Juliet Fraser: The Open Fund for Music Creators
The Carson Commissions: four vocal works inspired by Rachel Carson
Juliet Fraser is commissioning four new original pieces of music that respond to the work of marine biologist, ecologist and writer Rachel Carson (1907-1964), whose ‘Sea Trilogy’ remains a poetic yet urgent clarion call for our times. ‘The Carson Commissions’ is a two-year project that attempts for the first time a thematic approach to commissioning that integrates an area of Juliet’s personal interest — environmentalism — with her public music-making. The new pieces by composers Lara Agar, Laurence Crane, Nwando Ebizie and Newton Armstrong will be toured internationally and recorded for YouTube and/or CD. Together they will form a body of new work that refreshes our love of the natural world and celebrates one of its greatest champions. Soprano Juliet Fraser specialises in the gnarly edges of contemporary classical music. Internationally recognised as a committed interpreter of new music, she regularly appears as a guest soloist with ensembles Musikfabrik, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Plus-Minus and Talea. She is also a core member of EXAUDI vocal ensemble, which she co-founded in 2002 with composer/conductor James Weeks. Juliet is an active commissioner of new repertoire and has worked particularly closely with composers Pascale Criton, Michael Finnissy, Bernhard Lang, Cassandra Miller and Rebecca Saunders. Her recordings have been released on labels such as Kairos, Hat Hut, NMC, HCR and Another Timbre. Juliet is the founder and artistic director of the eavesdropping series in London and co-director of all that dust, a new label for new music.