Strange Times in Normal, IL
Music: “Strange Times in Normal, IL” by Jonathan Wyatt
Musicians: flute, clarinet, piano, double bass, guitar
Composer’s Notes: The premise of Strange Times in Normal, IL came from the occasion of its composition, the Red Note workshops at Illinois State University. Since it was to be premiered in the real-life town of Normal, I thought of exploring musical "normality" vs. "strangeness." So on a practical level, I wrote contrasting musical materials and set them in dialogue with each other -- sometimes harmoniously, sometimes with an edge. The result is a piece that is both dark and uplifting, consonant and dissonant, just as life always strikes a balance between joy and suffering.
About the Composer: Jonathan Wyatt (b. 1997) is a composer and sound artist whose musical works often explore conceptualism and multimedia storytelling. He is particularly interested in writing music that blurs the boundaries of form and medium. Jonathan is influenced by a number of visual artists, including Damien Hirst and William Pope.L. Currently, some of his favorite musicians are Girl Talk, Thundercat, Supertramp, and Ottorino Respighi.
Jonathan has been a fellow at the Atlantic Music Festival, the Red Note New Music Festival, the Lake George Composition Institute, and was a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award. He holds a Bachelor's in Music from Shenandoah Conservatory and an MM from the Mannes School of Music at The New School. He now works at Dunvagen Music Publishers as personal assistant to composer Philip Glass. In addition to smaller projects, Jonathan is currently developing a filmed operatic monodrama based on the life and work of Yves Klein.