Previous Seasons

2017 BNMF BAMA Players Concert

Deadline for Submissions: August 14, 2017
Event Date: Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 2:30 PM
Event Venue: Brock Hall, Samford University
Instruments: any combination of 1 flute, 1 Bb clarinet, string quartet, 1 piano
Duration: 10 minutes or less

NOTE: In an effort to have all BAMA submitting members programmed during the festival, any member who has not yet been programmed will receive priority over those who have already been programmed for other festival events, such as the Miolina concert. Any submissions not selected for the BNMF will be considered for programming on subsequent concerts.

Requirements: Alliance members in good standing are invited to submit one piece for the following instruments in any combination:

  • 1 flute
  • 1 Bb clarinet
  • string quartet
  • 1 piano

Works must be 10 minutes or less in duration.

Composers are limited to one submission for this call.

How to submit: No longer open for submissions…  and should include a link (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc) to the following files:

      1. A PDF score, if necessary (PDF scores can also be sent as an attachment)
      2. An audio recording (MIDI realizations are acceptable)
      3. A PDF document listing the name of the composer, title of the piece, instrumentation, duration, short biographical statement, and program notes.

Selected composers will be notified in early September.

If the information above is not provided when submitted, upon notification of a work’s acceptance for performance, the composer must supply all pertinent performance materials including a full score and individual parts, a concise one-paragraph bio of the composer, and a concise one-paragraph program note about the work. Failure to supply these materials in a timely manner will result in the composition not being presented during the festival.

2017 BNMF Electro-acoustic Concert

Deadline for Submissions: August 14, 2017
Event Date: Thursday, October 12, 2017, at 7:30 PM
Event Venue: Hulsey Recital Hall, UAB
Instruments: See 2 categories below
Duration: 10 minutes or less

NOTE: In an effort to have all BAMA submitting members programmed during the festival, any member who has not yet been programmed will receive priority over those who have already been programmed for other festival events, such as the Miolina concert. Any submissions not selected for the BNMF will be considered for programming on subsequent concerts.

Requirements: Alliance members in good standing are invited to submit one piece in the following categories:

  1. Electronics. Two-channel audio recording alone, or with live processing
  2. Compositions performed by the composer, or by performer(s) provided by the composer, preferably with electronics.

Works submitted must be 10 minutes or less in duration.

Composers are limited to one submission for this call.

How to submit: No longer open for submissions …and should include a link (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc) to the following files:

  1. A PDF score, if necessary (PDF scores can also be sent as an attachment)
  2. An audio recording (MIDI realizations are acceptable)
  3. A PDF document listing the name of the composer, title of the piece, instrumentation, duration, short biographical statement, short performer biography (for Cat. No. 2), and program notes.

Selected composers will be notified in early September.

If the information above is not provided when submitted, upon notification of a work’s acceptance for performance, the composer must supply all pertinent performance materials including a full score and individual parts, a concise one-paragraph bio of the composer, and a concise one-paragraph program note about the work. Failure to supply these materials in a timely manner will result in the composition not being presented during the festival.

Birmingham Art Music Alliance Presents Iron Giant Percussion

BIRMINGHAM ART MUSIC ALLIANCE PRESENTS IRON GIANT PERCUSSION

Percussion Powerhouse Performs Music by Local Composer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Birmingham Art Music Alliance (BAMA) presents Iron Giant Percussion in a concert of music by regional composers.

Iron Giant Percussion

Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents
Iron Giant Percussion
Thursday April 28, 7:30 pm

Hoover Library Theatre
200 Municipal Drive
Hoover, AL 35216

Free Admission

http://artmusic.org/event/iron-giant-percussion/

The concert will include music by Drew Pendergrass, Tom Reiner, Mark Lackey, Jody Landers, Monroe Golden and works by Iron Giant Percussion. In recognition of the 20th anniversary of BAMA, the group will revive Holland Hopson’s Quartet 60x88x120x208 for 4 metronomes. This piece was premiered during the first season of BAMA’s activity.

Iron Giant Percussion, or abbreviated in the most confusing manner possible, FeGP, is a contemporary ensemble based in Birmingham, consisting of Sam Herman, Brett Huffman, Seth Noble, and Justin Wallace. Established in 2011 to perform a collaborative piece with Sanspointe Dance Company, they subsequently presented four ambitious concerts in Alys Stephens Center’s Sirote Theater – each featuring some of the most influential and challenging percussion music from the 20th and 21st centuries. The group won the 2013 Clefworks Festival competition in Montgomery, where they performed with internationally acclaimed So Percussion group for the premiere of Jason Treuting and Josh Quillen’s Montgomery Double Music. FeGP’s acclaimed concert for the Birmingham Art Music Alliance’s 2012-2013 season featured an evening of world-premiere works by local and international composers.  In addition to formal concerts, Iron Giant regularly participates in community and outreach programs through organizations such as BAMA, The Dance Foundation, Alabama Public Library Service, and Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s Scrollworks.  With each performance, Iron Giant aims to bring an answer to the most common question regarding percussion music:  “Is that actually a thing?”  That answer is a resounding, unequivocal “Yes it is!”

The Birmingham Art Music Alliance mission is to promote music by Alabama composers and present concerts of recently created art music to communities in Birmingham and beyond. Members include local composers, professional performers, students, and enthusiasts who wish to preserve and maintain the long tradition of music as a living art form.

Click here to download a printable poster for this event.

Sursum Corda

The Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents Sursum Corda conducted by Lester Seigel in a concert of choral music featuring music by regional composers. This is Sursum Corda’s second collaboration with BAMA and their first performance at Southside Baptist Church.

Sursum Corda promo photo

Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents
Sursum Corda
Thursday April 7, 7:30 pm
Southside Baptist Church
1016 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35205
Free Admission

Sursum Corda will perform pieces by Birmingham Art Music Alliance composers including

  • I Sing – Ed Robertson
  • Cantate Domino – Adriana Perera
  • Grant Us Peace – William Price
  • I am a little church – Timothy Banks
  • Remember – Joseph Landers

Other works on the program include

  • Missa Brevis in Honorem Beatae Mariae Virginis – Kristina Vaskiliautskaite
  • Song to the Moon (La Luna) – Z. Randall Stroope
  • Absalom, My Son – Robert Sieving
  • Open My Eyes, That I May See – Lester Seigel
  • Wayfaring Stranger – American folk song, arr. Daniel Seigel

 

Lester Seigel, Sursum Corda’s director, says “The work of BAMA in the Birmingham area is a sign of the robust health of new music in Alabama and support given to these skilled composers. The works that were chosen are largely sacred in nature, and, though Sursum Corda no longer restricts itself to its original mission of performing only sacred works, such pieces remain at the heart of our programming and goal as an ensemble.”  He continues, “…we are looking forward to our first performance in the beautiful atmosphere and acoustics of the Southside Baptist Church, which is becoming well-known for the diversity of its arts-oriented presentations.”

The Birmingham Art Music Alliance mission is to promote music by Alabama composers and present concerts of recently created art music to communities in Birmingham and beyond. Members include local composers, professional performers, students, and enthusiasts who wish to preserve and maintain the long tradition of music as a living art form.

Up next for The Birmingham Art Music Alliance

An Afternoon of Music for Wind Quintet and Piano
Sunday April 10,  2:30 pm
Brock Recital Hall
Samford University
800 Lakeshore Dr
Homewood AL 35209

Chamber Music at AEIVA

February 25, 2016
For Immediate Release

BIRMINGHAM ART MUSIC ALLIANCE PRESENTS CHAMBER MUSIC AT AEIVA
New music inspired by the art of Enrique Martínez Celaya

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB Department of Music and Abroms­-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts have partnered with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance (BAMA) to bring chamber works that connect music with the art in the Enrique Martínez Celaya: Small Paintings 1974­-2015 exhibit. The concert features UAB faculty and Alabama Symphony Orchestra members performing seven world premiere compositions by regional composers.

Painting

Image: Enrique Martínez Celaya, The Fourth Angel, 2010, Oil and wax on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, Private Collection, Ocean Ridge, FL

Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents Chamber Music @ AEIVA
March 10, 2016, 5:00 pm
UAB Abroms­-Engel Institute for Visual Arts
1221 10th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35205

Free Admission
Free parking in the lot behind AEIVA

Members of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance have composed original pieces inspired by Enrique Martínez Celaya’s visual art. Each piece relates to a different work by Celaya.

The program includes original compositions by Holland Hopson, Kenneth Kuhn, Adriana Perera, Matthew Scott Phillips, Tom Reiner, Lawren Brianna Ware, and Ron Wray

The evening begins with a 5:00pm reception and art viewing, followed by the performances at 5:30pm by members of the UAB Department of Music and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, including Chris Steele, piano; Hillary Tidman, flute; Laura Usiskin, cello; Brad Whitfield, clarinet; and Pei­ Ju Wu, violin

Celaya’s artwork will be on view at the UAB Abroms-­Engel Institute for Visual Arts until March 19.

Special thanks to the Abroms­-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, the Birmingham Art Music Alliance, the UAB Department of Music, the Music Performance Trust Fund, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for making this event possible.

The Birmingham Art Music Alliance mission is to promote music by Alabama composers and present concerts of recently created art music to communities in Birmingham and beyond. Members include local composers, professional performers, students, and enthusiasts who wish to preserve and maintain the long tradition of music as a living art form.

Image credit: Enrique Martínez Celaya, The Fourth Angel, 2010, Oil and wax on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, Private Collection, Ocean Ridge, FL

Our 2014-2015 Season

New Music for Young Ears
November 8, 2014 at 4PM
STEP Birmingham (1101 18th Street South)
Music by Mark A. Lackey, Cynthia Miller, William Price, and Ron Wray.
Click here for more information about this event.

Tim Feeney/Wendy Richman/Osiris J. Molina
Wednesday January 21, 2015 at 7:30PM
Moody Music Building Recital Hall, University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa)
Music for sundry combinations of clarinet, percussion, and viola/voice by Lori Ardovino, Monroe Golden, Holland Hopson, Jody Landers, Adriana Perera, William Price, and Ron Wray.
Click here for more information about this event.

Hultgren Cello Retrospective
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 7:30PM
Moonlight on the Mountain
Click here for more information about this event.

Beyond Twelve 2015 Tour
Wednesday, April 1, 7:30PM: Hoover Library Theater
Thursday, April 2, 7:30PM: Jacksonville State University
More dates TBA.
Click here for more information about this event.

The Birmingham News – May 1997

By Nancy Raabe,
News staff writer

It’s a mystery, when you stop to think about it, why the serious art music of our time has fallen so far out of favor with the general public.

The same fate has not befallen the visual arts. While modern music in this country flourishes primarily in small enclaves within the sanctity of the ivory tower, entire museums are devoted to modern art. Imagine a world where the same was true of music, and any city worth its salt would boast a full-time orchestra, with an array of support organizations, devoted exclusively to the performance of contemporary works.

We are, however, some distance from this ideal state of affairs. It is thus left to visionary organizations such as the Birmingham Art Music Alliance to broaden our horizons and offer us a glimpse into the rich world of contemporary music.

This BAMA did in superlative fashion Monday night, in Hill Hall on the Birmingham-Southern College campus, at its second concert of the season. While many of us have been in our share of new music concerts that seemed both endless and pointless, BAMA’s strength lies in its sure sense of programming. It is a great tribute to the organization that Monday’s widely varied concert was arresting and enlightening from start to finish. One left with a renewed appreciation for the astonishing array of languages that collectively comprise our late 20th century musical consciousness.

Outstanding among the nine works on the program were “The New Yorker Songs” by Samford University’s James A. Jensen, a sensitive and highly expressive setting of five poems published over the past couple of years in The New Yorker magazine. Each poem projected a strong and compelling affect in this performance by soprano Sherry Lawhon, also on the Samford faculty, and pianist Daniel Lawhon.

Equally rewarding was Michael Coleman’s “Room 857” for solo piano, performed by the composer. This brief but memorable work consisted of a simple but deeply affecting exploration of four discrete ideas – a clear, ringing proclamation in the upper register; a gentle and darkly textured arpeggio rising from the instrument’s depths; a resounding flourish in the lower register accomplished by reaching inside the instrument and strumming the lowest strings; and, most remarkably, the eerie effect that Coleman unearthed within the decay of this last sound. As the piano’s lower strings are vibrating, Coleman discovered that by applying the felts to the strings a new set of overtones can be generated, which causes the sound to well up anew. Repeated several times, the effect clearly astonished many of the 75 or so in the audience.