The inspiration for this concerto came from Tessa Lark, who will be premiering, recording, and touring the piece among the consortium of orchestras that are supporting this project. Tessa is a unique artist, in that not only is she deeply immersed in the classical field but comes from Kentucky, with a father who is a veteran Bluegrass musician, and has this style in her blood. Tessa and I worked together on an earlier piece of mine, Spoon Bread—a duo for violin and piano commissioned by Carnegie Hall—and it was during that period that the idea to write a concerto for her clicked.
Banjo-picking technique given to the solo violin was the departure point in the first movement. For the second movement my source material was Irish reels, the forerunner of American Bluegrass. The template for the third movement was fiddle licks with a triplet feel. In each case I wrote themes of my own in these styles, and developed the ideas into a standard, “composed” violin concerto. Everything is written out, nothing improvised.
Just as when one looks up and sees the open expanse of the sky, I felt an openness when writing this piece, a renewed freshness to putting notes together. I thank Tessa for opening this door and working so closely with me on this project.
Finalist: Sky: Concerto for Violin, by Michael Torke
Nominated Work
Sky: Concerto for Violin
Biography
Michael Torke's music has been commissioned by such orchestras as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony; by such ballet companies as New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and the National Ballet of Canada; by such opera companies as the Metropolitan Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the English National Opera; by such large ensembles as the London Sinfonietta, Lontano, and De Volharding; and such small ensembles as the Smith, Ying, and Amstel Quartets.
He has worked with such conductors as Simon Rattle, Kurt Mazur, Edo de Waart, and David Zinman; such choreographers as Christopher Wheeldon, James Kudelka, and Juri Kilian; and collaborated with such librettists as A. R. Gurney, Michael Korie, and Mark Campbell; and such directors as Des McAnuff, Bart Sher, and Michael Greif.
He has been commissioned by entities such as the Walt Disney Company, and Absolute Vodka; worked with such soloists as Tessa Lark, Christopher O'Reilly, and Joyce Castle; and written incidental music to such companies as The Public Theater, The Old Globe Theater, and Classic Stage Company; and been composer in residence with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Beginning his career with exclusive contracts with Boosey and Hawkes, and Decca Records, he now controls his own copyrights and masters through his publishing company, Adjustable Music, and record company, Ecstatic Records.
His music has been called "some of the most optimistic, joyful and thoroughly uplifting music to appear in recent years" (Gramophone). Hailed as a "vitally inventive composer" (Financial Times) and "a master orchestrator whose shimmering timbral palette makes him the Ravel of his generation" (New York Times), Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre.