings her quartet Black Earth SWAY, featuring JoVia Armstrong, Alexis Lombre, and Coco Elysses.

2021

Fromm Players at Harvard 2021, concert 1 poster

April 16, 2021:

Virtual concert co-curated by Miranda Cuckson and Anne Shreffler featuring performances by Miranda Cuckson and Conor Hanick

Rebecca SaundersDuo for violin and piano (1996/1999)

Jeffrey Mumfordfleeting cycles of layered air for solo violin (2020, world premiere)

Dongryul LeeA finite island in the infinite ocean (2020, world premiere)

Natasha BarrettAllure and Hoodwink for violin, piano, and electronics (2014)

 

Fromm Players at Harvard 2021, concert 2 poster

April 30, 2021:

Virtual concert curated by Vijay Iyer, a version of which was originally scheduled for the spring of 2020

Yvette Janine Jackson, The Coding (2012), featuring the Radio Opera Workshop: Yvette Janine Jackson (synthesizer, composition, sound design, and video), Tia Fuller (alto saxophone), Judith Hamann (cello), Davindar Singh (bass clarinet), Esperanza Spalding (double bass), Rajna Swaminathan (mrudangam), and Taiga Ultan (flute and voice).

Roscoe Mitchell, five compositions, featuring the Roscoe Mitchell Quartet: Roscoe Mitchell (woodwinds, percussion), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Junius Paul (bass, percussion), Vincent Davis (drums, percussion)

Imani Uzuri, The Haunting of Cambridge (work in progress), composition, voices, tambourine, and experimental film by Imani Uzuri

Watch performances here

2019

2019 Fromm Players at Harvard

 

May 3, 2019 at 10 p.m.

Oberon Theater, Cambridge.

Perle Noire is a unique evening honoring the brilliance, daring, public courage and private tragedies of Joséphine Baker. Conceived by Peter Sellars, this tour-de-force features soprano Julia Bullock with original music by Tyshawn Sorey and texts by Claudia Rankine. Performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble.

2018

Fromm Players 2018

March 31, 2018 at 7 p.m.
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall

Resistance and Hope curated by Chaya Czernowin

'algún sonido de la vida' 1993 Graciela Paraskevaidis 1940-2017

Ben Fox and Elizabeth England, oboe

Prince Myshkins

Rick Burkhardt and Andy Gricevich

Duet for violin and piano 1964 Galina Ulstvolskaya 1919-2006

Stephen Drury, piano and Gabriela Diaz, violin

Prince Myshkins

StringQuartet No. 5  1979 Ben Johnston b. 1926

Kepler Quartet: Sharan LeventhalandEric Segnitz, violin Brek Renzelman, viola, Karl Lavine, cello

Symphony No. 2 “True and Eternal Bliss”  1979 Galina Ulstvolskaya

Jeffrey Means, conductor SOUND ICON

Stephen Drury, piano Ryne Cherry, baritone

Flute: Ashley Addington, Sarah Brady,  Anthea Kechley,  Jessica Lizak,  Antonina Styczen-Leszczynska, Katie Williams

Oboe: Anna Bradford, Elizabeth England, Ben Fox, Peggy Pearson, Catherine Weinfield, Leonardo Ziporyn

Trumpet: Andrew Harms, Jason Huffman, Elizabeth Jewell, Jonah Kappraff, Kenneth Piatt, Kyle Sparker

Trombone: Chris Moore

Tuba: Max Murray

Percussion: Mike Williams

2017

Fromm 2017

MARCH 3 & 4 AT 8 P.M.
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall

SONGS FOUND IN DREAM curated by Hans Tustchku

Two evenings of concerts performed by Talea Ensemble
CONCERT I, March 3
George Lewis Mnemosis
Gérard Grisey Talea
James Dillon New York Triptych

CONCERT II, March 4
Brian Ferneyhough Incipits
Rand Steiger A Menacing Plume
Liza Lim Songs found in dream
Hans Tutschku New Work

 

2016

April 7 and April 8, 2016

Creative Music Convergences curated by Vijay Iyer

Concert I: April 7
7:30 p.m.
Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith*
 A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke
Nicole Mitchell | Tomeka Reid | Mike Reed
Program, in no particular order:
Composition 23B by Anthony Braxton
Clowns by Leroy Jenkins
Mercy by Amina Claudine Meyers
Days Fly By With Ruby by Jeff Parker
BK by Steve McCall
I’ll Be Right Here Waiting by Steve McCall
Light on the Path by Edward Wilkerson Jr.
9:00 p.m.
Okkyung Lee
Solo Improvisations
Steve Lehman Octet
1. Alloy
2. Rudreshm
3. As Things Change
4. Echoes
5. Parisian Thoroughfare
6. Segregated
7. 13 Colors
8. Rhythm of the Earth
9. Chimera / Luchini
Concert II: April 8
7:30 p.m.
Craig Taborn
Avenging Angel: Improvisations for Solo Piano
Ikue Mori & Wadada Leo Smith*
1. Selections from Luminous Axis: An Electronic Sonic Garden of Delights and Transformations
2. Creative Improvisation
3. Pacifica
9:00 p.m.
Courtney Bryan
A Presence
Tyshawn Sorey Double Trio
The Inner Spectrum of Variables

*Eileen Southern Distinguished Visitor

2015

"Voces de America Latina" performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble and curated by Carol Oja and Tania León.

Boston Globe Review Here:

CONCERT I, April 17
Carlos Iturralde Cupid's Deeds (2012) 
Hilda Paredes Seed of Time (2003)
Marisol Jimenez Tiniwe (2014)
Gabriela Ortiz Huitzitl and Estudio Tongolele (2012)
Mario Davidovsky Synchronisms No. 3 (1964-65)
Tania León Toque (2006)

CONCERT II, April 18
Felipe Lara Tiento (2013)
Leo Brouwer Parabola (1973)
Julio Estrada Memorias para teclado (1971)
Mario Davidovsky  Divertimento no. 8
"Ambiguous Symmetries (2015)
Marcos Balter Codex Seraphinianus (2014)
Tania León Indigena (1991)

 

2014

February 28 and March 1, 2014

The natural l The artificial featuring Ensemble Dal Niente, curated by Chaya Czernowin.

February 28
Erin Gee Mouthpiece Segment of the Fourth Letter (2007)
Rick Burkhardt Alban (2010)
Evan Johnson die bewegung der augen (2012)
Carola Bauckholt Vollmond, unter null (2004)
Wolf Edwards the road from Mutlaa to Basra (2014)


March 1
Marianthi Papalexandri Yarn (2008)
Hans Tutschku Still Air 3 (2014, World Premiere)
Aaron Einbond Without Words (2012)
Ming Tsao / Mozart The Book of Virtual Transcriptions (2004-05)
Enno Poppe Salz (2005)

2013

April 12 and 13, 2013  Boston Globe Review Here

Celebrating 60 years of the Fromm Foundation featuring Sound Icon, Jeffrey Means director, curated by Anne Shreffler

Liza Lim, Shimmer Songs; Luciano Berio, Circles; Leon Kirchner, Concerto for violin, cello, 10 winds and percussion; Bruno Maderna, Giardino Religioso; Gunther Schuller, Tre Invenzioni ; Lee Hyla, Pre-pulse Suspended; Karola Obermüller, elusive corridors; Elliott Carter, Double Concerto.

Elliott Carter, Double Concerto (1961);  Paavali Jumpannen, piano, Yoko Hagino, harpsichord
(recorded April 13, 2013 in John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Harvard University)

2012

March 30 and 31, 2012

Jour, Contre-jour featuring Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, director, curated by Hans Tutschku. Wuorinen, Epithalamium; Grisey, Jour, contre-jour; Harvey, Bhakti; Saariaho, Io; Lucier, In Memoriam Jon Higgins; Reynolds, Personae; Wuorinen, Epithalamium.

2011

April 1 and 2, 2011

Interior Gardens featuring the Oberlin Conteporary Music Ensemble, Timothy Weiss, Director, and Ensemble SurPlus, curated by Chaya Czernowin. Salvatore Sciarrino, Lo Spazio inverso; Dániel Péter Biró, Hadavar (Neufassung); Morton Feldman, The Viola in my life (2); Josh Levine, Clear Sky; Jonathan Harvey, Wheel of Emptiness; John Luther Adams, Immeasurable Space of Tones; Harrison Birtwistle, Silbury Air; Rebecca Saunders, Disclosure; Mark Andre, ...zu Staub; Alvin Lucier, Fideliotrio; Luigi Nono,  ...sofferte onde serene; Luigi Nono, ‘Hay que caminar’ soñando.

2010

February 19-20, 2010

Intersections, featuring Continuum, Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs, Directors, curated by Joel Sachs. Conlon Nancarrow (US/Mexico), Prelude, Blues, Study No. 15, Sonatina; Oleg Felzer (Azerbaijan/US), Vestige; Pablo Ortiz (Argentina/US), Hipermilonga; Guo Wenjing (China), Concertino for Cello and Chamber Ensemble; Chinary Ung (Cambodia/US), Spiral VI; Betty Olivero (Israel), Bashrav. Roberto Sierra (Puerto Rico/US), Güell Concert; Franghiz Ali-Zadeh (Azerbaijan/Germany), Music for Piano; Tani León (Cuba/US), Indigena.;Tony Prabowo (Indonesia), Music for Multiple Violas; Du Yun (China/US), Vicissitudes No. 3; Benjamin Yusupov (Tajikistan/Israel), Haqqoni—Crossroads No. 4; Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky (Uzbekistan), Paths of Parables II.

2009

February 20-21, 2009

The New Soloist. Individual and Ensemble Virtuosity En Masse featuring the Manhattan Sinfonietta, Jeffrey Milarsky, Conductor and Music Director, Fromm Players at Harvard, curated by Joshua Fineberg. Hitomi Kaneko, Miyabi; Galina Ustvolskaya, Composition No. 1: Dona nobis pacem; David Grompper, L’Icone St. Nicolas; Arthur Kampela, Bridges; Marcos Balter, Raw Item; Luciano Berio, points on the curve to find; Lei Liang, Harp Concerto; Ivan Fedele, Imaginary Skylines; Philippe Leroux, (d’)Aller; Donald Martino, Triple Concerto

2008

March 7 and 8, 2008

Fromm Players at Harvard: 60 years of Electronic Music, curated by Hans Tutschku, two performances each night with Fromm Players; Dinosaur Annex. 

Bresnick, Conspiracies, Reich, New York Counterpoint; Feldman, Intersection; Ferneyhough, Mnemosyne; Lachenmann, Pression; Felder, Coleccion Nocturna; Stockhausen, Mantra (Frank Gutschmidt and Benjamin Kobler, piano); Harvey, Tombeau de Messiaen; Davidovsky, Synchronisms No. 9; Ussachevsky, Wireless Fantasy; Czernowin, Ina; Boulez, Dialogue de l’ombre double; Sims, Night Piece; Stockhausen, Oktophonie

2007

March 22, 2007

Featuring Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, conductor; curated by Julian Anderson. Andriessen, Zilver; Berger, Collage III; Hyla, Amnesia Variance; Cage, Sixteen Dances

Friday March 23, 2007

Andriessen, Bells for Haarlem, Passeggiata in Tram in America E Ritorno, La Passione; Schuller, Densities, Concerto Da Camera

2006

 

Electronics, curated by Hans Tutschku, pre-concert talk by Alvin Lucier.

March 10, 2006

Babbitt, Phonemena; Boulez, Anthemes 2; Brown, Octet I; Sandred, Amazuele Voices; Lucier, Music for Piano with Slow Sweep Pure Wave Oscillators; Nono, A Pierre. Dell’Azzurro, Silenzio, Inquietum; Schilingi, Concubia Nocte

March 11, 2006

(Ensemble fur Intuitive Musik Weimar) Stockhausen, Vorahnung, Innerhalf, Intensitat; Cage, Variations II, Cartridge Music

March 12, 2006

(Live Electronic Music Competition) Barroso, Searching Your Synesthesia*; Colasanto, Duo; Muenz, Dissieme; Vigani, Cinque frammenti

*winner

2005

March 4 & 5, 2005

Multiple Voices, Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor. Curated by Elliott Gyger.

Steve Reich, It’s Gonna Rain; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Leopardi fragments; Kaija Saariaho, Grammaire des reves; Elliot Carter, Syringa (Tony Arnold, soprano; Julia Bentley, alto; Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano; Jan Opalach, bass; Oren Fader, guitar); Jacob Druckman, Bo; Luciano Berio, A-Ronne; Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gesang der Junglinge; Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Meridian (Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano).

2004

March 5 & 6, 2004

Solo-Tutti: The Evolution of the Concerto and the Soloist, Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor, curated by Joshua Fineberg.

Sciarrino, Hermes; Carter, Double Concerto; Davidovsky, Synchronism No. 6;  Scelsi, Anahit; Crumb, Vox Balaenae; Ligeti, Cello concerto; Rands, Concertino for oboe; Murail, Ethers

2002-2003

Boston Modern Orchestra Project (Gil Rose, conductor). Music of the Charles Eliot Norton Professors and Mario Davidovsky, curated by Bernard Rands.

November 8, 2002

Chavez, Energia for Nine Instruments; Bernstein Halil (Fenwick Smith, flute); Davidovsky, Romancero (Tony Arnold, soprano); Cage, Seven; Hindemith, Kammermusick #1

March 21, 2003

Stravinsky, Dumbarton Oaks; Berio, Chemins IV (su Sequenza VII b); Copland, Nonet; Davidovsky, Scenes from Shir Ha-Shirim; Sessions, Concertino for Chamber Orchestra

2002

FP 2002

March 8, 2002

Gunther Schuller, Sonata for Sax and Piano; Lee Hyla, We Speak Etruscan; Milton Babbitt, All Set; David Rakowski, Hyperblue; and Franco Donatoni, Hot.

April 5, 2002

Anton Webern, Variations; Oliver Knussen, Variations; Salvatore Sciarrino, 6 Capricci; Aaron Copland, Piano Variations; Gerard Grisey, Prologue.

2001

FP 2001

February 16, 2001

A concert celebrating Donald Martino’s 70th birthday: Triple Concerto, Michael Adelson, conductor; Jazz Set, with live and pre-recorded work including a 1957 performance by Martino, Bill Evans, Bob Prince, Joe Benjamin, and Elvin Jones. 

March 16, 2001

Concert celebrating Martino’s work: Recital for Piano, Randall Hodgkinson; Fantasies and Impromptus; Twelve Preludes; Suites in Old Form; Impromptu for Roger; and selections from Tin Pan Alley Tunes.

2000

FP 2000

February 18, 2000

Fromm Players at Harvard, “West Coast.” Sanches Gutierrez Luciernagas; Martha Horst Chiaroscuro; Eric Zivian Piano Trio; Kurt Rohde Trio for viola, clarinet, and piano; Pablo Ortiz Hipermilonga. Randall Hodgkinson, piano; Laura Frautschi, violin; Scott Woolweaver, viola; Joshua Gordon, cello; Gary Gorzyca, clarinet; Robert Schulz, percussion. 

March 24, 2000

Fromm Players at Harvard, “East Coast.” Louis Karchin, Barbara White, Matthew Greenbaum, Jason Eckhart, and Chien-Yin Chen. Randall Hodgkinson, piano; Laura Frautschi, violin; Gary Gorzyca, clarinet; Peggy Pearson, oboe; Chien Kwan Lin, saxophone; Renee Krimsier, flute; Dana Oaks, trumpet; Robert Schulz, percussion; Min Xiao-Fen, pipa.

1999

FP 1999

March 12, 1999

Fromm Players at Harvard. Film by Rene Clair; works by Satie, Feldman, Campion, Moe and Webern. Guest conductor Gunther Schuller

April 16, 1999

Fromm Players at Harvard. Works by Babbitt, Carter, Cowell, Gershwin, Ives, Varese. Guest conductor Donald Palma

May 7, 1999

Fromm Players at Harvard; HGNM. Elliott Gyger, Stefan Haenberg, David Horne, Julie Rohwein, Eric Spangler, Richard Whalley. Guest conductor Jeffrey Milarsky

1998

(The Fromm Players at Harvard’s debut season)

FP 1998

February 27, 1998

Kim, Dear Linda; Martino, Notturno; Kirchner, Trio No. 2 for piano, violin and cello; Piston, 3 Counterpoints for violin, viola, and cello 

April 3, 1998

Crumb, Music for a Summer Evening; Bartok, Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion; Lori Dobbins, Percussion Quartet

May 1, 1998

 

 

1997

March 15, 1997

Fromm Players concert dedicated to the memory of Joan Greenstone, daughter of Dr. Erika and Paul Fromm. Shulamit Ran A Prayer, written in honor of Paul Fromm; Ran, Fanfare; James Primosch, Sacra Conversazioine; Mel Powell, Levertov Breviary (world premiere); Ralph Shapey, Stony Brook Concerto.

1996

March 15, 1996

Fromm Players, “Music of the 20th Century,” David Rakowski, Hyper Blue; Andrew Imbrie, Dandelion Wine; Benjamin Britten, Fantasy for Oboe and Strings; Mel Powell, Three Madrigals for Flute Alone; Elliott Carter, Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux and Enchanted Preludes; Gunther Schuller Sonata Serenata

 

The Consortium

February 20, 1996

Speculum Musicae. Rolf Wallin, Ning; Fred Speck, Philomel’s Refrain; Milton Babbitt, Trio; Eric Chasalow, String Quartet #1

March 19, 1996

Fromm Players. David Pickel, String Trio; Elliott Carter, Figment; Peter Lieberson, String Quartet; Schoenberg, String Quartet No. 4

April 18, 1996

Washington Square Contemporary Music Society. Eric Moe New York; Earl Kim, Three Poems in French; Charles Wuorien, Horn Trio; Jay Allen Yim Furiosamente; David Rakowski, A Loose Gathering of Words; Wayne Peterson, Diptych

1994-1995

September 24, 1994

Speculum Musicae. 60th Birthday Tribute to Mario Davidovsky. Synchronism No. 6; Quartetto; Quartet (World premiere); Romancero; String Trio

November 21, 1994

Cleveland Chamber Symphony, works of Bernard Rands in honor of his 60th birthday. Canti Trilogy; Canti Lunatici, Canti del sole, Canti dell’Eclisse. Edwin London conducting. 

December 7, 1994

Music of Betsy Jolas. Piano Trio, Tranche for Solo Harp, Quoth the Raven for Solo Clarinet, Songs

 

The Consortium

February 25, 1995

New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble. Ives Hallowe’en, Largo Risoluto No. 2, and The Pond; John Heiss Episode No. 1; Earl Kim, Now and Then; Peter Child, Ensemblance; Gunther Schuller, Aphorisms; JohnHarbison Mirabai Songs

March 21, 1995

The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble. David Olan, Prism; Henry Cowell Ostinato Pianissimo; Robert Pollock, Chamber Symphony; Carlos Chavez Toccata; Arthur Krieger Caprice; Edgar Varese Ionisation

April 13, 1995

Parnassus. Stephan Hartke, Wulfstan at the Millennium; Paul Hindemith, Die Serenaden, Op. 35; Olivier Knussen Songs without Voices, Oliver Alba Pote Canciones Nocturnas

1993-1994

October 9, 1993

Fromm Music Foundation’s 40th Anniversary concert at Miller Theatre, Columbia University, NYC. Works by Earle Brown, Arthur Kreiger, Gunther Schuller and Schoenberg.

April 9, 1994

London Sinfonietta Voice and Rascher Saxophone Quartet. Works by Berio, Monteverdi, conducted by Luciano Berio. Carnegie Hall

 

The Consortium

November 15, 1993

(inaugural concert) Pablo Ortiz, Vida furtive; Babbitt, Composition for Four Instruments; Carter, String Quartet No. 2; Stravinsky, Suite—L’histoire du Soldat.

February 7, 1994

Copland, Sextet for Clarinet, Piano, and Strings; John Gibson, A Bao A Qu; Schoenberg, Serenade, Op. 24.

March 24, 1994

New Millennium Ensemble. Session, Duo for Violin and Cello; Dzubay, Sonata for Cello and Piano; Dallapiccola, Goethe Lieder; Martino, Notturno.

1992-1993

October 10, 1992

The California E.A.R. Unit. Works by Carter, Davidovsky, David Lang, Stephen L. Mosko, Evan Ziporyn

February 7, 1993

Piano music composed and performed by Federic Rzewski

April 26, 1993

New England Composers Orchestra. Works by Fussell, Robert Stern, Hugo Weisgall, James Yannatos

1991-1992

Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Works by Augusta Read Thomas, Bernard Rands, Donald Martino, Philip Greeley Clap and portrait concert of Martino works in honor of his 60th birthday.

1990-1991

FP 1990-91

November 11, 1990

My Brother Called (Thomas Buckner, baritone). Small-scale theater work by Robert Ashley 

January 27, 1991

Aequalis:.Works by Baker, Ung, Shrude, Gideon, Webern, Steiger

April 21, 1991

Arditti String Quartet: Nancarrow, Yim, Sorensen, Kurtag, Bartok