Maarten Stragier will play a program of 21st century guitar works including Les Effaceurs, Nick Vines’ 5 movement-long tour de force, commissioned by Festival 21 with the help of the New England Foundation for the Arts Meet the Composer.
The works of Nicholas Vines have been performed by such interpreters as Alarm Will Sound, BMOP, the BT Scottish Ensemble and the Australian Voices. He has received commissions from numerous sources both in the US and abroad, such as Faber Music, ChamberMade Opera, Callithumpian Consort, Firebird Ensemble, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Recognition for Vines’ work includes an Honorable Mention in the 2006 Salvatore Martirano Competition, Helpmann and Green Room Awards (2006, 2007), and a semifinals position in the 2009 Opera Vista Competition. He is currently working on a piece for pianist Zubin Kanga (London) and a full-scale opera for MLC School, Burwood (Sydney). Since graduating in 2007 with a PhD from Harvard University, Vines has taught theory and composition there and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the last four years, he has run the composition program for NEC’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, and this past summer, was a Fellow in Composition at the Tanglewood Music Center. He will take up the position of Artistic Director of Music at Sydney Grammar School in July of this year. www.nicholasvines.com
