Commission for two flutes from Samuel Zyman
Duration: 10 minutes
SIMULTANEOUS Premiere Weekend: february 19-27, 2022
aBOUT THE cOMPOSER
Samuel Zyman, a long-time New York-based Professor of Music Theory and Analysis at the Juilliard School, is acknowledged as one of the leading Mexican composers on the international scene today. Zyman’s music is characterized by intense and vigorous rhythmic energy, expressive lyricism, and the frequent use of near-jazzy imitative counterpoint. His musical language often displays both his Mexican and his Jewish heritage. Zyman’s best known composition is his Sonata for Flute and Piano No. 1, a work that has entered the standard repertoire. Zyman’s sonata is frequently performed all over the world and has been commercially recorded and posted on Youtube numerous times. The sonata is often included in graduation recital programs and has been used as a recommended or required piece at national and international flute competitions and as a topic for doctoral dissertations. Another popular Zyman piece is his orchestral work Encuentros, a colorful and highly rhythmic Mexican-sounding piece. As of June 2019, Zyman’s catalogue lists 70 works in a wide variety of genres. He has written at least 24 chamber works (including a string quartet and three piano trios), 11 concertos, seven pieces for orchestra (including two symphonies and an ambitious concerto for orchestra), six pieces for solo piano, three works for solo guitar, two works for symphonic band, one film score, a piece for trombone octet, music for chorus and orchestra, for solo voice with orchestra, for solo voice with piano or guitar accompaniment, and much more.
Samuel Zyman was born in 1956 in Mexico City, where he studied piano and conducting at the National Conservatory of Music with María Teresa Castrillón and Francisco Savín, respectively. Privately, he studied counterpoint and analysis with Mexican composer Humberto Hernández Medrano. He also studied piano with the legendary Mexican jazz pianist Juan José Calatayud and with Héctor Jaramillo (principal flutist of the National Autonomous University Orchestra of Mexico, OFUNAM). He received MM and DMA degrees in composition from The Juilliard School in New York City, studying with the American composers Stanley Wolfe, Roger Sessions, and David Diamond. Zyman has served as a judge in several composition competitions in the US and Mexico. He is the recipient of numerous commissions and awards, including Meet-the-Composer grants in the U.S, the Diploma from the Mexican Society of Theater and Music Critics of Mexico naming him Most Outstanding Composer of the Year (1992), the Mozart Medal (1998) for outstanding achievement in music, awarded by the Embassy of Austria in Mexico, and the Medal of Merit in the Arts (2014), awarded by the Commission on Culture of the Mexico City Legislature for his contributions to art and culture in Mexico City.
Samuel Zyman was born in 1956 in Mexico City, where he studied piano and conducting at the National Conservatory of Music with María Teresa Castrillón and Francisco Savín, respectively. Privately, he studied counterpoint and analysis with Mexican composer Humberto Hernández Medrano. He also studied piano with the legendary Mexican jazz pianist Juan José Calatayud and with Héctor Jaramillo (principal flutist of the National Autonomous University Orchestra of Mexico, OFUNAM). He received MM and DMA degrees in composition from The Juilliard School in New York City, studying with the American composers Stanley Wolfe, Roger Sessions, and David Diamond. Zyman has served as a judge in several composition competitions in the US and Mexico. He is the recipient of numerous commissions and awards, including Meet-the-Composer grants in the U.S, the Diploma from the Mexican Society of Theater and Music Critics of Mexico naming him Most Outstanding Composer of the Year (1992), the Mozart Medal (1998) for outstanding achievement in music, awarded by the Embassy of Austria in Mexico, and the Medal of Merit in the Arts (2014), awarded by the Commission on Culture of the Mexico City Legislature for his contributions to art and culture in Mexico City.
