WORLD PREMIERE IN LONDON
Composer Rodney Waschka's trumpet concerto, Winter Concerto, received its world premiere in Enescu Hall in
London on July 8, 2010, performed by the London Schubert Players (LSP) chamber orchestra. Winter
Concerto, scored for trumpet,
piano, and strings, was written for the LSP and sponsored, in part, by the
European Union. Pianist Anda
Anastasescu founded and serves as the Artistic Director of the
London Schubert Players. Huw Morgan performed the trumpet part.
Waschka, Professor of Arts Studies at North Carolina State University,
composed the piece in the winter of 2009 with the help of computer programming
procedures known as genetic algorithms. The work is in three movements and
makes use of the Romanian folk song, "Jiana" as transcribed by Lyuben
Dossev. "I divided the folksong into three parts, and used one part in
each of the three movements of my Winter Concerto," Waschka said.
Waschka, known for his computer music and his theatrical works
including two operas, is an internationally recognized expert in computer
music. He wrote the chapter on composing with genetic algorithms for the recent
book, Evolutionary Computer Music, published by Springer. His pieces are widely performed and have
been recorded on the Capstone, AUR, Centaur, and IRIDA labels in the USA, on
the PeP label in Canada, and on the Ama Romanta and Plancton labels in
Portugal. His works are published by Borik Press and ACE.
Trumpeter Morgan, Brass winner of the British Broadcasting Corporation's
"Young Musician of the Year" in 2006, was the
youngest ever winner of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Solo Competition
in 2005, and completed a rare double by becoming the youngest winner of the ITG
Orchestra competition in 2008.
The London Schubert Players recently recorded Winter Concerto for an upcoming CD release.