New York, NY (Top40 Charts) One of the world's most celebrated contemporary dance choreographers, Wayne McGregor, is teaming up with record label Mercury KX/ Universal
Music for his first ever curated album release. Wayne McGregor: Collaboration is a personal collection, curated by McGregor himself, combining some of his favourite pieces of music he commissioned for his dance productions over the last 25 years.
Acclaimed for his ground-breaking collaborations, McGregor has worked closely with many of the leading and most adventurous composers from contemporary classical and electronic music, to create music that allies with his artistic vision. The album is a reflection of this and includes music by composers ranging from Jon Hopkins and Jlin to Max Richter and Kaija Saariaho, amongst many others. It also includes the world premiere recording of a piece by Sir John Tavener, written for McGregor's ballet Amu. Several of the pieces on this album have been re-recorded and rearranged, always in close collaboration with McGregor and the original composer.
Of the release, Wayne said: "It's been an honour to work with a fantastic roster of composers over the last 25 years, not least those featured on my debut record on Mercury KX. Working in collaborative dialogue with other artists has always fuelled my creative process and I feel privileged to have shared these endeavors with such a range of talented and inquisitive people. I'm thrilled to be releasing my first compilation album which represents a few of these moments."
American composer Nico Muhly, who arranged
William Byrd's 'Miserere Mei' for the ballet Machina, said of the project: "It's wonderful to see a choreographer not just acknowledge, but formally compile the music that has formed the basis of his output. It's really thrilling to have this album exist and I can't wait to listen to the whole thing."
Joby Talbot, another of the composers involved in the record, and a long-time collaborator of McGregor's, spoke about working with him again to create 'Transit of Venus' for the ballet Chroma: "Above all the things that struck me about him was his clarity of vision, he was very clear structurally about what the music for these pieces wanted to do… He very much wanted to invite collaborators who are going to bring their talents to the table and allow them room to really express themselves. It was just amazing working with him."
Born in 1970, Wayne McGregor CBE is a multi-award-winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for trailblazing innovations in performance that have radically redefined dance in the modern era. In 1993, McGregor founded Company Wayne McGregor, which was the original instrument through which McGregor evolved his distinctive visual style, revealing the movement possibilities of the body in ever more precise degrees of articulation. Driven by an insatiable curiosity about movement and its creative potentials, his experiments have led him into collaborative dialogue with an array of artistic forms, scientific disciplines, and technological interventions. The startling and multi-dimensional works resulting from these interactions have ensured McGregor's position at the cutting edge of contemporary arts for over 25 years.
On this new release, Dr.
Alexander Buhr, Managing
Director of Mercury KX said: "Wayne McGregor has inspired some of today's most exciting new music and we are thrilled to be working with him on this very special album. He is a unique cultural curator who has been pushing the boundaries between genres throughout his entire career in his search for artistic expression. He is a remarkable collaborator whose values feel truly aligned with ours as a label." The album will be released on 6th
September 2019 on Mercury KX/Universal Music.
Wayne McGregor: Collaboration Tracklisting:
Vessel - Jon Hopkins
Commissioned for Entity (Company Wayne McGregor)
Infra 5 - Max Richter
Commissioned for Infra (The Royal Ballet)
Variant V - Joel Cadbury & Paul Stoney arr.
Benjamin Woodgates & Robert Ames
Commissioned for Borderlands (San Francisco Ballet)
Miserere Mei, Deus -
William Byrd arr. Nico Muhly
Commissioned for Machina (The Royal Ballet)
…og lengra - Ólafur Arnalds, arr. Viktor Orri Árnason
Commissioned for Dyad 1909 (Company Wayne McGregor)
Blue i - Jlin
Commissioned for Autobiography (Company Wayne McGregor)
Hymn of Adoration - Sir John Tavener
Commissioned for Amu (Company Wayne McGregor)
Nemesis 3 - Scanner
Commissioned for Nemesis (Company Wayne McGregor)
Eclipse - Kaija Saariaho
Commissioned for Limen (The Royal Ballet)
Swarming Season - Gaika
Commissioned for +/- Human (Company Wayne McGregor, The Royal Ballet, Roundhouse,
Random International)
War Anthem - Max Richter
Commissioned for Woolf Works (The Royal Ballet)
Transit of Venus - Joby Talbot
Commissioned for Chroma (The Royal Ballet)
After Death - Ben Frost arr.
Petter Ekman
Commissioned for FAR (Company Wayne McGregor)
Atomos XI - A Winged Victory for the Sullen
Commissioned for Atomos (Company Wayne McGregor)
Vessel (Orchestral Version) - Jon Hopkins, arr. Tom Hodge
Commissioned for Entity (Company Wayne McGregor)
