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William Anderson , guitar
“The alert guitarist”—Paul Griffiths, New York Times Guitarist/composer William Anderson & Cygnus, the ensemble he co-directs, conjured some great works from the end game of American high modernism--Milton Babbitt’s Swan Song No. 1, Charles Wuorinen’s Cygnus, Mario Davidovsky’s Ladino Songs. Moreover, Anderson is a force in the transformation of late 20th C. modernism into something for which we still have no name. Experiments with microtonal music began in earnest through the influence of Agustin Castilla-Avila and the Ekmelic group in Salzburg.
William Anderson began playing chamber music at the Tanglewood Festival at age 19. He later performed with the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Players, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, NY Philharmonic, and many other NYC-based ensembles and organizations. Anderson performs at guitar festivals and contemporary music festivals including the Festival Camarata 21 in Xalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, Ebb & Flow Arts in Maui. He was a member of the Theater Chamber Players, the resident ensemble at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Anderson founded the Cygnus Ensemble in 1986. Cygnus is based in New York and has toured in Europe and Asia. Cygnus was in residence at the Library of Congress in 2012. Cygnus and the Library of Congress launched a sold-out two-week run of Sounding Beckett at the Classic Stage Company in New York City in the fall of 2012. The shows combined three of Beckett’s abstract and musical ghost plays with autonomous musical works written in response to the plays. Anderson has been Artistic Director of the Roger Shapiro Fund and Marsyas Productions since 2011. His compositions have been presented in guitar festivals and new music festivals in the US, Asia, and Europe. Many of his works are recorded and can be found on Furious Artisans, Marsyas Productions, and Bridge Records. Anderson teaches classical guitar at Sarah Lawrence College and Queens College. A compilation of works by William Anderson, Der Weg Ins Freie, is available on Furious Artisans Records.
I did lots and lots of arranging for The Weekend of Chamber Music in the Catskills, founded by flutist Judith Pearce. By’m By is something that made a big impression on me in that period in the 90s and early 00s. It needed a simple guitar and voice treatment. Bowers Fader Duo is the perfect ensemble to pull it off. Upcoming Veritas Musicae in Seoul Korea will perform my piano trio on Nov. 11. Gunnar Berg Ensemble will do my Kevin Young settings, “Blue Laws” in Salzburg on Nov. 14. I am really grateful to Bowers Fader Duo and Paul Salerni for introducing me to the poetry of Kevin Young.