AMERICAN MIRROR PROJECT Commissions
Commissions for the American Mirror Project…
are meant to augment the mission of our project, to find ways to engage more deeply with our listeners, and to showcase each community’s personal mirrors. Our goal is to amass a collection of new works that underscores the cultural richness of American music.
We ask each composer to reflect on the probing questions of our project and to find ways to reflect aspects of American culture that resonate most vividly to them in their composition. Additionally, we ask each composer to consider techniques that could allow the community where the piece is performed to participate in the work. Commissions are between 8-12 minutes in length.
One of our commissions, Mirror for String Quartet and Narration by Dana Wilson, was premiered on January 20, 2024 featuring texts authored and spoken by students and faculty from Eastern Michigan University. Due to the overwhelming number of mirror statements submitted to us by the community, this work also included the world premiere of a short film. In the score, Wilson writes the following:
“This piece was commissioned by the Formosa Quartet as part of their “American Mirror” project. Written in musical styles suggesting jazz and funk, it is intended to “reflect” different aspects of American culture (and incorporates several different musical mirroring techniques). The work is designed with the option of incorporating the narration of up to four texts that will allow audiences to meditate on various aspects of culture important to the quartet and perhaps to the area where the performance is being held. The narration can be by community members or members of the quartet. The piece may be performed without the inclusion of narration.”
We eagerly await new works created for our project by Shih-Hui Chen and Paul Novak, which we hope to premiere in the 2025-2026 season!
Another aspect of our project is to showcase the beloved sounds widely associated with America in our 'American Roadmap,' written and/or arranged by some of today's most celebrated composers. Our Roadmap takes listeners through a chronological and geographical journey through the Black and Appalachian musical traditions. Commissions for this collection are anywhere between 3-5 minutes long.