Conrad Asman (b.1996)
List of Works
Instrumentation: Flute, Alto Sax, Bass Clarinet, 2 Violins, Cello and Piano.
Duration: 4:20
Programmatic information:
“Hysteria” is an attempt to resemble a state of madness and paranoia. It was written for a seven-piece ensemble (Flute, Alto Sax, Bass Clarinet, 2 Violins, Cello and Piano) for the Cone of Composition Competition, held at South African College of Music, Cape Town, South Africa.
Instrumentation: Piccolo, Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Violin, Cello, Voice, Piano, Drums and Double Bass.
Duration: 6:06
Programmatic information:
Note from composer:
“A “shisa nyama” (Zulu for “burnt meat”), also known as a “bring-and-braai”, is the popular South African pastime of having a barbeque. The event brings together any type of person – friends, family or even complete strangers – to share and indulge in a feast of different meats, poultry and carbohydrates; all cooked on an open wood fire. This fun, festive environment featuring a smorgasbord of many flavours instigated the creation of this composition. shisa nyama for mixed ensemble (2018) opens with the sizzling effect of meat on a fire from the vocalist and drums. This quickly develops into the main bass line on which the piece is anchored. The work features a texture created from a musical collage of different melodic quotations take from various styles of music. Incipits taken from western classical, jazz, and Afro-pop repertoires are all cited to further suggest the “coming together” of various styles and tastes. The work’s main (and ironically original) theme acts as the refrain to which the music anchors its ebb and flow into symphonic, waltz, kwela, atonal, improvisational and aleatoric structures. The piece gradually grows to a large climactic statement featuring all previous material being presented simultaneously – resulting in a large wall of sound with mentions of Mahler, Stravinsky, Gershwin, Paul Desmond and Brenda Fassi, among others. shisa nyama ends like any successful party: with a bang! This performance of shisa nyama (2018) is performed by members of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. This work won the ‘clazz’ category in the 2018 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship competition for composers.”
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About the Composer...
The music of composer Conrad Asman (b. 1996) has gained international recognition as being “innovative and cutting edge” (Chorosynthesis) and spans a wide emotional range from “heart-rending” (The Esoterics), to “fun and festive” (Creative Feel). His works have been performed in Africa, Asia, Europe and America in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the Jinji Lake Concert Arena. Engagements with ensembles such as the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Esoterics singers, the CHROMA ensemble and the Cape Town Youth Choir have led to his work winning multiple major awards, scholarships and commissions worldwide.
Conrad Asman grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa where his early interest in composition began to show in parallel to taking piano lessons. He began studying at the South African College of Music in 2015 where, as the youngest undergraduate participant, he won the Cone of Composition competition. His first major orchestral piece Igniting Kites & Flying Fireworks received multiple performances by KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestras, and went on to claim both the Jan Royce Foundation and Priaulx Rainier prizes, as well as second place in the New York Metropolian Youth Orchestra composition competition. These opportunities led to Asman’s works receiving international attention.
He made his Carnegie Hall début with the Cape Town Youth Choir with his work On a Night, which went on to win the Stefans Grové National Choral Composition Competition. Asman was recognised as the Polyphonos Young Composer award laureate in 2017, which sparked a new commission for The Esoterics choral ensemble in Seattle. In 2018, Asman was named as the main winner of the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship; enabling him to pursue further compositional engagements abroad.
Asman’s more recent work involved being selected as a finalist for the Thailand International Composition Festival and went on to be named the joint winner of the Jinji Lake Composition Competition in China. Following this competition, Asman was then commissioned by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to compose a new work for the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra as part of its annual Listening to China project. In 2020, he wrote two new orchestral art songs for the iSing! Music Festival, one of which was named one of the Grand Winner of the festival’s international composition competition.
Conrad lives and works in London. He recently worked with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra during their 2020/21 Composers Hub scheme with Stuart McRae and Roxanna Panufnik. He is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music, and is currenting working on a new opera, an upcoming orchestral work for the London Philharmonic Orchestra and chamber music for members of the Riot and Nash Ensembles.
Conrad lives with his partner, LeOui, where they both enjoy creative pastimes such as listening to opera, drinking wine and arguing.