CCM professor’s compositions featured in concert:nova performance

UC College-Conservatory of Music Composition Professor Michael Fiday will be celebrated in a retrospective program presented by concert:nova, a Cincinnati-based ensemble dedicated to innovative performances. The concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1, in Myaamia Hall at ARCO Cincinnati, and will feature a wide selection of the Fiday’s award-wining output. Tickets are available online.

A member of the composition faculty since 2002, Fiday’s work is in demand around the globe. His music has been commissioned internationally by ensembles from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to the Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, to Mexico’s Orquestra Sinfonica de Guanajuato. A versatile composer, his output ranges from music that “touches musical nerves of almost indecent intimacy,” (Gramophone Magazine) to “high octane stuff” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Earlier this year, he was awarded an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, a grant which has helped organize this retrospective concert.

Having written music for vocalists, solo piano, percussion ensemble, electric guitar and more, it’s no wonder that Fiday’s body of work appealed to concert:nova. The group’s evolving roster is designed to accommodate a wide variety of collaborative experiences, and their concerts are “the most imaginative events in memory by a classical ensemble” according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The October 1 concert will be no exception.

The performance features the New York-based groups Hypercube (“jarring, compelling” – The Washington Post) and Mantra Percussion (“nothing less than a paradigm shift in the field of percussion” – NPR) with flutist Julianna Eidle, guitarist Dieter Hennings-Yeomans, and bass clarinetist Laura Sabo. The program features new works composed during the pandemic, including The Force for Good, Song for Eric and the world premiere of Electric Guitar, as well as previous works such as Jim & John for solo flute and 5 Haiku for alto flute and guitar.

Retrospective concerts are almost always celebratory, but this one represents a celebration of more than just the composer’s portfolio. In Fiday’s own words, the program is “a celebration of my 20 years in Cincinnati, of a new body of work composed during the pandemic, of the community of stellar performers I’ve had a long history of collaborating with, and most important, the return to live performance – a vital, essential gift we should never take for granted.”

Tickets and more information about the event is available online.

Learn more about Fiday's upcoming projects by visiting michaelfiday.net.

CCM's Composition Department offers a comprehensive research and professional training program for composers of acoustic and electronic concert music.

With a full range of undergraduate and graduate-level training experiences from orchestral and choral readings of new works, to concerts of avante-garde and cutting edge new music and electronic and electroacoustic music, CCM Composition is one of the leading conservatory training programs in the US.

Featured image at top: CCM Professor of Composition Michael Fiday. Photo/Tina Gutierrez – Arts Photography