Erich
Stem
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Join host Nadia Mair for a conversation with composer Erich Stem, as they explore his approach to writing music, the ways he balances composing, teaching, and family life, and his insights for fellow composers on focusing their creative energy and pursuing diverse paths for generating income.
Erich Stem
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Virginia Beach Symphony, a 4 movement 22 minute symphonic work commissioned by Symphonicity, will receive its world premiere at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts as part of the celebration of the United States's semiquincentennial and the region in which Symphonicity resides.
Erich Stem
Composer
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Stem will appear on Season 9 of the Moveable Do podcast. Host Steve Danielson interviews Erich to talk about his music and efforts to promote contemporary music in the US and abroad.
Erich Stem
Composer
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The Winds of the Mountain Empire, a 58-piece wind ensemble primarily comprised of music educators, will present its eighteenth annual summer concert in the auditorium of Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia on Sunday, July 14 at 4:00 p.m.
The 2024 Winds of the Mountain Empire program is entitled “Journeys” and features works that take the listener on their own journey through physical and mental destinations. The concert will feature compositions by Rossano Galante (Red Rock Mountain), Julie Giroux (Riften Wed), Sam Hazo (Go!), George Naff (Mountain Serenade), Daisuke Shimizu (Welcome to the Imagination World), Donald Sorah (Journeys), Jack Stamp (Star-Spangled Banner), and a commissioned work by Erich Stem (Unbridled Spirit).
The Winds of the Mountain Empire, founded by conductor Dr. Donald Sorah in 2006, is a professional wind ensemble primarily comprised of musicians from the southwest Virginia, northeast Tennessee, and southeast Kentucky regions that convenes each July for professional development and a culminating performance.
The concert will be presented free of charge, but donations to help sustain the longevity of the organization are gladly welcomed. For more information, email Winds of the Mountain Empire at windsme@comcast.net or search for Winds of the Mountain Empire on Facebook
Erich Stem
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My piece Consider will receive a performance by the Juventas New Music Ensemble at the Brattleboro Music Center in Brattleboro, VT as part of Juventas's 20th Anniversary Season. This concert, titled "Studio to Stage", will highlight select works from Juventas's 20-year discography including music by Mari Kotskyy, Jonathan Sheffer, Libby Meyer, and Oliver Caplan.
Erich Stem
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Erich Stem
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Consider will receive a performance by the Juventas New Music Ensemble at the Multicultural Arts Center in East Cambridge, MA as part of Juventas's 20th Anniversary Season. This concert, titled "Studio to Stage", will highlight select works from Juventas's 20-year discography including music by Mari Kotskyy, Jonathan Sheffer, Libby Meyer, and Oliver Caplan.
Erich Stem
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Erich Stem
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Consider will receive a performance by the Juventas New Music Ensemble at First Parish Sudbury in Sudbury, MA as part of Juventas's 20th Anniversary Season. This concert, titled "Studio to Stage", will highlight select works from Juventas's 20-year discography including music by Mari Kotskyy, Jonathan Sheffer, Libby Meyer, and Oliver Caplan.
Erich Stem
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Erich Stem
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Las Vegas premiere to of Erich Stem's re-:CONNECT will take place at the Nextet Festival of new music, featuring UNLV faculty artists Bryan Conger (clarinet) and Shawna Pennock (alto saxophone). Directed by Jennifer Bellor, Ph.D. The November concert will also feature music by Virko Baley, Jennifer Bellor, Viet Cuong, Michael Torke, Diego Vega, and Carl Schimmel. The composers will be at the event to talk about their music and meet with the audience.
Erich Stem
Composer
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The James Madison University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Foster Beyers, will be giving the world premiere of Erich Stem's "Shenandoah," featuring dance elements by Louisville Ballet dancer and choreographer, Ashely Thursby. Click here for details.
Erich Stem
Composer
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The University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of David Neely, will premiere Stem's "Kayak." The work will be performed as part of the Solo Series, featuring National Symphony Orchestra percussionist, Scott Christian, Marimba and Vibraphone. For details, click here.
Erich Stem
Composer
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The La HERmandad Clarinet Duo will give a world premiere of Stem's "re:CONNECT" featuring clarinetists Carrie RavenStem and Adria Sutherland. The performance will take place at the 50th Anniversary of the International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest. For details, click here.
Erich Stem
Composer
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re:CONNECT, for Bb Clarinet duet, will receive its European premiere at the 2023 European Clarinet Congress this December 7 by clarinetists Kristine Dizon and Radovan Cavallin.
Erich Stem
Composer
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Shenandoah, a commission by the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra will premiere on March 5, 2022, at the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts. The performance will be conducted by Foster Beyers and will feature a synchronized film incorporating choreography and a performance by Louisville Ballet dancer Ashley Thursby. The piece evokes the landscapes and history of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley through a cinematic orchestral setting. Following the premiere, the orchestra will record the work in May 2022. A final video - featuring the studio recording paired with Stem’s original film - will be released on JMU’s official YouTube channel in September 2022. Shenandoah is part of Stem’s ongoing America By: A Symphonic Tour series.
Erich Stem
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“Firefly” was commissioned by Backun artist, Carrie RavenStem and the Indiana University Southeast Concert Band as part of a faculty commission with Indiana University Southeast.
Erich Stem
Composer
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The Navarro College Symphonic Band will give a Texas premiere of Stem's "Firefly," featuring Backun artist and soloist, Carrie RavenStem (E♭ Clarinet), to help celebrate Navarro College’s 75th Anniversary.
Erich Stem
Composer
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Biography
American composer Erich Stem has earned acclaim for music that is, in the words of The Washington Post, “sophisticated and intriguing,” praised by Boston Theatre Review as “unique and beautiful,” and described by New York’s A Closer Listen as exhibiting “a fluent and chaotic exchange that breaks minimalism apart.” Across concert halls, festivals, and broadcasts worldwide, his works have distinguished him as a composer whose music, described by American Record Guide as “exciting” and “standing above the rest,” continues to captivate listeners through its vivid sense of energy and place.
Stem’s music has been performed by ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, Richmond Symphony (VA), and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, as well as a distinguished range of regional and university orchestras across the nation. His orchestral and chamber works have reached audiences in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Amsterdam, and Bucharest, appearing on recordings by leading groups including counter)induction, Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, and the Juventas New Music Ensemble.
A visionary project at the core of his career, America By: A Symphonic Tour, redefines how orchestral music engages with place. Through it, a consortium of American orchestras - from Bainbridge Island (WA) to Portland (OR) to the Shenandoah Valley (VA) - commissioned works that tell the stories of their communities through music and film. The series reflects Stem’s deep belief that music can serve as both a mirror and a map of contemporary America.
His Virginia Beach Symphony, commissioned by Symphonicity, continues that artistic pursuit, transforming the city’s landscapes and histories into an orchestral panorama where poetry, place, and sound converge. The four-movement work evokes the city’s diverse character, capturing the spirit of its oceanfront, the energy of its Town Center, the quiet beauty of rural Pungo, and the enduring strength of its military legacy, while drawing on the words of Pulitzer Prize poet Claudia Emerson. The symphony’s world premiere at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in 2025 will coincide with a plan to record a series of permanent listening installations placed throughout the city, allowing visitors to encounter the music in the environments that inspired it.
Stem’s collaborative spirit extends to works such as Shenandoah, an orchestral piece with dance film featuring Louisville Ballet artist Ashley Thursby, and Kayak for percussion and orchestra, written for National Symphony Orchestra percussionist Scott Christian. His Solo Series continues this exploration of personal narrative through concertos, including Firefly for E-flat Clarinet and Wind Symphony, premiered by Backun artist Carrie RavenStem.
Dedicated to expanding the reach of contemporary music, Stem founded New Dynamic Records, a label that championed sixty living composers and brought forty-two premiere recordings to life. He went on to co-found and direct A/Tonal Ensemble, a group devoted to bridging contemporary voices with the classical canon. A sought-after educator, Stem is Associate Professor of Music Composition at Indiana University Southeast and has been on faculty with the Alba Music Festival in Italy and the Nextet Series at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as well as with the Indiana University cohort of scholars at the Eastman House Residency on Martha’s Vineyard.
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