If Jessie Montgomery’s music sounds familiar, it’s not just you. Any attempts to gracefully describe the 39-year-old New Yorker’s work tear classical music’s hackneyed binaries — between novelty and tradition, notation and improvisation, composer and performer — completely asunder. Somewhere in the shreds is a voice as refreshing as it is, inexplicably, recognizable.
Montgomery has been tapped all over the country for commissions, but for the next three years, audiences will hear a new side to her as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence — an appointment that not only promises an orchestral commission per season but also curatorial autonomy over MusicNOW, the CSO’s contemporary classical series. Montgomery unveils her first MusicNOW program at Symphony Center on Nov. 1, which is, fittingly, a New York/Chicago crossover event: Works by locally affiliated composers Nathalie Joachim, Ted Hearne, and Elijah Daniel Smith nestle next to Montgomery’s own New York-themed tributes, “Loisaida, My Love,” her 2017 ode to the Lower East Side and neighborhood poet-activist Bimbo Rivas, and “Lunar Songs,” an entrancing three-song cycle penned in 2019 to celebrate the centenary of perennial New Yorker Leonard Bernstein. We checked in with Montgomery between visits to Chicago — first, to hear her work on the Ear Taxi Festival, then again for the MusicNOW launch.
The following has been edited and condensed from a longer conversation.
Q: I’m almost scared to ask: How many pieces are you working on right now?
A: (laughs) That is a scary question. The two immediate things I’m working on at the moment are the CSO commission for this season and a concerto for the pianist Awadagin Pratt. The CSO commission is the first of three orchestral works that I’ll be writing over the course of the residency, then I’ll write a chamber work that will premiere on MusicNOW next season.
Q: You’ve gotten to know CSO musicians and MusicNOW a little bit already: In 2019, the series premiered your string arrangement of Julius Eastman’s “Gay Guerrilla” (usually for four pianos). What was that experience like?
A: Writing the Eastman was interesting; it involved some investigation in terms of how to honor his style of writing and the ways he dealt with timing and improvisatory elements. (Those elements) were somewhat new to some of the CSO players, so negotiating all of that was also part of the rehearsal process. They did such a wonderful job being spontaneous enough in the moment to really sell it, and I got to know their musicianship in a more intimate setting — I felt like we all got something really great out of it.
Q: Just a couple weeks ago, the Ear Taxi Festival presented another piece of yours from that year, “Lunar Songs,” as well as the world premiere of your brand-new clarinet, violin, and percussion trio. It’s been interesting to hear those next to some of your string works of about a decade ago — like “Break Away,” “Strum,” and “Starburst” — which were presented on Ear Taxi and CSOtv performances. Do you view those pieces as all part of the same continuum? Or did they come out of different places for you?
A: That’s a great question. When you sit down to write a piece, yes, you’re in one head space. But I think it’s more of an evolution: I’ve always used improvisation and spontaneous moments within the pieces, but it’s more that my process of writing is changing. I’m recording myself improvising much more, for example, and building out from there. It’s like a bank of ideas.
Q: What have you been listening to lately?
A: I really love Bells Atlas, a band based out on the West Coast, and Emily King, who’s just incredible. I’ve also been listening to a lot of African pop music — artists like Rema and Blick Bassy.
Q: Speaking of artists you’re into: As of this month, we know what composers will feature into your first MusicNOW season. Let’s start with the Nov. 1 program coming up.
A: I’m calling this year the “friends and family” year, meaning I’m mostly looking at composers I have on my immediate radar. (For that first program) I’m focusing on composers that have some affiliation with Chicago, whether they’re native to the city or live there. Nathalie Joachim has been living in Chicago for several years now, and Ted Hearne is somebody I’ve had a composer crush on for years. I only met Elijah Daniel Smith last year at Princeton, but he was born and raised in Chicago. His music is really rhythmically driven and full of unexpected shifts — there’s a sense of repetition that’s always thwarted in some way. I haven’t heard the whole commission, but I have heard bits and pieces, and it’s awesome. It’s for an ensemble of 10 players, so it has almost a Baroque chamber kind of feel to it.
Q: The other commission this season, by Damien Geter, premieres on the March 14 concert. How did that come about?
A: I met Damien on a panel that we did online this past year, thanks to the soprano Karen Slack. She invited me and a few other composers to talk about Black composers’ music. Damien was a part of that group, as was Shawn Okpebholo, whose music is going to be on that same program. Afterward, six of us created a group chat to support each other through last year; we call ourselves Les Six (a reference to the early 20th century Francophone composers affiliated under the same name). Another composer in the group, Jasmine Barnes, is a singer and composer, and Damien is an incredible baritone as well as an incredible composer. I thought singer-composer was a remarkable combination; I hadn’t encountered that before.
That March concert is going to be all contemporary art song, then May (23) is going to be concertos. Alyssa Weinberg’s piece (“Caligo”) is going to highlight a collaboration she’s had for many years with the cellist Gabriel Cabezas, who’s also a Chicago native. Then, Joan Tower has been an incredible mentor of mine, so it felt fitting to include a work of hers (“Rising” for flute and string orchestra) in my first year; she’s been celebrated so much in the last few years and I’m happy to jump on that train. Then, we’re doing a guitar concerto by James Moore, which adds some variety besides traditional classical instruments. I’ve been thinking about interesting instrumental combinations that haven’t been on the main stage.
Q: What else are you keeping in sight as you think about your next three years as a curator?
A: I’m thinking about programming from the standpoint of representation and whose music I’m putting on. The most exciting thing is getting to know composers — spending time listening and going to as many other concerts as possible. I have a lot to learn, but I’m already excited about all the discoveries I’m making.
The 2021/22 MusicNOW season opens with “Homecoming” at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at Symphony Center, including the Elijah Daniel Smith “Scions of Atlas” world premiere, Jessie Montgomery’s “Lunar Songs” and “Loisaida, My Love,” Nathalie Joachim’s “Seen” and Ted Hearne’s “Authority.” More at cso.org.
Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.
The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music coverage. The Chicago Tribune maintains complete editorial control over assignments and content.
