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"(about Second City) Ricocheting tempi combined with sometimes acrid, piercing sonorities to conclude some of the most satisfying music of the night." - Bruce Hodges

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  • Recent Videos

    Naruto Strait, for flute ensemble
    Performed by the NFA International Liaison ensemble at the Japanese Flute Convention


    Contrabass flute solo improvisation, Bangalore Internation Arts Festival, Bangalore, India


    Percussion solo on contrabass flute, concert in Tokyo, Japan.


    Inspiration, by Dr. Suma Sudhindra, with Dr. Suma Sudhindra (veena), B. C. Manjunath (mredangam), Vivek Santhoosh (keyboards), Kartik Mani (Drums).


    Ricochet, with Pepe García, De Link, Tilburg, the Netherlands


    Drumming (at 36:19), Steve Reich & Slagwerk Den Haag, Amsterdam, the Netherlands


    Bach - Badinerie Fun encore from a concert in Chiba, Japan, with Carla Rees, Masami Yamano, Yoshiaki Teramoto, Toshiyuki Shibata.


  • Eighth Blackbird Lab 2018 Young professional musicians and composers check this out!

    The Eighth Blackbird Lab has sent out its call for their second season in June 2018. I was a coach there last summer and saw first hand what an amazing environment it is.
     
    They’ve got a great lineup of faculty and guest artists so it will be amazing …

    https://www.blackbirdcreativelab.org
  • Japanese Flute Convention
    Again this summer my works are being performed at flute festivals in Australia, the US and Japan. I will go myself to the Japanese flute convention to perform a solo recital of my own pieces, and premiere a new composition I've written for the flute ensemble of the NFA International Liaison ensemble, run by Toshiyuki Shibata.

    In total there will be 4 concerts, during and after the Japanese Flute Convention:

    August 15: Improvised session
    August 17: Solo recital
    August 20: New piece for NFA International Liaison Ensemble
    August 21: Flute concert
  • Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab

    I was invited by Eighth Blackbird to be a guest artist at Blackbird Creative Lab ("The Lab"), their summer training program, 'focussing on both cutting edge musicianship, dynamic performance aesthetic and savvy inventive development'.

    June 11-24, 2017
  • Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab

    Earlier this summer I taught at Eighth Blackbird's first ever Creative Lab summer festival in Ojai, California. The vibe was stellar and the quality of the musicians even better. Here’s a performance of my piece, Garden of Iniquitous Creatures, played by Nathalie Joachim, Benjamin Mitchell, Jeff Stern, Robert Fleitz, Kate Outterbridge and Aaron Wolff.

    The video became corrupted so the first 5 minutes are missing.



    Here’s a clip from a rhythm class I taught at the Creative Lab.

  • Steve Reich & Slagwerk Den Haag



    On July 2nd I had the honor to play one of my favorite pieces: Drumming by Steve Reich. It was for me a legendary concert: rehearsing with and performing for the composer, playing with one of the world's best percussion ensembles (Slagwerk Den Haag), in a jam-packed, sold-out Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, with great sound! The cheer after the piece was over was the most screaming I've ever had after a performance.

    Here's the video.

     

  • Kras - Muziekvoorstelling This season a new production by Muziekvoorstelling called Kras is touring the Netherlands and Europe. It features Rudi van Hest (clarinets), Jaber Fayad (ud), Gerard de Bruyne, drawer and is directed by Simone de Young. I also penned four musical numbers for the show. Intended for ages 2 to 5, more info can be found here:
    http://www.muziekvoorstelling.nl/voorstelling/kras/

    Dates:
    Januari 5, 2018 - Posthuis Theater, Heerenveen, NL
    Januari 28, 2018 - De Dillewijn, Ankeveen, NL
    February 18, 2018 (11 am, 2 pm, 4 pm) - De Doelen, Rotterdam, NL
    April 8, 2018 - Podium Mozaiek, Amsterdam, NL
    April 29, 2018 (10 am) - Het Nationale Theater, The Hague, NL
    April 29, 2017 (11:30 am) - Het Nationale Theater, The Hague, NL
  • Garden of Iniquitous Creatures wins the NFA Newly Published Music Competition

    I'm proud to announce that Garden of Iniquitous Creatures (2017) has won the National Flute Association's Newly Published Music competition. The National Flute Association is the largest flute organisation in the world with around 5000 members from 50 different countries.

    Commissioned by the Doelen for Eighth Blackbird, who have performed Garden often the past year and half, I'm happy that it won this award, since composing a piece that might win a prize was the last thing on my mind!
  • International Rhythm Course

    The IRC has a new website!!

    The International Rhythm Course is a series of online and on-location courses to solidify the fundamental expressive qualities of rhythm and explore the rich world of rhythmic complexities in order to be applied to your own music.


    IRC Level 1     - online course with the basic material to get started on the Carnatic approach and its Western equivalents
       - January 18 - 29, 2021 - finished

     

    IRC Level 2 - online course to take the Level 1 materials to the next level, and explore Carnatic approaches to music in the West
       - Weekly March 2 to April 6, 2021: sign-up


    IRC Utrecht     - the opportunity for online and new students to come together, continue the studies and make music together.
       - July 4 - 9, 2021: sign-up coming soon


    IRC India     - a musical and cultural trip to South India for continued rhythmical and musical study at the source of this great music.
       - January 4 - 14, 2022 

     

  • Speed in Music, Brain and Body Recently I have presented my ideas on speed in music at several conferences.

    Timing Research Forum, Strasbourg, France, October 23-25

    Worlding the Brain 2017, Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 2-4
    November 2    , presentation and QnA:
    PERFORMING BRAINS     – moderator: Dan Leberg; room 2.02
    - Wentz, Jed. “Embodied Affect in Aaron Hill's The Art of Acting (1753)”
    - Weij, van der, Bastiaan. “Same Drummer, Different Beats: Predicting Differences in Rhythm Perception with Probabilistic Modeling”
    - McGowan, Ned. “Speed in Music, Brain and Body”


    Another conference is coming up:

    Music Cognition Reading Group of University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, December 1
    3:30 – 5:00 pm

  • Trailer for SMAK!

    Here's the latest trailer for my new opera theater piece together with writer Nafiss Nia, director Michael Helmerhorst and the Wervelwind ensemble with Maaike Porthuis.

  • Release of Bantammer Swing The American Composers Orchestra has just released "Bantammer Swing," Ned McGowan's concerto for contrabass flute and orchestra. Can be downloaded on Instant Enclore, iTunes and Amazon.
  • Three Amsterdam Scenes premiere

    The premiere of Ned McGowan's new piece Three Amsterdam Scenes for the Trio Scordatura

    March 5, 2011 - Vortex Jazz Club, London England

  • Teaching Carnatic Practices Starting the 2009 academic season, Ned McGowan will teach Carnatic Practices to the masters students at the Conservatory of Utrecht.
  • Harvey Gaul competition Ned McGowan wins the Harvey Gaul competition and is commissioned by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
  • Hibari charity and music project It's been almost a full year now since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Recovery and reconstruction has been well under way, but there is still much to do and much help needed.

    Read more...
  • Review of WRENCH ‘Muziek als beeldende kunst’
    'Music and art' 
    – Blog van Floris Solleveld about WRENCH

    (Nederlands) (English)
  • Wrench

    Last chance to see WRENCH, the Hexnut show with the amazing photos of Edward Burtynsky. Sunday November 4 at 15.30 in Rotterdam at the Lantaren Venster.

    Laatste kans om WRENCH te zien, de Hexnut show met de verbazingwekkende foto's van Edward Burtynsky. Zondag 4 november om 15.30 in Rotterdam bij de Lantaren Venster.

  • Torrent

    A rippin version of Torrent played by Kennenth Cox:

  • iPad Concerto

    I have recently finished composing a Concerto for the iPad and Orchestra.

    Called Rotterdam Concerto 2 - Digital Realms, it was premiered on the 1st of June by the Sinfonia Rotterdam, conducted by Conrad van Alphen with Keiko Shichijo as soloist:

  • Composition lessons

    From April until December 2011 Ned McGowan is teaching composition at the KMT in Hilversum.

  • Interview Vrije Geluiden

    TV interview Ned McGowan with Melchior Huurderman on the program Vrije Geluiden about the WRENCH project.

  • Concerto for iPad & Orchestra

    On October 15, 2015, Concerto for iPad & Orchestra was played again, by Sinfonia Rotterdam, with Keiko Shichijo (iPad) and Conrad van Alphen (conductor), in De Doelen.
  • Summer news 2015 Dear friends, I hope you are enjoying a nice summer this year with some beautiful weather and relaxed times!

    Here are some events I’d like to invite you to, plus a video and a radio show from last season.

    Big best,
    Ned

  • COMPOSE4YOU

    Ned is part of a pilot where composers present themselves for commissions of private individuals. The launch is in the Skysuites The Penthouse, De Haagse Toren, June 26th.
  • Composing Rhythm: Ned McGowan

    American Highways, by Guy Livingston, featured Ned in an episode about rhythm, wild and subtle compositions.

    Available as stream via the Concert Zender and podcast via iTunes.
  • Donemus now publishing works

    I am happy to announce that Donemus Publishing is now the exclusive publisher of all my works.

    Scores and parts for all solo, chamber music and orchestra pieces are for purchase or rent via their website and distributers over the whole world.

    For more info visit the Donemus website or write me.

  • Alumni Achievement Award

    Ned McGowan received the Alumni Achievement Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In May '14 he received the award during the commencement ceremonies.

  • TEDx talk

    Digital music at your fingertips: Ned McGowan & Susanna Borsch at the TEDx Tilburg University.

  • Wood Burn review

    " 'Wood Burn' was an exuberantly wild burst of energy, working all five reed players for all they were worth." Stephen Smoliar, San Francisco Examiner

    Link to the article.

  • Web sale to Spinifex in the KIT

    Here's a website sale to buy 2 tickets for the price of one to thursday's concert of Spinifex with Dr. Mysore Manjunath in the KIT Tropentheater in Amsterdam.