Cassandra Miller’s (b. 1976) compositions make an indelible impression. “Music this uncalculatedly beautiful leaves you almost desperate with gratitude”, wrote Alex Ross of Miller’s motet “The City, Full of People” in the “New Yorker”. Canadian-born and London-based, her creative wellsprings are as varied as J.S. Bach, Kurt Cobain, Maria Callas, and birdsong, from which she fashions music of unerring immediacy, often drawing on forms of creative transcription. “The Guardian” hailed her Duet for Cello and Orchestra as one of finest compositions of the 21st century. In 2025 she was awarded the Kunstpreis Berlin for music by the Akademie der Künste.
Her music conjures dreamlike landscapes, as in the guitar concerto “Chanter”, taken up in 2024 by Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sean Shibe, inspired by Scottish folk music; she explores the reflective power or sustained repetition, exemplified by the endless spirals of 25-minute string quartet “About Bach”, previously taken up by Ensemble Resonanz.
Viola concerto “I cannot love without trembling” (2023), premiered by Lawrence Power and Ilan Volkov with the Brussels Philharmonic, was inspired by the writing of Simone Weil and lamenting Greek-Cypriot folk violin of Alexis Zoumbas. Power has since performed the work at the BBC Proms, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, and with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In spring 2025 the piece was choreographed by Bobbi Jean Smith and Or Schraiber at the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.
In “Swim” Miller unfolds and expands material from the brass chorale that opens the penultimate movement of Schumann’s “Rhenish” symphony. The 16-minute work, scored for the same forces, imagines Schumann going for a swim, evoking the repetitive motion of his arms, and letting his psyche dissolve in the deep water – not of the river Rhine, but a cool Canadian lake described by poet Anne Carson. Premiered by Royal Northern Sinfonia and Dinis Sousa, it has appeared with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra at NyMusikk with Ilan Volkov, and the Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by Ryan Bancroft, and Ludovic Morlot in Barcelona.
Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2025.
Miller will be in the spotlight at the 2025 Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik. “Bismillah Meets the Creator” in Springtime will receive its German premiere with the WDR Sinfonieorchester conducted by Elena Schwarz. Co-composed with Silvia Tarozzi for the Tectonics festival, it exemplifies the breadth of Miller’s imagination, bringing together a 1993 recording of Bismillah Khan performing the raag “Malkauns and The Creator” has a Master Plan by Pharoah Sanders. Miller and Tarozzi perform as soloists, singing and improvising on toy trumpets, enfolded in an instrumental deluge that they liken to a swollen springtime river. Bach’s keyboard music patiently unfolds behind these currents.
A new 20-minute work for string trio – made up of llya Gringolts, Lawrence Power, and Nicolas Altstaedt – and experimental vocal ensemble EXAUDI is at the centre of Miller’s residency. EXAUDI premiered Miller’s Guide in 2013 - a 13-minute piece based on one of Miller’s mother’s folk records of a hymn recorded by Maria Muldaur in 1968. “I knew right away”, said Miller of Guide, “that I would attempt to write a piece about ‘the feeling of freedom one gets from singing’.”
Quatuor Bozzini and Juliet Fraser also perform “Thanksong”. The 15-minute work references the “Heiliger Dankgesang” of Beethoven’s op.132 quartet, summoning its prayerful mood. Crafted from gentle, pendulum-like repeated gestures, the members of the quartet and soprano each perform independently, with the soprano intoning “thank you” throughout. Fraser has worked with Miller on their ongoing modular collaborator Tracery – performed at 2024’s rainy days and 2023’s MaerzMusik – an experiment in embodied practices of deep listening for voice and electronics.
Looking Ahead
Bozzini previously premiered and recorded Miller’s About Bach, Warblework, and Leaving. At this summer’s Darmstädter Ferienkurse they present a new string quartet from Miller, with further performances planned for TIME:SPANS and Le Vivier festivals. “Bel Canto”, a 16-minute tribute to Maria Callas for mezzo soprano and six instrumentalists, appears at the Elbphilharmonie as part of the Hamburg International Music Festival in May, alongside Boulez’s “Le marteau sans maître”; in it Miller retraces the contours and inflections of Callas’ voice as she grows older. Sean Shibe and Ema Nikolovska, vocalist and guitarist for the planned tour of Bel Canto, presented Miller’s “Dream Memorandum (It Reminded Me of the Truth)” at the Boulez Saal in March 2025.
Faber Music
(from [t]akte 1/2025)