This past summer at the Fresh Inc Festival in Wisconsin, a trio of young composers approached me and Christina and told us they wanted to write a new piece for harp duo (really, we didn’t coerce them or anything!). Obviously, we were thrilled! Since they are all located in the midwest, they decided to write a collection of three pieces - one by each composer - that would depict the landscapes of the midwest. Dan Morel is in Kansas City, MO; Alex Cooke is in Cleveland, OH; Bret Bohman is in Ann Arbor, MI.
They came up with an interesting way to pay for the new pieces to be written - a consortium project, in which multiple harpists and harp duos would sign on and pay a fee to have the exclusive rights to perform the piece for the first year. We have all been busy contacting harpists, advertising, and trying to get the word out, and the project has attracted some interest - we were even on the homepage of the Harp Column!
We are now TWO WEEKS away from the contract deadline, October 15th! We are trying to get these awesome composers all the support we can, so if you are interested in this project, please let us know (email 94lilac@gmail.com)!!
A lovely picture of Lilac 94 and the composers, from Fresh Inc.