Alarm Will Sound

About Alarm Will Sound

Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band committed to innovative performances and recordings of today’s music. They have established a reputation for performing demanding music with energetic skill. ASCAP recognized their contributions to new music with a 2006 Concert Music Award for “the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century.” Their performances have been described as “equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity” by the London Financial Times and as “a triumph of ensemble playing” by the San Francisco Chronicle. The New York Times says that Alarm Will Sound is “one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene.”

The versatility of Alarm Will Sound allows it to take on music from a wide variety of styles. Its repertoire ranges from European to American works, from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. Alarm Will Sound has been associated since its inception with composers at the forefront of contemporary music, premiering pieces by John Adams, Steve Reich, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Aaron Jay Kernis, Augusta Read Thomas, Derek Bermel, Benedict Mason, Wolfgang Rihm, Stefan Freund, Payton MacDonald, Gavin Chuck, and Dennis DeSantis, among others. The group itself includes six composer-performers, which allows for an unusual degree of insight into the creation and performance of new work.

Alarm Will Sound may be heard on four recordings. Their genre-bending, critically acclaimed Acoustica features live-performance arrangements of music by electronica guru Aphex Twin. This unique project taps the diverse talents within the group, from the many composers who made arrangements of the original tracks, to the experimental approaches developed by the performers. Reich at the Roxy, is an award-winning, surround-sound DVD/CD recording of a live concert of music by Steve Reich performed in the famed New York nightclub. Van Gogh, the group’s latest release, features the music of Bang on a Can co-founder Michael Gordon in settings of letters by the painter.

Members of the ensemble began playing together while studying at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. With diverse experience in composition, improvisation, jazz and popular styles, early music, and world musics, they bring intelligence and a sense of adventure to all their performances.