The Koussevitzky Foundation Announces 2011 Winners

Momenta is excited to announce that we have been awarded a second commission grant from the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation. The Koussevitzky Music Foundation has commissioned some of the most famous works of the last century, including Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Copland's Symphony No. 3 and Britten's Peter Grimes. This new grant will commission the second string quartet by Bolivian composer Agustín Fernández. His String Quartet No. 1 “Montes” was written for and premiered by Momenta in 2007.

As part of the award, the score will be housed in the Foundation's music collection in the Library of Congress (Washington, DC), including a handwritten manuscript, drafts and sketches. The Library is famous for its collection of classic scores including the original handwritten manuscript of Bartók's Concerto For Orchestra.

In 2009 the Momenta Quartet was awarded its first Koussevitzky commission grant for Malaysian composer Kee Yong Chong, resulting in his String Quartet No. 2 “Clouds Surging.” Chong is the first Malaysian to receive this honor. The grant was the result of Chong's 2007 collaboration with Momenta violist Stephanie Griffin, during which she performed several of his works in New York including the world premiere of Metamorphosis I for Viola and Harp.

Momenta premiered Clouds Surging at the Museum of the Chinese in America (MOCA) on May 13, 2011. Please visit our “Watch and Listen” page for a recording of the performance. It was programmed along with pieces by Melissa Hui, Jason Kao Hwang, and Huang Ruo, all Chinese composers living and working outside of China.