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Derek Bermel

Intonations - Music For Clarinet and Strings

Naxos
Release Date: August 26, 2022

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Interview w/ WGTE
Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute - Interview with Derek Bermel and Tania Leon
1 Intonations / I. Harmonica 5:28  
2 II. Hymn/Homily 6:54  
3 III. Hustle 6:20  
4 Ritornello (2011) (version for electric guitar and string quartet) 12:33  
5 Thracian Sketches (2003) 7:12  
6 Violin Etudes (2009) / No. 1. Twenty Questions 1:27  
7 No. 2. Gravity 2:43  
8 No. 3. Figure and Ground 2:53  
9 No. 4. Multiverse/Sketch 3:28  
10 No. 5. Chôros 2:29  
11 A Short History of the Universe / I. Multiverse 5:07  
12 II. Heart of Space 6:53  
13 III. Twistor Scattering 4:46  
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Naxos American Classics releases Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketches for solo clarinet (2003); Violin Etudes (2009-16); and A Short History of the Universe for clarinet and string quartet (2013). Bermel himself plays clarinet on the album; also featured are the acclaimed JACK Quartet, Dutch electric guitarist Wiek Hijmans, and JACK Quartet violinist Christopher Otto playing Bermel’s solo Violin Etudes. (Also available from Naxos American Classics: Bermel’s Grammy®-nominated and critically-acclaimed recording, Migrations, 8.559871.)

“It’s hard to know what to be more dazzled by in the music of composer Derek Bermel—the range of stylistic voices he cultivates or the profusion of ingenuity, beauty and wit he brings to everything he touches.”  —San Francisco Chronicle

In the liner notes for Intonations, fellow composer Nathan Shields writes of the “deeply personal sensibility running through all [Bermel’s] music, one marked by sly theatricality, deadpan humor, and restless intellectual curiosity.” Bermel’s interests are indeed wide-ranging: his mentors have included the composers Henri Dutilleux, Louis Andriessen and William Bolcom; he has traveled to Bulgaria to study Thracian folk music, Ghana to study the Lobi xylophone, and Brazil to study the caxixi; and he has collaborated with adventurous musicians from Wynton Marsalis and Stephen Sondheim to the rapper Yasiin Bey (Mos Def).

  • Tallahassee FL - WFSU Public Media chats with Derek Bermel about his GRAMMY nominated: 'Intonations'
    Posted At: February 15, 2023 12:00 AM
    In 2022, Naxos American Classics released Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketc...
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  • 2023 Grammy nominee Derek Bermel chats with VPM Music about 'Intonations'
    Posted At: February 2, 2023 12:00 AM
    Last year, Naxos American Classics released Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Ske...
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  • Derek Bermel discusses 'Intonations' and more with Savannah's 107.5WRUU
    Posted At: January 10, 2023 12:00 AM
    Naxos American Classics released Intonations [Naxos 8.559912] earlier in the year. Five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thr...
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  • Crossover Media Projects pick up 11 Nominations for 2023 GRAMMY Awards
    Posted At: November 15, 2022 12:00 AM
    Artists, albums and songs competing for trophies at the 65th annual ceremony were announced on Tuesday. The show will take place on Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Here are the 2023 Nominees for Crossover Media Artists and Projects  Best New ArtistSamara Joy Best Jazz Vocal Album“Linger Awhile,” Samara Joy Best Song Written for Visual Media“Keep Rising (The Woman King)” f...
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  • Derek Bermel's 'Intonations' is one of the most absorbing albums of new music / theartsdesk
    Posted At: October 22, 2022 12:00 AM
    Naxos American Classics releases Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketches for s...
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  • Derek Bermel's 'Intonations' is an arresting portrait with a kaleidoscopic range / textura
    Posted At: October 6, 2022 12:00 AM
    textura writes…..Part of Naxos's esteemed ‘American Classics' series, Intonations is a composer-based collection with a difference: Derek Bermel not only wrote its five works, he plays on two also. His clarinet isn't the only distinctive sound on the nearly seventy-minute release, either. Dutch electric guitarist Wiek Hijmans plays on one piece, and the renowned JACK Quartet appears too, generally as a grou...
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  • Derek Bermel's 'Intonations' is recommended for a musical voice that is beyond the run of the mill / GRAMOPHONE
    Posted At: October 4, 2022 12:00 AM
    Naxos American Classics has released Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketches f...
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  • Derek Bermel - Intonations,' turning acerbity and complexity on their heads / the arts fuse
    Posted At: October 1, 2022 12:00 AM
    For Derek Bermel fans, Intonations is a must. For new music enthusiasts and the otherwise curious – ditto.the arts fuse - Jonathan Blumhofer writes….There’s an assumption that’s grown up around contemporary concert music, to wit: that, by definition, it must be expressively difficult, harmonically diffuse, melodically obscure, and only appeal to a select few (let’s call them “The Elect”). That most of what’...
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  • Derek Bermel fashions wonderful curiosities on 'Intonations' / The Whole Note
    Posted At: September 20, 2022 12:00 AM
    Naxos American Classics recently released Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketc...
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  • Instruments are united by curiosity and creative showmanship on Derek Bermel's 'Intonations'/ BBC Music Magazine
    Posted At: September 9, 2022 12:00 AM
    Naxos American Classics releases Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketches for s...
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  • Known for his versatility, award sinning composer Derek Bermel releases five world premiere recordings / pizzicato
    Posted At: August 27, 2022 12:00 AM
    Naxos American Classics releases Intonations [Naxos 8.559912], five world-premiere recordings of works for string quartet, electric guitar, solo clarinet and solo violin by Rome Prize and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. The album includes Intonations for string quartet (2016); Ritornello for electric guitar and string quartet (2011); Thracian Sketches for s...
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  • Derek Bermel, on travels with Bartok / Houston Public Media
    Posted At: May 14, 2020 12:00 AM

    Close your eyes and travel to exotic new lands!  Academy Award-winning composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel does a lot of traveling, soaking up the musical traditions as he goes. His recent album, Migrations, received a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category. In this episode, Bermel teaches about composer Bela Bartok who inspired one of the pieces on the album...
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  • Derek Bermel - Canzonas Americanas makes PublicRadio90 - Genre Fluid Fridays
    Posted At: February 28, 2020 12:00 AM

    Genre Fluid Fridays on Classiclectic: Music exploration and discovery through the lens of classically-minded composers and musicians.  Explore beyond the horizon of classical music, Fridays on Public Radio 90, beginning just after 9:30am ET. Canzonas Americanas marries two postmodern forces – American composer/clarinetist Derek Bermel and the contemporary chamber band Alarm Will Sound.&nbs...
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  • Derek Bermel's GRAMMY nominated album tells the story of northward Migration / Classical101 - WOSU: Columbus
    Posted At: January 22, 2020 12:00 AM

    It was a fateful trip to the art museum. That trip decades ago, when Derek Bermel was just a kid - long before he became an award-winning composer and clarinetist -  that has landed Bermel on the list of Grammy Award nominees. On that trip through the galleries of New York City's Museum of Modern Art, Bermel first saw Migration Series, a series of 60 paintings by the 20th century African America...
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  • Derek Bermel discusses 'Migrations' with Spokane Public Radio
    Posted At: January 14, 2020 12:00 AM

    Three world-premiere recordings from Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist, Derek Bermel entitled MIGRATIONS released on Naxos includes Bermel's Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro (2011), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade; and the three-movement orchestral A Shout, a Whisper, and a Trace (2009), in performances by the Juilliard Jazz Orche...
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  • Derek Bermel talks 'Migrations' with Spokane Public Radio
    Posted At: January 9, 2020 12:00 AM

    Three world-premiere recordings from Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist, Derek Bermel entitled MIGRATIONS was recently released on Naxos The album which scored a 2019 GRAMMY nomination, includes Bermel's Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro (2011), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade; and the three-movement orchestral A Shout, a Whisper, a...
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  • Derek Bermel talks about GRAMMY nominated - Migrations with FM91: WGTE - Toledo
    Posted At: December 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    Haley Taylor talks with Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel about his new album Migrations. The album includes his Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro (2011), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade; and the three-movement orchestral A Shout, a Whisper, and a Trace (2009), in performances by the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, saxophonist T...
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  • Derek Bermel talks Migrations and GRAMMY nominations with classical radio
    Posted At: December 9, 2019 12:00 AM

    Three world-premiere recordings from Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist, Derek Bermel entitled MIGRATIONS was recently released on Naxos The album which scored a 2019 GRAMMY nomination, includes Bermel's Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro (2011), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade; and the three-movement orchestral A Shout, a Whisper, a...
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  • Crossover Media projects pick up 19 GRAMMY's for 2020
    Posted At: November 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Best World Music Album: Celia - Angelique Kidjo   Best Musical Theater Album: The Music Of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child – In Four Contemporary Suites - Imogen Heap, producer; Imogen Heap, composer (Imogen Heap) Oklahoma! - Damon Daunno, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ali Stroker, Mary Testa & Patrick Vaill, principal soloists; Daniel Kluger & Dean Sharenow, producers (Richard Ro...
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  • Derek Bermel - Migrations selected for 2020 GRAMMY nomination
    Posted At: November 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Derek Bermel - Migrations selected for 2019 GRAMMY nomination in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category Three world-premiere recordings from Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist, Derek Bermel entitled MIGRATIONS was just released on Naxos [Naxos 8.559871].  showcasing The album includes his Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro...
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  • Derek Bermel joins a jazz orchestra and a classical orchestra to show how music should be more accepting of differing styles and ideas / Interlude
    Posted At: November 6, 2019 12:00 AM

    In recent years, migration has meant the vast movement of peoples across West Asia and Europe and the Americas, seeking shelter from military action or economic inaction. At the turn of the 20th century, in America there was also a great migration, but this was movement by an internal group, heading from the south to the north. American painter Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) created his 60-part Migration...
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  • Migrations provides a generous view of Derek Bermel's superb craftsmanship and eclectic style / IsraBox
    Posted At: October 28, 2019 12:00 AM

    .....in which classical forms, world music, jazz, blues and American folk music create a mix that reaches directly into the body and the heart. Commissioned by Wynton Marsalis, Migration Series has its roots in African American music, its impeccable counterpoint and biting rhythms expressed through orchestration that sounds like a city coming to life. Mar de Setembro was inspired by Luciana Souza's bell-...
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  • There are touches of Stravinsky, Messiaen, even Villa-Lobos along the way in Derek Bermel's vibrant 'Migrations' score / GRAMOPHONE
    Posted At: October 4, 2019 12:00 AM

    The CV of Derek Bermel (b1967) is as varied and colourful as his music. A clarinettist as well as a composer by trade, the list of his collaborations is extensive and high-profile: the American Composers, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific, Pittsburgh and Seattle Symphony orchestras; Gustavo Dudamel, Tan Dun, Midori, Wynton Marsalis, the Guarnieri and Jack Quartets, the Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble, the Linco...
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  • On Migrations, Derek Bermel's endless invention ruffles your feathers but leaves you breathless in the end / BBC Music Magazine
    Posted At: October 3, 2019 12:00 AM

    Three world-premiere recordings from Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist, Derek Bermel entitled MIGRATIONS was just released on Naxos [Naxos 8.559871].  showcasing The album includes his Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro (2011), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade; and the three-movement orchestral A Shout, a Whisper, and a Trace (2009)...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Derek Bermel talks about 'Migrations'
    Posted At: August 30, 2019 12:00 AM

    'Migrations' provides a generous view of Derek Bermel's superb craftsmanship and eclectic style, in which classical forms, world music, jazz, blues and American folk music create a mix that reaches directly into the body and the heart. Commissioned by Wynton Marsalis, 'Migration Series' has its roots in African American music, its impeccable counterpoint and biting rhythms expressed through o...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Derek Bermel's 'Migrations' is important, beautiful, expressive music. Grab it! / Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
    Posted At: August 24, 2019 12:00 AM

    While the name of US composer Derek Bermel (b. 1967) may be new to me, the music on his album Migrations (Naxos 8.559871) has a New Music-Modern Jazz tang that rings true in a local sort of way, that he takes on certain style clusters known in USA musical channels and makes them his own in ways that please and intrigue. There is familiarity, then, but newness in equal turns. The title work "Migration...
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  • New experiences shape 'Seattle Symphony composer in residence' Derek Bermel / The Seattle Times
    Posted At: April 19, 2019 12:00 AM

    Derek Bermel has learned creativity is a messy thing. It comes in fits and starts, backtracks, changes directions. The Seattle Symphony's 2018-19 composer in residence rarely lands on the compass point he initially charted when working on a new piece of music. And that's kind of the point. "Composing is just a combination of things you know already and things you don't know," Bermel said. "As soon as it ...
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  • ACO announces 2017-2018 season featuring a diverse set of composers / BroadwayWorld
    Posted At: August 3, 2017 12:00 AM

    American Composers Orchestra (ACO) announces its complete 2017-2018 season, Dreamscapes, under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel, Music Director George Manahan, and President Edward Yim, featuring ten world, U.S., and New York premieres by a diverse set of composers. ACO continues its concerts at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (December 8, 2017 and April 6, 2018) while expanding its prese...
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  • Derek Bermel oversees a stylistically varied slate at Bowdoin's Gamper Festival / Portland Press Herald
    Posted At: July 29, 2017 12:00 AM

    You could argue that the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, nestled into the final week of the Bowdoin International Music Festival, is unnecessary, given the impressive amount of new music presented at the larger festival. But actually, its apparent superfluousness is one of its salient features. Instead of seeming like a new-music ghetto, set apart from the main festival so as not to disturb the wo...
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  • Bryant Park presents: IN/TERSECT with the Billy Childs Quartet and Derek Bermel / BroadwayWorld
    Posted At: June 28, 2017 12:00 AM

    Showcasing world-class jazz and classical music, NYC's Bryant Park - IN/TERSECT is a rare opportunity to experience some of the most sophisticated music being created today. The two-day music festival is produced with Chamber Music America and curated by Patrick Zimmerli. Each day, the focus is on a prominent composer who has created significant work in both classical and jazz genres. Grammy-win...
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  • UK school of music entrepreneurship symposium features Derek Bermel / UKNow
    Posted At: January 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px} An upcoming symposium on chamber music and entrepreneurship will be presented by the University of Kentucky School of Music. "The Innovative Artist: 2017 Music Entrepreneurship Symposium," running Jan. 18-21, will include lectures, workshops, masterclasses and concerts featuring guest artists clarinetist Der...
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  • Derek Bermel's 'Murmurations' featured on Performance Today / YourClassical.org
    Posted At: November 18, 2016 12:00 AM

    Starlings are little birds who come together in groups of thousands, dancing and darting in what appear to be artfully choreographed movements. On Friday's ( November 18, 2016 ) Performance Today, we'll hear music inspired by starlings; Derek Bermel's Murmurations.   LISTEN TO THE FULL YourClassical.org SHOW Program Includes Hour 1 Andre Waignein : Daydream ...
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  • Derek Bermel's "Murmurations" set for St. Paul Chamber Orchestra / Minnesota Public Radio
    Posted At: January 20, 2016 12:00 AM

    Even with the wealth of influences available today, composer Derek Bermel boasts an impressive list of inspirations he's learned about first hand. From classical music to eastern European folk music, West African drumming to big band and even hip hop, Derek Bermel brings together a wealth of experience and curiosity that has made him one of the most celebrated modern composers connecting with audienc...
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  • Derek Bermel holds the spotlight@Maine's Bowdoin Music Festival / Portland Press Herald
    Posted At: July 24, 2015 12:00 AM

    For the public, concerts are a summer music festival's obvious drawing cards, but for the festivals and their participants, these performances are only part of the picture. Like several of this country's most renowned festivals – Marlboro and Aspen come immediately to mind – the Bowdoin International Music Festival, held on the campus of Bowdoin College, is actually an intensive, high-level t...
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  • New Century Chamber Orchestra Soars with Derek Bermel?s Murmurations / San Francisco Classical Voice
    Posted At: June 2, 2015 12:00 AM

    "Folks in the States tend to like to shoot them, because they are a nuisance. But… they're also incredibly beautiful," composer Derek Bermel says. He was not referring, jokingly, to accordionists or bagpipers, but rather, describing starlings, whose flocking movements were the inspiration for his 2015 work Murmurations. The piece received its West Coast premiere this week by the New Cent...
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  • Derek Bermel's 'The Migration Series' is centerpiece for 14th annual American Music Festival
    Posted At: May 14, 2015 12:00 AM

    The Albany Symphony and Music Director David Alan Miller are proud to announce the fourteenth annual American Music Festival, a celebration of great new music by living American composers. This is the culminating event of the AlbanySymphony season, and showcases more than 20 new and recent works, including 18 world premieres. The live music experience will take place from May 14, 2015 to May 16, 2015 at ...
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