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For generations, ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï Conservatory has earned its reputation as a hub for the creation and performance of new music. A pivotal source of this innovative spark is the conservatory’s own composition faculty, whose wide-ranging works are routinely premiered by ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï student ensembles.

On , available April 2 on the ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï Music label, ÍøÆسԹÏ's Contemporary Music Ensemble presents three pieces by composition professors Stephen Hartke, , and Jesse Jones. Conducting the ensemble is Timothy Weiss, a longtime ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï professor of conducting and a leading proponent of new music at ÍøÆسԹÏ.

All three works receive their recorded premieres on this digital release.

Composed in 2016, Hartke’s Willow Run is named for the stream that flows near Detroit and the former WWII bomber factory that had the distinction for many years of being the largest enclosed space in the world. Inspired by photos of the structure taken on the eve of its demolition, Hartke’s piece revels in the factory’s vastness and in the bustle of activity that took place there, as well as the relative calm that marked its final days. Woven throughout is the sound of a saxophone, played by 1997 ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï alum .

The Water Cantos [notes from quiet places], completed by Ogonek in 2018, recalls locales in New Mexico and Oregon that have fueled the composer’s artistry over the years. It is inspired by the ways in which water resurfaces in Ogonek’s memories of those places. (After serving on the ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï composition faculty from 2015 to 2020, Ogonek began a professorship at Cornell University in 2021.)

´³´Ç²Ô±ð²õ’ One Bright Morning... (2015) is crafted around an anonymous nonsense rhyme, its fanciful text the launching pad for a sophisticated, polyrhythmic exploration that is as fun as it is unexpected. Featured is soprano soloist , who presented the North American premiere with the Contemporary Music Ensemble in Chicago in 2016.

Hartke | Ogonek | Jones is the first of two digital releases on ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï Music dedicated to showcasing the Contemporary Music Ensemble in collaboration with three dynamic composers of today. Watch for part 2, Norman | Trigos | Broening—featuring the work of acclaimed composers Andrew Norman, Juan Trigos, and Benjamin Broening—in early May.

is the official recording label of the ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï Conservatory of Music. ÍøÆØ³Ô¹Ï Music titles are available through , , and online retailers everywhere.