Claire Chase

In 2013, Claire Chase instigated a project designed to cultivate an entirely new body of work for flute. A MacArthur Fellow, Harvard professor, and indomitable musical force who co-founded the International Contemporary Ensemble, Chase began commissioning work, with the idea of doing so until the centennial of Edgard Varése's seminal flute solo "Density 21.5," in 2036. This deluxe 4-CD set is the first fruit of these commissions, realized in the first three years of the project, featuring 17 works by 15 composers, including the multi-part album-long composition "Pan" by Brazilian-born Marcos Balter. Composers wrote for all members of Chase's flute family, from piccolo to "Big Bertha" (her contrabass flute), as well as electronics, voice, and a handful of other instruments. Tyshawn Sorey performed percussion on his contribution and Suzanne Farrin played Ondes Martenot on hers; Roomful of Teeth collaborate with Chase on one piece, and sound designer Levy Lorenzo handles the electronics throughout. Participants come from a wide range of creative contemporary music circles; they include Richard Beaudoin, Nathan Davis, Jason Eckardt, Dai Fujikura, Vijay Iyer, Felipe Lara, Mario Diaz de Leon, George Lewis, Pauline Oliveros, Pauchi Sasaki, Francesca Verunelli, and Du Yun. The exquisitely detailed recordings of Density 2036 were made at the Meyer Sound Laboratories in Berkeley and produced by Matias Tarnopolsky over the course of four years, with no overdubbing or corrections, presenting Chase's incredible musicality in all its glory. This monumental program comes packaged as two double-CDs, sporting cover art by German artist Jorinde Voigt (with whom Chase has collaborated) and liner note essays by Suzannah Clark, John Corbett, Jennifer Judge, and Steven Schick.